Icon of the Virgin of Ulashkivtsi

Marian devotion

Where is he?

The icon of the Virgin of Ulashkivtsi was venerated in Ulashkivtsi, in the district of Chortkiv, oblast of Ternopil, Ukraine. The coordinate corresponds to the location cartographed by OpenStreetMap, not to an affirmation that the point accurately marks the altar of the image. The institutional source of the Order of Saint Basil the Great presents it among its miraculous Marian icons and relates its history to the Basilian monastery and the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Documented history

The history published by the Basilian Order places the origin of the memory of the icon in the second half of the 17th century. The chronicle of the monastery of Ulashkiv, dated 1678, is cited as a written testimony of cures attributed to the image and the protection that the inhabitants sought in the face of the incursions. The chronicle documents the existence of a devotional memory and a monastic record; it does not allow each healing account to be converted into a proven medical or canonical case.

The same source tells that the monastery was destroyed and looted several times. After the looting of 1740, the liturgical property and the images were taken from the site. The institutional tradition states that the icon did not definitely disappear and that it returned to the monastery more than two decades later. It also indicates that the Ukrainian noble family Dobrysky-Ratiborsky donated it in 1765. These data belong to the history transmitted by the Basilian inventory and are distinguished here from the supernatural interpretation of its conservation.

After a commission that would have collected sworn testimonies, Bishop Lev Sheptytsky proclaimed the icon "full of grace," that is, miraculous, by a letter of October 4, 1773, according to the Basilian source. In 1774, gold was covered with donations from the faithful. In 1868 the image was moved from the ancient monastic church to the stone church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ulashkivtsi.

During the Soviet regime, the monastery was destroyed and the image remained in the parish church of Ulashkivtsi. The continuity of veneration in a local parish shows how the community preserved the cult even when the original monastic framework disappeared.

Tradition

The Ulashkivtsi tradition speaks of help received by those who came to pray before the image in times of war, suffering and attacks. The Basilian Order links that memory to the chronicle of 1678 and to the post-monastery pilgrimage. In a Christian reading, the veneration of the image does not worship painting: Mary is asked to intercession before God, and every devotion must lead to Jesus Christ.

Legend

The accounts of extraordinary protection, of intact preservation of the icon during the looting and of attributed healing are part of the religious tradition published by the Order. There is no complete record of each fact and no apparition of the Virgin. The tab retains the memory without transforming a devotional narrative into an independent historical test.

Ecclesial State

It consists of an eastern Catholic veneration of Basilian tradition and an episcopal proclamation of the icon as miraculous, as referred to by the institutional source of the Order of Saint Basil the Great. This documents the cult and devotional classification of the image. A decree of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on an apparition linked to Ulashkivtsi is not included in the consulted source, so it is not presented as an approved apparition.

Anecdotes and stories

The history of the icon is linked to the changes suffered by the monastery: destruction, looting, transfer to the parish church and survival of local piety under the Soviet regime. The Basilian source also points out that, since its transfer to the stone church, the monastery of Ulashkivtsi became an important place for the pilgrimage of Podolia. The coordinate of this tab is deliberately maintained at the local level.

Prayer

Holy Mary, Mother of Jesus, accompanies those who pray before your image in Ulashkivtsi. Intercede before your Son for the families that suffer, for those who live under the weight of war, and for those who seek strength to persevere. Teach us to worship you with humble faith and to always direct your heart to Christ. Amen.

Sources

• Orden de San Basilio Magno: Miraculous Icons, Ulashkiv Icon of the Mother of God.
• OpenStreetMap, Ulashkivtsi village.