Vynnyky. A Way of the Cross Honouring Ukrainian Heroes

In 1999 a Way of the Cross was created in Vynnyky in the Lviv region, on the slope of Zhupan hill. Its 14 stations mark the path of the Son of God bearing the cross of human sins. Services on the Way of the Cross are held for spiritual renewal and to promote Christian values.

Vynnyky. The Way of the Cross

The saying "Each carries his own cross" means following Jesus Christ, patiently overcoming life's hardships and adversities.

 

In 2022 the renewed Way of the Cross gained a metal cross, the state flag, a bell tower and memorial markers in honour of the Heroes of Ukraine, celebrated hetmans, writers and eminent figures.

 

Vynnyky. The Way of the Cross. The bell tower

The sacred way begins at the foot of the hill and leads to its summit (391 metres above sea level). The procession moves from station to station, proclaiming the station's name, with prayer, reflection and worship of Jesus.

 

Vynnyky. Zhupan hill

Station 1 – Jesus is condemned to death.

The faithful commemorate the glorious ancestors who followed Christ: Princess Olha, Prince Volodymyr the Baptiser of Rus-Ukraine, the martyrs Borys and Hlib, Volodymyr Monomakh and countless people of Rus of the princely age.

 

Station 2. Jesus takes up his cross.

The memorial stone names Metropolitan Ipatii Potii, the archbishops Polotskyi and Smotrytskyi, hetmans Petro Sahaidachny, Bohdan Khmelnytsky and Ivan Vyhovsky, otaman Ivan Sirko, the Cossacks of Berestechko, and thousands of knights of the liberation movement for the freedom of Rus-Ukraine.

Station 3. Jesus falls the first time under the cross.

Pilgrims remember Hetman Ivan Mazepa, Colonel Chechel and the defenders of Baturyn, Colonel Pavlo Polubotok, Hetman Pylyp Orlyk, otaman Petro Kalnyshevsky, and the chroniclers Samiilo Velychko and Hryhorii Poletyka.

 

Station 4 – Jesus meets his Mother.

The inscription on the memorial marker honours Hryhorii Skovoroda, Ivan Kotliarevsky, Taras Shevchenko, Markiian Shashkevych, Mykola Kostomarov, Pavlo Chubynsky, Mykola Gogol, Ivan Franko, Lesia Ukrainka, Borys Hrinchenko, Mykhailo Starytsky, Mykola Lysenko and Ilya Repin.

 

On a rise, a sculpture of the Mother of God was set up in 1996.

 

Vynnyky. The sculpture of the Mother of God

Station 5 – Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross.

The stone immortalises the names of Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Symon Petliura, Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky, General Myron Tarnavsky, Colonel Dmytro Vitovsky, Mykola Mikhnovsky, Bohdan Lepky, Ivan Ohiienko, Vasyl Vyshyvany, the students who fell at Kruty, and the participants of the liberation struggle of the early 20th century.

 

Station 6 – St Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.

A quiet prayer remembers the 300 Kobzars and the victims of the Holodomors of the 1920s and 1930s.

 

Station 7 – Jesus falls the second time under the cross.

Here they commemorate the Ukrainians tortured to death in Kolyma, on the Solovki, in Siberia and in other concentration camps.

 

Station 8 – Jesus meets the weeping women.

The memorial slab names Avhustyn Voloshyn and the heroes of Carpathian Ukraine, Colonel Yevhen Konovalets, General Roman Shukhevych and the soldiers of the UPA.

 

Station 9 – Jesus falls the third time under the cross.

They commemorate the servants of God – Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, Cardinal Josyf Slipyj, Patriarch Klymentii Sheptytsky and the witnesses who kept faith with the Church of Christ.

 

Station 10 – Jesus is stripped of his garments.

A prayer is read in memory of those deported from their native lands – the Kholm region, the Lemko region and Nadsiannia.

Station 11 – Jesus is nailed to the cross.

A memorial marker honours the Sixtiers – Vasyl Symonenko, Valerii Marchenko, Ivan Svitlychny, Vasyl Stus, Oleksa Tykhy, Petro Hryhorenko, Mykola Lukash and Viacheslav Chornovil.

 

Station 12 – Jesus dies on the cross.

A memorial prayer in honour of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred.

 

Station 13 – Jesus is taken down from the cross.

A service is held in memory of those fallen in the Russian-Ukrainian war – the defenders of Donetsk airport and those killed at Debaltseve and near Ilovaisk.

 

Station 14 – the body of Jesus is laid in the tomb.

Honour is paid to the feat of the women who, with self-sacrificing love, prayer and patience, completed the feat of the defenders of Christian Rus-Ukraine.

 

On the very summit of the hill the Holy Sepulchre has been recreated, and beside it pilgrims read a prayer with faith in the victory of good over evil.

 

The Way of the Cross lies in the western part of Vynnyky.

Coordinates of the memorial and the first station: 49°49′02.8″N 24°07′48.9″E

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This story is also available in Ukrainian: Винники. Хресна дорога з пам'ятними знаками на честь українських Героїв та захисників християнства Русі-України