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ROAMIN' CATHOLIC
March 2004
UKRANIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, LA MESA
San Diego's Ukrainian Catholic Church has three holy patrons: the parish is under the mantle of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the church is dedicated to Saint John the Baptizer, and within the church is the shrine of Saint Nicholas, containing his miraculous myrrh. Ukrainian parishes in the Western states belong to the Chicago-based Eparchy of Saint Nicholas.
The church is located at 4400 Palm Avenue in La Mesa. Father John Hritzko is pastor. The Divine Liturgy is celebrated on Sundays at 8:00 in English and at 10:00 in Ukrainian. The Liturgy is offered daily at 8:00 in Old Slavonic. Formerly a wedding chapel, the church is small, holding only about 75 people. Holy icons, in traditional Greek style, adorn the walls. Daytime services are illuminated by natural light through windows on both sides. Outside is a courtyard, used for solemn processions. A cross crowns the hillside terrace above. A parish hall is suitable for all social activities.
I attended the English Divine Liturgy on February 8, the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, the second of four Pre-Lenten Sundays. There was no cantor or choir, but an acolyte was present to serve in the sanctuary with Father John. Fifteen persons attended.
The Liturgy began with the priest preparing bread, called the Lamb, and wine in the sanctuary behind the icon screen, or iconostas. After incensing the whole church, Father John opened the public service intoning, "Blessed is the kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and always, and forever and ever." The litany of peace and antiphons followed, culminating in the little entrance. During this the priest descended from the sanctuary by the north gate holding aloft the book of the Gospels, and went up to the altar through the royal doors, the central gate of the iconostas, while the people sang, "Come let us worship and bow before Christ; O Son of God, risen from the dead, save us who sing to you, Alleluia."
Proper hymns for the day were chanted, concluding with the Trisagion: "Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal have mercy on us."
In the day's apostle lesson, I Corinthians 6:12-20, Saint Paul reminds us that our spirit and body are members of Christ. Therefore we must not take the members of Christ and join them in fornication with a harlot. This lesson anticipates the Gospel of the Prodigal Son, who wasted his wealth with prostitutes, but returned in repentance to his father and found mercy.
Father John's sermon was on repentance and confession. He began by repeating the prodigal's prayer, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son." This, Father John said, is "humble, sincere, and chaste, the qualities of a good confession."
Recalling the division of the Ten Commandments into two tables which deal first with God and then with our neighbor, Father pointed out that our primary duty is to love and serve God, and then our neighbor for God's sake. "It is necessary to keep this order in mind lest we fall into the great heresy of our day; that we first fill the stomach, and then preach the Gospel. This means, in practical terms, that we never preach the gospel. This is insane. We must do as our Lord said, 'First seek the kingdom of God and His justice, and then all these things will be added to you.'"
Returning to the subject of confession, he said that the fewer words used to reveal your sins, the better. "For example, in telling of impure thoughts, do not describe them; just say 'impure thoughts.' You need not describe what made you angry; just say 'angry words.'"
Father told us that he learned his own approach to confession in an old Jesuit manual. He refrains from probing consciences during confession. He probes consciences during sermons, but in the confessional there is only mercy and sweetness.
Finally he spoke of three kinds of persons who should come to confession. First is the person in mortal sin who must come of necessity to be reconciled to God. Second is the person with venial sins who should come in order to grow in perfection. Third is the person with neither mortal nor venial sins who should come out of devotion to the Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary in order to make reparation for the sins of others.
After the Divine Liturgy Father John did not spend much time at the coffee social because he had people wanting to confess.