Vincentian family – Kharkiv, Perechyn, Turia-Remeta together on Hoverla Mountain

Between July 31 and August 6, 2018, we had a chance to visit a pearl of Ukraine – Zakarpattia rigion. It was amazing. In summer Zakarpattia can be no less fabulous than in winter. You can go pick mushrooms, collect forest berries or just stroll around in picturesque woods and climb mountains.

During our trip there, we reflected on Pope Francis’ letter “Gaudete et exsultate” – Rejoice and Be Glad, where the Pontific underlined that holiness involved living a sacramental life by every one of us. Each and every one of us is already holy, and this holiness should be perfected. So, we visited many historical places, walked around in spruce woods and even climbed the highest mountain of Ukraine – Hoverla. We climbed up together with the youth of the village of Turia-Remeta and the town of Perechyn, where the Marian Sisters and the Fathers of the Mission worked.

Our first thought and memory is about our trip to Zakarpattia castles. Sure thing, there are those castles that remained standing in almost all their beauty as well as those that did not yield to the shattering impact of history. We visited three of the most beautiful castles of Zakarpattia: Palanok castle, Uzhhorod castle and the remains of Nevytski castle. To add more, we also visited the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Martin of Tours in Mukacheve and the Cathedral of Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Mukacheve Greek Catholic Diocese). Moreover, we had a chance to visit the episcopal residence close to the cathedral. Besides, we visited a calling card of the region – “Carpathian Jacuzzi” –great cast-iron barrels filled with water and heated by an open fire to 36-40⁰С.

There are so many picturesque and fabulous places in Zakarpattia that it seemed to us you could spend all your life visiting them and still did not see all of them. We are grateful to God for a chance to spend that whole week in Zakarpattia region.

By Dasha Yarmak