Our Lady of Zarvanytsia

Marian devotion of Zarvanytsia (Galicia)

According to tradition, the origin of the Mother of God of Zarvanytsia goes back to year 1240when a monk fled Kiev to the invasion of the Mongols who devastated the city. Wounded and exhausted, he found refuge near the Strypa River, next to a spring; there, in his sleep, the Virgin Mary appeared to him with the Child Jesus in a dream or vision. When he awoke, he discovered an icon of the Mother of God with the Child and a source whose waters healed his wounds, which led to the construction of a first chapel and the emergence of a small population around the place.

Main data

Origin and history

According to tradition, the origin of the Mother of God of Zarvanytsia goes back to year 1240when a monk fled Kiev to the invasion of the Mongols who devastated the city. Wounded and exhausted, he found refuge near the Strypa River, next to a spring; there, in his sleep, the Virgin Mary appeared to him with the Child Jesus in a dream or vision. When he awoke, he discovered an icon of the Mother of God with the Child and a source whose waters healed his wounds, which led to the construction of a first chapel and the emergence of a small population around the place.

Since then, tradition has maintained that many pilgrims have received graces and cures linked to the icon y al regenerative miracle, consolidating Zarvanytsia as a place of special protection of the Mother of God for the Ukrainian people over centuries of conflict and persecution. Devotion has been cultivated both by the faithful of the Greek-Catholic rite and, to varying degrees, by other Christians of Ukraine.

As for the documented history, current sources indicate that Zarvanytsia is recognized as the the main Marian sanctuary of Ukrainian Greek-Catholics and one of the most important Marian pilgrimage centers in the country, particularly since the restoration of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church following the fall of the Soviet regime. The place has been confirmed as National Marian Sanctuary and has been the center of great pilgrimages, especially from the second half of the 20th and early 21st century. However, the precise details of the historical continuity between the 13th century story and the life of the sanctuary in later times are not fully documented for all stages; many ancient news comes from local chronicles and traditions, while the most solid documentation is relatively recent.

The image and the sanctuary

The venerated image is a Marian icon of Byzantine tradition, known as "Mother of God of Zarvanytsia" or "Our Lady of Zarvanytsia." The iconography, according to tradition, shows the Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus in their arms, with a particular link to the scene of the miraculous apparition in which Mary holds the Child on the water that sprouts from the source. It is often designated as an icon of the "Virgin of Ternure"in reference to the affectionate style of the Mother and the Child, common in the oriental iconography. The sources consulted do not require with certainty the original material (table, technique, etc.), nor its state of conservation over the centuries; therefore, no consta in detail the complete technical description of the icon.

The main sanctuary where this advocation is venerated is the National Mariano Sanctuary of Zarvanytsialocated in the town of the same name, in the region of Ternopil, traditionally linked to the historic Galitzia. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church. This sanctuary has been described as "one of the greatest spiritual centers of the Mother of God in Europe," with a wide set of temples, chapels, outdoor spaces for celebrations and the famous source or spring water considered miraculous.

The main temple of the complex has been higher to lower basilica, distinction granted 30 June 2019, which confirms its relevance to the universal Church. A pastoral and reception centre for pilgrims has also been developed in the complex, with infrastructure capable of receiving large crowds at the annual celebrations. Given these data, it can be spoken on the basis of a National Marian Sanctuary de primera imported into the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic rite.

Sponsorship and coronation

Zarvanytsia es considerada el principal Marian sanctuary of Iglesia Greco-Católica Ukrainian, and the icon of the Mother of God of Zarvanytsia is presented by various sources as one of the two more venerated Marian icons in Ukraine, along with Pochaiv's. Therefore, this icon has a character of patronazgo espiritual nacional for Ukrainian Greek-Catholics and is a reference point for prayer throughout Ukraine, especially in times of war and suffering.

One source points out that the icon has been crowned several times by the Popes, indicating that the first coronation would have been by Pío IX. However, it does not provide precise date or documentary reference, and no detailed and verifiable record of this coronation (decree, exact year, place), or of the number and circumstances of any subsequent coronations has been found in the sources consulted. Since the requested rule requires not to state uncertain data, this fact sheet must be strictly stated: does not contain a documented canonical coronation with verifiable data (year, decree and pontifical delegate) in the sources currently consulted.

Party and devotion

In devotional practice, the sanctuary of Zarvanytsia celebrates its great annual pilgrimage el Nearest Sunday to July 17which functions as the main feast of the sanctuary and of the advocation. At this time, before the war and the recent crises, they usually met in the little town of about 300 inhabitants near 100,000 pilgrims, a figure that shows the strength of this devotion. This pilgrimage has occasionally been conditioned by recent war conflicts, but remains a spiritual reference for the Ukrainian people.

Devotion focuses on the prayer to the icon and in the use of spring water associated with the monk's tradition, to which many attribute special cures and graces. Therefore, Zarvanytsia is sometimes nicknamed "the Heavy of Ucrania. "The faithful arrive on foot on long diocesan or regional pilgrimages, with a strong participation of young people, families and religious communities. The sanctuary also hosts national acts of prayer, such as consecration to the Virgin: for example, the Greek-Catholic greatest patriarch has remembered the consecration of Ukraine to the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Immaculate Heartmade in Zarvanytsia in communion with the Pope in the context of the consecration of Russia and Ukraine.

It is not found in the sources consulted that there is a universally fixed liturgical date in the Roman or Byzantine calendar for "Our Lady of Zarvanytsia" comparable to other Marian memories; the most relevant practice is linked to the great pilgrimage of July and to various local and national celebrations of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church.

Link to the Rosary

The specific sources on Zarvanytsia focus on the apparition to the monk, el icon y el manantialas well as on the pilgrimage and in the veneration of the Greek-Catholic rite; no consta a particular or exclusive tradition that links this explicit and unique vocation to the prayer of Rosary (for example, promises, apparitions with the Rosary in hand, own rosarian copradies, etc.).

However, in the spiritual life of the Ukrainian faithful, the Rosary - especially from Latin tradition and universal Marian spirituality - often accompanies pilgrimages and prayer before the Mother of God in Zarvanytsia, along with the forms of the Byzantine rite: the