News

The Ukrainian-American community of Perth Amboy, NJ celebrated the 25th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence on Wednesday, August 24, 2016 with a celebration of the Moleben to the Blessed Mother of God at the church, followed by a flag-raising ceremony and the singing of the Ukrainian national anthem in front of the parish school. The day’s speakers, Roman Wernyj underscored Ukraine’s achievements in a short period of Ukrainian independence and Olga Lytvyn spoke eloquently of the importance of this day for every Ukrainian living in the USA. The parish youth joined the festivities by planting an oak tree outside the school to commemorate the 25th Anniversary.

On Saturday, June 25, 2016, beyond our expectations, the church grounds and the school hall of our parish swelled with neighbors and those who traveled quite a distance, primarily UkrainianAmericans, but mostly non-Ukrainians, to appreciate Ukrainian culture, crafts, foods and entertainment at the parish festival. Throughout the sun filled day, more than 2000 guests, including His Grace, Metropolitan Stefan Soroka, Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, the Honorable Wilda Diaz, Mayor of the City of Perth Amboy, NJ, could be seen enjoying themselves, eating the delicious Ukrainian food, listening to lively Ukrainian music, socializing with friends and neighbors, and enjoying the entertainment of our incredible Ukrainian dance performances. The Festival Committee and its chairperson, Mr. Ronald Mascenik, would like to thank everyone who came to the festival, purchased raffle tickets, or made a donation to the event. Our Festival was a huge success, thanks to the incredible work of so many volunteers. Thank you to everyone – the Festival Committee who spent many weeks of planning and organizing, volunteers who gave up their valuable free time to prepare our traditional Ukrainian food by working many days in a row cooking at the kitchen, to our parish secretary who handled pre-sales, ordering and so many details, ad booklet organizer, ladies who baked, volunteers who decorated the hall, were in charge of money and gifts raffles, organized church tour, set up our big tent, picked up food at stores, vendor’s organizer, ticket booths sellers, stage/sound person, security, MCs, setup and cleanup crews, servers at the kitchen and bake table, parish dancers and singers, volunteers who picked up trash and washed tables and all the forgotten helpers who made the festival a great success. We especially want to thank our main sponsor "Meest-America, Inc" that provides international delivery of packages and all the sponsors whose support was crucial to our success. From a financial standpoint, this year’s festival provided a "NICE BUMP of $2,000" over last year. Gross Income – $43,650.00, Total Expenses – $18,115.16, Net Profit – $25,534.84. As your pastor, I was so proud to see so many people working together as ONE PARISH FAMILY. It was another proof that Assumption Parish shines when we all work together as one family! Thank you and may God bless you for using His gifts.

Ten years ago Deacon Paul Makar of Assumption Church in Perth Amboy, NJ began studies at the Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ for a Masters degree in Pastoral Ministry. Unfortunately, his studies were interrupted after he was diagnosed with MS. For several years he had problems walking. However, two years ago just before retiring he decided to visit the Seminary and see how many courses that… he would need to meet the 49 credits required to complete the program. He needed five course plus one unit of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education). On May 12th graduation ceremonies were held at the Archdiocese of Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and Deacon Paul received a Master of Arts degree in Pastoral Ministry. This is Deacon Paul’s third Masters Degree. He has a MA in Dogmatic Theology, MBA in Marketing, and now MAPM. Deacon Paul is very grateful for the graces that he received from our Lord God Savior Jesus Christ and guidance from the Holy Spirit during his scholastic journey. Also, for the support and encouragement that he received from his wife Anna, pastor Fr. Ivan Turyk, and oldest son Fr. Paul J. Makar enabled him to follow his dream and to make it come true. What’s next? He recently began volunteering as a Hospice chaplain. Congratulations Deacon Paul! Your accomplishment is well deserved!

The Ukrainian Assumption Seniors held their monthly meeting on Thursday, April 14, 2016. A successful trip to Atlantic City was held on April 3, 2016. The Seniors will donate two gifts to the basket raffle for the Ukrainian Festival to be held June 25, 2016. Three Graduation Awards for the Class of 2016 will be sponsored by the Seniors: two for Community Service and One for Religion. An informative program was presented by Carolyn Maxwell: Owner/Editor/Publisher/Advertising Manager of the Amboy Guardian and Katherine Massopust Asst. Editor/Writer/Layout of the Amboy Guardian. The Amboy Guardian is a local weekly newspaper in Perth Amboy. A Luncheon followed arranged by Eleanor Kataryniak.

On Sunday, April 10th, 2016 at the conclusion of Divine Liturgy Fr. Ivan Turyk presented to his parishioners a blue and yellow flag which was signed as a gift to the parish from Ukrainian soldiers in the war zone. It is very sad that there is no peace in Ukraine and many people are still dying, losing their loved ones and being forced to flee their homes. As Christians we are called to pray and help people in such difficult circumstances.

Assumption Parish in Perth Amboy, NJ held it’s annual Easter Egg Hunt on Palm Sunday, March 20, 2016. Over 60 children from the church joined in to find a reported 600 eggs that were prepared by men from the Holy Name Society. It was a blast! The children had a great time hunting for eggs filled with goodies such as coins and candies. From the looks of things, everyone had a great time, and not just the kids either, the parents and grandparents and families had fun just watching. Many thanks goes also to Fr. Yuriy Banga, C.Ss.R., a Redemptorist Father from Lviv, Ukraine for conducting the very moving and spiritual Lenten Mission this year.

On Saturday, March 12th, 2016 at their Annual Shield Awards ceremony the Knights of Columbus, San Salvador Council No. 299 in Perth Amboy, NJ have honored ACS teacher Mrs. Mariya Derevenska with the Teacher of the Year Award. Mrs. Derevenska has been teaching at Assumption Catholic School for for almost ten years and in these years she developed an exciting, yet, rigorous reading and writing curriculum that has the majo…rity of her Kindergarten class reading and writing by the end of January. She also created a contagious passion for learning math and counting everything – even the ceiling tiles. If you thought she was Super Woman in the classroom she proved to Wonder Woman in the kitchen! She started the Annual ACS Thanksgiving Feast where she cooked and prepared over 12 turkeys and all the fixings with the help of parents. It gave our entire school a time to be thankful for their second family at Assumption Catholic. Mrs. D, as her students lovingly call her, is truly loved by our administrators, our parents and the entire student body for her energy, dedication, passion for Catholic Education and love that she has for our school and for all of our students. Congratulations and thank you Mrs. D for a job well done!

"A time to Heal, to Help, to Forgive" –  Pope Francis
 
On Sunday February 28, 2016, the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Assumption of the BVM in Perth Amboy, NJ became an official pilgrimage site for Holy Year of Mercy.  This is one of three parishes in New Jersey that have been designated by Pope Francis and Metropolitan-Archbishop Stefan for the clergy, religious, and faithful of our Archeparchy to visit during this Jubilee Year of Mercy and receive a plenary Jubilee Indulgence.
Nearly  300 people, including clergy, religious and laity participated at  the official opening of the Jubilee Year of Mercy at Assumption parish.  The ceremony began with a procession of the clergy from the rectory to the main entrance of the church.  Rev. Taras Lonchyna, pastor of St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Church in Trenton, NJ and Dean of the NJ Deanery, along with Rev. Ivan Turyk, pastor of the Assumption parish in Perth Amboy, NJ  and visiting priests performed the rite of opening the two main doors of the church.  Fr. Taras  knocked on the Holy Door with the cross and the blessing of holy water followed, a reminder of our Baptism and our commitment to share God’s message of mercy and reconciliation. After the ceremony, the doors that were decorated by a banner and beautiful floral arrangement, were  opened and altar servers, priests and the congregation entered.
Fr. Taras Lonchyna together with concelebrating priests and the faithful (pilgrims) began to celebrate the "Akathist to the Divine Passion of Christ."  The church was filled to capacity.  Confessions were also being heard during this time.  At the conclusion of the Akathist service a very moving homily was delivered by Fr. Taras Lonchyna.  He emphasized the importance of Mercy and Forgiveness.  Echoing Pope Francis – "It is a favorable time to heal wounds, a time to offer everyone the way of Forgiveness and Reconciliation".  A gathering followed afterwards in the Church Hall with refreshments.  This has been truly a very blessed and special day in the history of the Assumption parish.