11/03/2025
BLESSED MYKOLAY (NICOLAS) CHARNETSKYI CSsR
Seán Wales CSsR
Christianity came to Ukraine in A.D. 988. It came in its Byzantine-Slavic form and established itself before the great schism between East and West in 1054. The ramifications of division between Rome, Constantinople, Kyiv and Moscow are still challenging us today.
The Ukraine into which Mykolay (Nicolas) Charnetskyi was born in 1884 was predominantly Orthodox and under the ecclesiastical oversight of the Patriarchy of Moscow. However, Mykolay’s family belonged to the Roman Catholic Church (albeit in its Slavic tradition).
In that tradition Mykolay grew up and discerned a vocation to the priesthood. At the age of 19 he was sent by his bishop to Rome where he became a student in the Ukrainian College, near the Coliseum. He completed the usual studies (philosophy and theology) over six years and was ordained priest at the age of 25. A more than capable student, he was sent back to Rome to further his studies, earning a doctorate in theology.
On finally getting back to Ukraine, he was appointed to the local seminary to teach philosophy and fundamental theology. He was also spiritual director to the seminarians. He soon found himself in an awkward situation. Several of his students were attracted to a newly arrived Religious Congregation from Belgium, founded by St Alphonsus Liguori. The more Fr Mykolay heard about the Redemptorists, their spirit and their ministries, the more he himself felt drawn in that direction.
In 1919 he followed his students, entered the Novitiate, and made his Religious Profession in 1920. He relished the charism of St Alphonsus, the strong community spirit and the atmosphere of spiritual dedication among the confreres. He was enthusiastic about parish missions and retreats and about the contemplative dimension of the “monks” as they were then called.
One aspect of the apostolate captured his attention: many Orthodox parishes in the Ukraine had been abandoned due to lack of clergy and a considerable number of them turned to the Catholic authorities asking to be admitted to the Catholic Church to avail themselves of the sacraments. Fr Mykolay was drawn to offer such abandoned Christians pastoral care. Because of the unstable political situation, parts of Ukraine were under Russian or Polish or Austrian control resulting in a chaotic ecclesiastical situation. In the midst of all this, the Redemptorists tried to minister to those most in need. It became obvious to the Catholic Church authorities that an Eastern-rite eparchy (diocese) with its own bishop was necessary.
On Sunday 8 February 1931, Mykolay Charnetskyi was ordained titular Bishop of Lebedos and Apostolic Visitator for the faithful of the Ukrainian Rite. The ordination took place in San’ Alfonso church in Rome, in front of the Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. Mykolay himself described the whole event as “being struck with thunder”. He commented on the surprising and innovative decision “to transplant a Latin religious order into an Eastern Rite”.
In the Byzantine rite of consecration of a bishop, a symbolic crown is paced on the new bishop’s head. At one moment in the ceremony the crown on Nicolas’ head fell off and the new bishop was heard to say: “It will fall again, but then it will be together with my head.” No one thought he was joking.
Bishop Mykolay enjoyed 14 years of normal pastoral work in close collaboration with his Redemptorist confreres: tough years of travelling, preaching and teaching in the shadow of what became World War II. The Soviet Union dominated every aspect of life in Ukraine, so regular pastoral life was greatly impeded. In 1941, the German army became the occupying power but in 1944 the Soviets returned, and severe persecution of the Church ensued.
On the night of 10/11 April 1945 the entire Ukrainian hierarchy, including Bishop Mykolay, were arrested and imprisoned.
For the next 11 years the life of Bishop Charnetskyi followed the pattern so vividly described in the writings of Alexander Solzhenitsyn (especially in The Gulag Archipelago). Forced hard labour, one concentration camp after another, extremes of interrogation, humiliations after humiliations, all were visited on this frail and elderly bishop. Fr John Sianchuk has collected testimonies from fellow prisoners, clerical and lay, about the patience, kindness and gentleness of Bishop Mykolay. From all accounts, he never lost an opportunity to minister to his fellow prisoners, to pray with them and even at times to celebrate the Divine Liturgy secretly with them and for them. These were the years of the making of a martyr.
Bishop Charnetskyi’s health was never robust and by 1956 the Soviet authorities were afraid he would die in prison, so he was released. Almost unable to walk, another priest and a layman were released with him and were ordered to take him back to Lviv. He was then 72 years of age.
He was prohibited from any public functions and lived a silent and intensely prayerful life with Br Klymenity C.Ss.R. Three years later he died of intestinal cancer. His last words were a prayer to Our Mother of Perpetual Help. That was in 1959, the year I entered the novitiate in Kinnoull.
My prayer is that something of the spirit of Blessed Nicolas, something of his patience, kindness and gentleness will live on in us and help form us as credible witnesses to the Crucified Jesus.
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Prayer for Ukraine
Loving Father,
you have called us to follow Jesus,
your beloved Son and our most holy Redeemer.
We thank you for the grace you gave to our confreres
Mykolay Charnetskyi, Vasyl Velchkovsky, Zenon Kovalyk and Ivan Ziatyk
and to all their spiritual companions,
which enabled them, in your Spirit of Truth and Love,
to pay the ultimate price of faithfulness
in giving their lives for the Gospel.
Beatified by the Church, they are for us
a glorious witness to your powerful presence in our lives.
Through their intercession we pray for the people of Ukraine,
for all those suffering or afraid,
that you would be close to them and protect them.
We pray for world leaders,
for compassion, strength and wisdom
to guide the choices they make.
May we walk in your ways
so that peace and justice become a reality for the people of Ukraine
and for all the world,
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us.
St Alphonsus, St Gerard, St Clement, St John Neumann, pray for us.
Our Ukrainian Redemptorist martyrs, Blesseds Mykolay, Vasyl, Zenon and Ivan, pray for us.
