Ukrainian Cross of Gratitude at Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

WORCESTER – A Ukrainian with a mission of thanksgiving and unity focused on Christ and his cross spoke at Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish last weekend.

In front of the speaker, Vitaliy Sobolivskyy, lay the Cross of Gratitude – an approximately 800-pound oak crucifix he and his teams have been taking to churches, in nations’ capitals and elsewhere, for nearly two decades.

The mission of this “pilgrimage with the cross” is to prepare for the jubilee, in 2033, of the 2000th anniversary of Jesus’ crucifixion, death and resurrection. The aim is unite all nations into one family at his cross and thank him for salvation.

The cross came to Our Lady of Czestochowa Nov. 1, according to Father Richard W. Polek, pastor. Until it leaves in the evening of Nov. 10, people can venerate it before and after the daily 6:30 a.m. Mass in English and 6:30 p.m. Mass in Polish.

Father Polek said a priest at Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish in Dorchester, where the cross had been, asked if he would also host it.

“When you look at the cross … what do you see?” Father Polek asked his congregation on Sunday. You see Jesus, who “gave his life for you out of love. … So, this cross was made to remind us of this truth.”

Mr. Sobolivskyy, a Ukrainian native, told his story at the weekend Masses and through write-ups displayed with the cross. Helping translate for The Catholic Free Press were his 9-year-old daughter, Mariya Sobolivska, who came with him, and, by telephone, his wife, Viktoriya Sobolivska, and their daughter Veronika Sobolivska, 13.

“I like to travel … with Jesus and my dad,” Mariya said. “When you hug him (Jesus on the cross) or kiss him, you feel better or happy.”

Before father and daughter left Sunday for their home in New Jersey, Father Polek said, they asked him to unlock the church so they could say good-bye to Jesus.

This cross – and Jesus himself – are “part of the family,” the pastor observed. “I myself was very moved.” He said the father set a great example of love and faith for his daughter.

“People were moved by the cross and the story; after each Mass there were lines” of worshippers waiting to venerate the cross and speak with Mr. Sobolivskyy, Father Polek said.

Recounting the story, Mr. Sobolivskyy said that, on Easter morning in 2003, when he lived in Ukraine, he heard, audibly and in his heart, a man’s voice saying, “Take my cross and carry it to all the capital cities of the world.” It is to be a sign of gratitude to God for salvation.

Mr. Sobolivskyy said he told a bishop and the bishop cried and asked, “Has this time really come?” He did not know what the bishop meant but was encouraged in the endeavor.

A man named Bogdan made the cross, which Mr. Sobolivskyy designed. For the corpus, Mr. Sobolivskyy sent friends to a man named Urij. Veronika recounted that story.

When the friends arrived, Urij was expecting them. He said Jesus had told him in dreams for nine nights that people would come and that he needed to make a corpus for a cross.

The pilgrimage with this crucifix began in November 2005 in Lviv, Ukraine, and has continued since then, Mr. Sobolivskyy said. Sometimes the cross stays in one place for a period of time. Pope John Paul II (now St. John Paul II), Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have blessed the mission.

Mr. Sobolivskyy said he and teams that help him have taken the cross to 46 capitals in Europe, and to churches in Washington, D.C., and other places in the United States.

“In many places, the cross was present during holy Mass, night vigils, adoration, and was carried by the faithful along the streets … joining Christ on the way of the cross,” a write-up says. The cross has been carried by different groups of Christians and by Muslims and Buddhists.

There are hopes for pilgrimages to Canada, Central and South America, Asia, Africa, Indonesia and Australia, covering an additional 160 capitals by 2033.
Veronika said Jesus told her father that every capital city needs a larger cross. People from all the world are to gather near those crosses on Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter in 2033 and thank Jesus for his death and resurrection.

“It’s really a good reminder of our unity and peace, in the midst of all that’s going on in the world right now,” Erin McCarthy said after seeing the cross Sunday at Our Lady of Czestochowa. She marveled at its magnitude – in its size and that people throughout the world venerate it.

Also striking, said her husband, William McCarthy, is “the magnitude of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for us, both individually and collectively.”
“It’s beautiful,” said Paul Dowd, an altar server at Our Lady of Czestochowa, after seeing the cross.

His fellow parishioner Maryja Prytko spoke of praying for people in Ukraine and Israel.

Gregory Okpalafulaku said his 5-year-old, Neveah, has been asking questions about the Stations of the Cross. He brought her up to the Cross of Gratitude so she could see and touch it.

“It feels so soft,” the child said. “We love Jesus.”

 “I’m trying to bring her up in the Catholic faith, the same upbringing I got from my parents,” said her father. “He died for us on the cross to give us salvation. These are the things I want to instill in her.”