Church of the Ascension, Lviv

TheChurch of the Ascension is a Greek Catholic church in Lviv's Levandivka neighborhood.

The Church of Sts. Andrew and Josaphat, which was the only one in Levandivka in the early 1990s, could not accommodate all the faithful, and many believers asked God from the depths of their hearts to bless their needs of souls and bodies, which could find their fulfillment in catechetical teaching in the premises of a large church.

It was the time of the collapse of the USSR and the emergence of the UGCC from the underground, when so many human hearts needed God's churches. The history of Levandivka's old-timers records good examples from the lives of grandfathers who, together with their wives and children, carried bricks from the train station to the place where the Church of St. Andrew and St. Josaphat is now located. Their desire to have their own church was so great. Having such a good example of self-sacrifice and labor, their descendants also tried to contribute to the construction of a new church, the old one being too small.

However, the time of economic hardship came, inflation turned all savings into pennies, and the community had no chance to build a much-needed church on its own. However, the prayer was not in vain. God found us generous and kind people who, with their donation (not too big for them at the time), revived our hope, supported our good dreams, and in 1992, through the efforts of the parish priest, Father Oleksii Vaskiv, and architect Mykola Rybenchuk, a project of the Church of the Ascension was developed, which included rooms for catechesis of children and spiritual studies for young people.

The dedication of the stone and the site for the new church took place on June 7, 1992, performed by Metropolitan Volodymyr Sterniuk and Bishop Filimon Kurchaba in concelebration with many priests. Fr. Mykhailo Pryshliak preached the sermon at the Divine Liturgy. Since the dedication of the site for the church, the Holy Liturgy has been celebrated there every Sunday.

Numerous faithful, parishioners, donors, and various organizations contributed to the construction of the building with their prayers and donations. The sincere prayer and sacrifice of the human heart would rise to the throne of God and, turning into a sea of graces and blessings, return to the souls of the parishioners. Gradually, a community was created, which, under the leadership of the pastor, grew in friendship, sacrifice, and mutual understanding, putting brick by brick into a man-made common church for their spiritual needs, for their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren... for the distant future. In the meantime, the Lord, carefully placing His graces where people trust Him, builds the temples of our souls, and at the same time a community of love.

What we have today cannot be fully seen with our own eyes or described in words. We see a wonderful building, though not yet completed according to the creative plan, we see a beautiful community, but also not yet perfectly fulfilled according to our dreams and God's plans. Both are in a state of flux - a process of growth and improvement.

In the spacious church with balconies, several thousand people can pray at the same time. In the basement, there is a cozy modern lecture hall, workshops, refectory, etc. On the third floor are the offices of the School of Family and the youth organization Posvit. On the fourth floor there is a catechetical school.

In 2002, the first liturgy was held in the new church.

Today we praise God for His untold gifts, ask for blessings for our church, for our families, for every person. We recall the inspired prayer of the bishops, the generous hearts of the donors, the tireless work and sleepless nights of the pastor and our spiritual fathers, the creative contribution of the architect, the dedication of the treasurer and suppliers, the hard work of the foreman and the workers, the cleaners and maids of the church and the sisters of the Marian catechists, the deacons, the sextons, and all the faithful people of good will who put a piece of their hearts into this shrine... Nothing is forgotten with God. However, remembering the saving words of the Bible, "If the Lord does not build a house, its builders labor in vain. If the Lord does not keep the city, the watchman watches in vain" (Psalm 127:1), let us say with one voice the words of the Psalmist: "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your mercy and your truth" (Psalm 115:1).

Would anyone have thought twenty or thirty years ago that such a majestic Church of God would be built here, on the eternal swamps on the outskirts of Lviv, uniting thousands of people in common prayer, becoming a kind of spiritual center of Levandivka? It is exactly what Fr. Oleksiy saw in his dream: white, majestic, with five domes (four on the church and one on the bell tower), designed by architect Mykola Rybenchuk. The church complex consists of the Church of the Ascension, the Chapel of the Intercession of the Mother of God, and a Sunday school. We hope that next year the construction of the bell tower will be completed.

Several thousand people can pray in the spacious church with balconies at the same time. In the basement there is a cozy modern lecture hall, workshops, refectory, etc. On the third floor are the offices of the School of Family and the youth organization Posvit. On the fourth floor there is a catechetical school. It is difficult to calculate the cost of building the church: prices changed, monetary units changed. I can't count the kilometers we had to travel in search of the necessary building materials, the time we spent knocking on the doors of various organizations and asking for help, remembering the words of Christ: "Ask and it will be given to you, knock and it will be opened to you." And by the will of God, people responded sincerely. And today we have such a majestic shrine.

As of 2018, five priests serve in the church: Fr. Yaroslav Hevak (parish administrator), Fr. Oleksandr Pavlyshyn, Fr. Fedir Dubey, Fr. Mykhailo Yatsyshyn, and Fr. Roman Moravsky. The church has a Marian team, the Posvit Society, an altar team, Mothers in Prayer, a Bible study, a catechetical school, a family school, the Brotherhood of St. Joseph, the Step Forward Children's Center, the Horitsvit community, and youth and adult choirs.