“The Lord is calling you, Myroslav, to become his servant”: Bishop Mykola Bychok ordained Myroslav Vons as a deacon

On Sunday, November 20, in the Cathedral of St. Apostles Peter and Paul during the Divine Liturgy Bishop Mykola Bychok ordained a new deacon for the Eparchy of Melbourne. The last deaconal ordinations in the Eparchy were 8 years ago, in 2014.

“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you”, – these are the words that today’s Gospel ends and shows us, on the one hand, how much an evil spirit can have a huge influence on a person, and on the other hand – how great is God’s Mercy, which manifested through Jesus Christ, who casts out evil spirits. This was said by the Eparch of Melbourne during his sermon on the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost.

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And he added: “Today we will witness how God’s Mercy will descend on Subdeacon Myroslav through his ordination as a deacon. During the Divine Liturgy, after the consecration of the Most Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of the Lord, Subdeacon Myroslav will ascend the throne to accept the diaconate.”

“I want to draw your attention to the fact,” continued the bishop, “that Myroslav, as a candidate for diaconal ordination, came to Australia from Ukraine to devote his life here to serving God and people. On the one hand, this is a great joy for our Eparchy, so that we will have a new worker in the vineyard of Christ, and on the other hand, this is also a sadness, because for quite a long time there have been no vocations to the priestly and monastic order among our faithful in Australia.”

Reflecting on the peculiarity of the deacon’s ministry, the bishop addressed the newly ordained deacon Myroslav with the following words: “The Lord is calling you, Myroslav, to become His servant. He is calling you in a difficult time both for Ukraine, where the war is ongoing, and for our Eparchy, where there is a lack of new vocations.The time in which the service disappears, the Lord calls you to give, in fact, an example of good service. The Lord calls you to serve in the Sacrament – you will be able to help the priest in administering the Holy Mysteries and proclaim God’s Word. All this is not the performance of some specific work, it is a service in which there are no limits. The Lord calls you to serve at the altar, at the most holy place in prayer, where you will serve praying for the whole Church, and also preach at the altar. However, first of all you will preach God with your life.”

The bishop also noted that today’s Gospel is a great wish for Myroslav’s diaconal ministry: “From now on, you will help God’s people on the way to the Kingdom of Heaven, despite all the obstacles that occur in life.”

“Today’s Liturgy in our church should be an opportunity for all of us to thank God for calling Subdeacon Myroslav to the deacon’s service, and later also to the priestly service. Today we should be grateful to God for the fact that together with the people who come to Australia from Ukraine, there are also people who want to serve this people as deacons and priests. Deacon Myroslav will be able to fulfill the vocation received in Ukraine here, in our Eparchy,» Bishop Mykola concluded his sermon with these words and called on everyone to pray for new vocations to the priesthood and monasticism state among the faithful of the Eparchy of Melbourne.

At the end, the bishop congratulated the newly ordained deacon Myroslav on the acceptance of the first stage of the priesthood and wished: “May the Lord bless you with the Holy Spirit, strength, holiness and freedom from all sin. May the Lord grant you a diaconate full of love and purity!”