Poland honors the memory of composer Mykhailo Verbytsky

The memory of an outstanding Ukrainian composer, the author of the music to the state anthem “Ukraine Has Not Yet Died,” a Greek Catholic priest was honored in the village Mlyny, wojewodztwo podkarpackie (Subcarpathian voivodeship), which used to be part of Yavoriv raion, Lviv oblast, but due to historical circumstances found itself on the other side of the border – only eight kilometers away.

Father Mykhailo Verbytsky was a priest in Mlyny, where he fruitfully worked as a composer, having created many music works, in particular, the music to our immortal anthem. There he died and was buried near the local church of Protection of the Mother of God. This place is now dear to every Ukrainian. On December 7, the day when Mykhailo Verbytsky died, a numerous delegation arrived from Lviv to honor his memory, including the Nadsianna Society, representatives of the local authorities, the authorities from the Yavoriv raion, which borders on Poland, Lviv intelligentsia, and MP Volodymyr Parasiuk. Representatives of Ukrainian civic organizations in Poland came as well.

The commemoration started with a liturgy in Chotyniec village near Mlyny, where there is a unique wooden church of the 17th century that was built by the ancestors of the repatriated Ukrainians who came to honor the memory of Mykhailo Verbytsky and which is now operating as a Greek-Catholic Church. This unique ancient church has been included in the UNESCO world heritage list. Thirty Greek Catholic families are now living in Chotyniec, and this church is the main congregation church for them, as well as for the residents of Mlyny. Only one Greek Catholic family, who takes care of Mykhailo Verbytsky’s grave, is residing in Mlyny. A wooden church which remembers Mykhailo Verbytsky’s father has been preserved in the village. Now it serves to the Polish community, because it is a Roman Catholic church now, but it has preserved the iconostasis and entire interior of a Ukrainian church of Byzantine tradition. The leitmotif of all speeches at the pantheon grave of the composer was that we are approaching to the important dates: March 4, 2015 will mark the 200th anniversary of birth of Mykhailo Verbytsky, March 10, 2015 – 250 years since the anthem “Ukraine Has Not Yet Died” was performed in public, and December 7, 2015 will mark 145 years since Mykhailo Verbytsky’s death. The decision on commemorating Mykhailo Verbytsky was approved on UNESCO level, now it is time for Ukraine to make a similar decision.