Miracle comes true

On Oct. 30, 2009, Ostroh Academy traditionally marked its anniversary. This year it was a special occasion, the 15th anniversary. The Day’s editors suggested adding several hundred years to the history of the academy, Eastern Europe’s first institution of higher learning.

Ostroh Academy’s Rector Viktor Pasichnyk believes that its remarkably rapid progress is explained by the presence of people willing to lend the academy a helping hand. Among them are not only ethnic Ukrainians in the diaspora, where the philanthropic tradition is especially strong. Ostroh Academy has succeeded in finding philanthropists in Ukraine, people who took an active part in its revival and not only in financial terms. There was cultural philanthropism — people who worked hard to upgrade Ostroh Academy’s research potential, creating new ideas and telling the rest of Ukraine about the Ostroh Academy phenomenon.

The students and lecturers who attended the anniversary ceremony paid tribute to the founding fathers and patrons — Mykola Kovalsky, Petro Andrukhov, Vasyl Khanenko, Mykola Zhulynsky, Liubomyr Buniak, Mykola Soroka, Erast Huculak, Myron Kuropas — and to people in the audience who had been supporting Ostroh Academy both financially and culturally. One of them is Roman Vasylyshyn. In the early 1990s he was the president’s representative in Rivne oblast and supported Pasichnyk in the initial phase of Ostroh Academy’s revival.

Among these people is also Larysa Ivshyna, the editor in chief of Den/The Day. After she acquainted herself with Ostroh Academy, a series of meetings with noted individuals and intellectual debates followed. It was thanks to this lady that the rest of Ukraine learned about Ostroh Academy. She was the one to suggest Ostroh Club as a free intellectual youth environment. This club has existed for a number of years now, attracting and uniting young people from all parts of Ukraine.

Rector Ihor Pasichnyk affectionately refers to Ivshyna as “our good friend Larysa from Volyn.” Ivshyna admits that she first visited Ostroh because she followed her fellow countryman Mykola Zhulynsky’s advice as an “obedient girl of Volyn.” As the editor in chief of Den/The Day, Ivshyna is convinced that “there are many clever people in Ukraine and one ought to listen to what they have to say automatically, then we’ll have a smaller number of problems.”

Another figure in this cohort is Yevhen Marchuk. He used his status of Ukraine’s minister of defense to transform a bunch of abandoned army barracks into a neat military college campus. This college is now run by Ostroh Academy.

Olena and Vitalii Haiduk, a family that joined the Ostroh Academy project fairly recently, contributed computers to equip the academy’s virtual library. They continue helping the academy and are an example of the values that should be the foundation of Ukrainian businesses. These are the beginnings of philanthropism in Ukraine.

What makes Ostroh Academy special is its stand in matters pertaining to historical memory. Each person has the right to voice his/her views and emotions, and so the anniversary festivities turned into a polyphony that blended into one story of the academy’s revival. According to Yevhen Marchuk, every visit to Ostroh Academy makes one physically aware of being on holy ground and partaking of some divine wisdom that can hardly be expressed in words. Ostroh Academy has made its name in and far outside Ukraine. It counterbalances the negative or neutral attitudes to Ukraine, formed over the past couple of years. This is a unique phenomenon, something Ukraine will be proud of long afterward. Ivshyna brought a present to Ostroh Academy that could be described as a living reflection of the its history: a collection of more than 160 articles about the academy published in Den/The Day over the years. This present was a symbolic confirmation of Ivshyna’s statement: “Our contacts are more like warm friendly relationships because we appear to strengthen each other. I love this academy’s atmosphere and the aura created by Ihor Pasichnyk and his talent. Chernivtsi recently hosted a meeting of the Ostroh Club where young people from all over Ukraine — including Sevastopol and Simferopol — were free to share their ideas… The spirit of culture and faith and the awareness of one’s immense cultural heritage, tradition, and intellect are the only force capable uniting us and creating something real.”

Vitalii Haiduk believes that Ostroh Academy is a unique institution that treats each of its students individually, while most universities produce graduates on a conveyor-line basis. The name of the university and that of his rector have long become well-known brands: “We are grateful to Larysa Ivshyna for bringing us to this educational establishment. What we felt was love at first sight. Although we studied in Donetsk, now we recommend all Donetsk students to share Ostroh Academy’s experience, for this academy is a cultural treasure trove of the Ukrainian nation.”

Olena and Vitalii Haiduk became so keenly aware of Ostroh Academy and its spirit that they made a priceless gift on the date of its anniversary, bringing back home the well-known Ostroh Bible printed as far back as 1581. This book can correctly be referred to as a spiritual source of the Ukrainian nation. It has helped preserve this nation, in that it confirmned the equal status and importance of the Ukrainian language and the extraordinary potential of Ukrainians. For centuries it has been outside Ostroh. After the revival of Ostroh Academy, bringing the Ostroh Bible back home was a cherished dream because the academy could not afford this, even though this relic belonged to the academy by every right. Fortunately, there are people in Ukraine who can help make such dreams come true. What the Haiduks did was more than a birthday present for Ostroh Academy — it was proof that a true miracle is being worked within its walls, something its students, lecturers, and guests have kept confirming.

COMMENTARIES

Ivan Pasichnyk, rector, Ostroh Academy:

“Here is the story. On their first visit to Ostroh Academy in 2007 Olena and Vitalii Haiduk asked me about my biggest dream. I said it was dreaming of bringing the original Ostroh Bible back to the academy. It was only natural; all of us here wouldn’t want anything else. There is an entire epoch connected with this Bible. Before it appeared in print, Greek and Latin were the only canonical languages. After the Bible and other religious publications were produced by Ostroh Academy, Old Ukrainian became another canonical language. Moreover, despite the baptism of Rus’, most people did not understand and were unable to read the Scriptures. Furthermore, Dr. Torkoniak and a team of theologians proved that the Ostroh Bible’s canonical status is beyond doubt, because authentic original sources were used to produce this translation. After I told Vitalii Haiduk about my cherished dream, this modest and dignified man kept silent. It transpired later that he had been long searching for this Bible on various markets (there are numerous faked copies now) until he found it in another country and bought it. After that he sent it to the Institute of Restoration. He told me later that keeping his project in secret was the hardest. And now imagine: the Ostroh Bible came in a special package here to Ostroh Academy on its 15th anniversary!

“After Vitalii Haiduk surprised me by handing me the Bible, I found myself speechless, despite being a professional psychologist. The audience responded with a standing 10-15-minute ovation. All of Ostroh Academy was euphoric. Den/The Day has played an important role in Ostroh Academy’s revival. Thanks to this newspaper, we have a number of philanthropists prepared and willing to help us in terms of money and cultural support. In one of my interviews with this newspaper I mentioned that the Canadian billionaire Erast Huculak learned about our academy from one of your articles. He is now sponsoring the construction of a university building. As for the Haiduks, they are true patrons of the national scope.

“There was no Ostroh Bible when the academy was being revived. Bringing it back home is an event of national rather than provincial or even regional import. The Ostroh Bible is back home, where it actually appeared in print. I am proud to state this fact, the more so that it was made possible owing to the effort of a true Ukrainian philanthropist.”

Yevhen MARCHUK, former Minister of Defense, advisor to the President of Ukraine:

“We’re standing by this guelder rose shrub. I remember seeing it when we first came here in late autumn. This shrub has grown since then, which is only natural.

“Ostroh Academy is young, only 15, but it was actually born 440 years ago. I remember putting forward a proposal, back in 1999, to the effect that all presidential candidates must take a public exam at Ostroh Academy on issues within the president’s jurisdiction and that students rather than lecturers should be the examiners. We are all aware of them only too well. The president is the head of state, which means that he is in charge of our state and the way our laws are observed. He is Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which means his responsibility for what’s happening in the army, defenses, and national security. He is the guarantor of the Constitution of Ukraine, which means making sure all civil rights and liberties are duly observed, including the history of liberation movements. In a word, the powers vested in our President are clearly formulated in our Constitution and several other normative documents. Our President starts implementing them on the second day following the inauguration ceremony.

“I wrote an article in which I explained why candidates have to study to become president. Today I feel that I was right at the time, because I know what it takes to run a country. There are many presidential candidates, but some (not all) of them do not have the slightest idea of how to handle task they’re willing to undertake.

“On this festive occasion at Ostroh Academy, I believe the right thing to do would be to reconstruct events of the time when Ihor Pasichnyk first came here and when there was nothing in place of today’s academy. If I were him, I would probably write a book about how Ostroh Academy was revived, paying tribute to all those involved in the project. Above all, of course, this book should emphasize Ihor Pasichnyk’s role and contribution. This rector is a modest man, and he absolutely deserved the title ‘Hero of Ukraine’ when he received it. I think he ought to have been conferred this title earlier — well, better late than never.

“Also, every time I visit the Academy, especially when entering the Conference Hall, I find myself keenly aware of that youthful atmosphere with its strong impulses that add so much to your optimism. It is written: For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. I have seen — and still see — many people holding major political posts while being unable to measure up to them. In your youthful audience I am aware of a strong optimistic mood (Larysa Ivshyna has told me so much about you), of people who really believe that they will eventually live in a normal country.”

Vitalii HAIDUK, head of the Ukrainian prime minister’s team of advisors, philanthropist:

“We saw the academy’s progress since our first visit there. It is acquiring new qualities and an aura of nobility. The students appear to be keenly aware of their mission in Ukraine’s development. Ostroh Academy offers an excellent opportunity to the young people who wish to develop their skills in the humanities. We see a classical educational establishment here. On the one hand, this academy is located in a town. On the other hand, it offers five years of total immersion into studies and protection against all those temptations we observe everywhere.”

Larysa IVSHYNA, editor in chief, Den/The Day:

“In the first place, it is very important that people who visit Ostroh Academy leave with a desire to come again. They find here a source that can replenish their strength, and then they rally round the Ostroh Academy people, who believe that Ukraine can be revived the way this academy was.

“The situation in Ukraine is markedly heterogeneous. This has everything to do with how strong there tradition were in terms of education, faith, and culture. You can bring sophisticated equipment from any part of the world, launch an active business, and train your personnel, but no one except Ukrainians can revive their spiritual world in which every country is unique, second to none, including China, Germany, or Russia. We have our only Mother-Ukraine and hope she will flourish when fully restored.

“I believe that the miracle of returning the Ostroh Bible to where it belongs — made true owing to Olena and Vitalii Haiduk’s dedicated effort — has inspired our younger generation to live so they can accomplish good deeds. When they become successful, they will remember that all of us owe so much to this country and we must work hard to pay it back.

“I think that this predominant aura is proof of Ihor Pasichnyk’s pedagogical talent and strong human potential. There are educational establishments that can argue their ratings (a factor to be taken into account), yet everything that has been — and will be — accomplished by Ostroh Academy is based on the people who trust Ihor Pasichnyk and spare no effort in helping him with his task. I mean philanthropists, people who can see the brilliant way in which everything is being done here, the way this academy was raised from ruins, the way its modern library was created (ranking with Ukraine’s best), and its splendid art gallery. I come to Ostroh Academy very often, once or several times a year, and I can see constant changes [for the better]. I wish all Ostroh students to realize the excellent opportunity they have, share their knowledge with others, and keep working at the Ostroh Club as a place where young people can freely share their intellectual experiences, so as to speed up the process of Ukraine’s inner integration, which will doubtlessly unite us with the rest of the world after we have shared with each other the best of our knowledge and skills. Then it will be easier to convince [the rest of] the world that we have changed for the better and are, perhaps, more interesting in some respects. That’s why we will keep collaborating with Ostroh Academy.”