Miracle of youth

A miracle happened Monday at St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Welland. January 7 is Christmas for those who celebrate the holiday according to the Julian calendar. Church attendance on the Monday was a little less than the previous Sunday. However, attendance by children was higher. An astounding 10 children under the age of 7 attended. For the past 50 years, there has never been that many children at a Christmas service.

What makes this even more miraculous is what I wrote to His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 1, 2018. Father Victor Nazartchyk had become the parish administrator for St. Michael’s in September of 2017.

I wrote: “In the past, children were almost never found in our church. There were some Sundays where I was the youngest in the church and I’m on pension. When parents brought their baby to church, Father Victor said to the parish, ‘I love to see children in church. I wish there were 10 children here.’ ”

Well, the Holy Spirit has fulfilled Father Victor’s wish.

Michael Cherwonogrodzky

Welland