The Ukrainian Patriarch Sviatoslav mentioned in his video message for May 1st the life of Blessed priest-martyr Emilian Kovch. Who is this man referenced?

Blessed Emilian Kovch (1884-1944) was the son of a priest, a married Eastern Catholic priest, and father of six who was persecuted by the Nazi ideologues.

Father Emilian served as a military chaplain (1919-1921). At the time he said, “I know that the soldier on the front line feels better when he sees the doctor and the priest also there . . . You know, lads, that I am consecrated, and a bullet doesn’t take a consecrated man easily.”

As Sviatoslav quotes Blessed Emilian, let these words become our own: “Here I see God, Who is one and the same for all.”

Emilian was centered: he focused himself on the Lord of Life, the God who saves, gives mercy, redeems us from death. The patriarch notes that “He [Blessed Emilian] was able to keep a pure heart, even in the depths of the hell of a Nazi concentration camp. May purity of heart be our strength in these military circumstances so that it might be our guarantee of victory over evil.”

Beatified on 27 June 2001 by St Pope John Paul II at Ukraine. The feast day for Blessed Emilian Kovch is March 25.

Read more of Blessed Emilian here.

Let’s take up Patriarch Sviatoslav’s exhortation to keep centered on God. Focus yourself on the purity of heart. Our strength is being of singular in our attention, our purity of heart.

Pray for Blessed Emilian’s intercession.

Blessed Emilian, pray for us.

#StandWithUrkaine