From Markivtsi to the temple

Markivtsi is a small village located off the busy highway from Khmelnytsky to Vinnytsia. This village has been “inscribed” in the latter-day history of the Orthodox world. “Over there is the home in which His Eminence was born,” says 75-year-old Stepan Sabodan, referring to his younger brother.

A tidy courtyard opens onto a small orchard and in the distance is the Southern Buh River, flowing wide and deep here. “We would go this way down to the river and herd cattle in the pasture. Our parents worked on the collective farm from dawn until dusk, so we had to take care of the household,” Stepan recalls.

This village home has housed three generations of Sabodans. “Our grandfather Arsen built it. It was made of wood and began to sink in 1946. Major repairs were made and the beams and pillars were replaced.” Additional repairs were made after Metropolitan Volodymyr (Viktor Markianovych Sabodan) was ordained as the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. “All the construction materials were brought from Kyiv. We had to decide whether to build a new home on this site or rebuild the old one. We decided to leave the old one. It’s memory, you see.” In place of the barn is a summer refectory. “His Eminence comes with his entourage and we relax in the refectory in the evening. The cuckoos call out and the frogs croak. It’s beautiful. Everybody is listening, breathing in the fresh air, it’s like paradise,” Stepan Sabodan shares his impressions of springtime.

His Eminence visits Markivtsi on the second Sunday after Easter, in time for the provody (folk ritual of seeing off Easter and remembering the dead). Here at the village cemetery are the most revered graves of the head of the UOC, in which his parents found their last repose. Afterward he celebrates a divine service at the Church of St. Michael the Archangel, where according to the metropolitan’s biographer, he “did various chores since he was nine years old.”

“Our parents were devout believers. Don’t forget that this was during the years of militant atheism. When my brother and I grew up, I went to the army and His Eminence enrolled in the theological seminary in Odesa. When our schoolteachers learned that he was studying at the seminary, they began visiting our home and demanding that he return home. They threatened that I would be thrown out of the army. Finally our mother got really angry. She walked out of the house with a poker and told the teachers to get lost. That was the end of that terror,” says Stepan Markiyanovych.

The neat courtyard is planted with flowers that have long shed their blossoms. “His Eminence wrote a poem about chamomile and set it to music. We sing it when he visits,” says the brother of the Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine. Then he invites me to the sitting room decorated with many icons under which generations of Sabodans have ardently prayed.

This is an ordinary village home that comes alive only when His Eminence visits Markivtsi. On every such occasion his brother comes from the neighboring village of Novokostiantyniv, which is also in Letychiv raion. Stepan Markiyanovych has dedicated his life to secular work as a veterinarian. While both brothers are away, the household is kept in immaculate order by the people living next door. The flower beds, the young orchards, planted by the brothers, are tended with loving care. “This autumn I gathered the first harvest of apples from these trees planted by His Eminence,” says Stepan happily.

The church in Markivtsi was closed that day. “Rev. Oleksandr conducts a service every second week, alternating between Herchyntsi and here in Markivtsi,” I was told by 62-year-old Halyna Malynovska, a cousin of the Sabodans, who added that “their mother and my father were sister and brother.” Rev. Oleksandr often has to read the burial service; the last christening took place about two years ago and a wedding even earlier. “There are 45 voters left in Markivtsi.”

Unfortunately, there are no villagers left who remember Viktor Sabodan as a barefoot boy. “They’re all over there,” said Halyna, pointing in the direction of the village cemetery. The place of the final repose of the Sabodan brothers’ parents is different than in other villages. A monument to those who died liberating the village in March 1944 was erected in the center of the cemetery, owing to His Eminence’s efforts. Carved into the black marble slabs are 208 names. “The 209th was not identified. His body floated to the surface of the river one summer,” recalls Stepan Markiyanovych.

Malina Molchaniuk, a pensioner, says that when His Eminence arrives in his small homeland, all of the Markivtsi residents rejoice and people visit from everywhere. “People meet them by the church. It’s something you can’t describe. They listen to the divine service with rapt attention and everybody is filled with love and faith.”

“I ask for his blessings and for a good word and advice. He receives everyone, old and young. He finds the time for everyone. He is a very kind and clever man,” says Molchaniuk. She says that thanks to His Eminence “the iconostasis and decorations have been restored in the church.” The church in Markivtsi was built in the 16th century. When collectivization began, says Stepan Sabodan, “the atheists tore down the cross and turned the church into a storehouse, but during the years of German occupation the building was returned its lawful status.”

Ihor Lipovus, a representative of Markivtsi’s predominantly middle-aged generation, says that he and his peers “go to church only on important holidays.” That’s probably why he points out His Eminence’s secular care of Markivtsi. “The whole village is grateful to him for the road. Now we have a bus route, and we can use it twice a day to get to Khmelnytsky and Letychiv, the raion center.”

This connection with the outside world is like a “road of life” for Markivtsi. As a result of agrarian reform, His Eminence’s small homeland does not know what to do with its land shares. So the people are concentrating their efforts on vast vegetable gardens and pig farms. They bring their produce to markets using public transport and live on the proceeds.

On the way to the family home Stepan Markianovych pointed to some scaffolding. “This man has a brother in St. Petersburg who’s rolling in money. He’s building a boarding house and a moorage, and he’s going to have boats sailing up and down the river, so people can come from everywhere and have a good rest. Why not, the nature around here is good for this.”

The residents of Markivtsi, however, are not sure that this investment will pay off.

Andriy Selsky, the young chairman of Letychiv’s district state administration, is looking for an investor to deal with the land shares in Markivtsi. He has no doubt that the residents are under the beneficial influence of their holy faith. “This village is grateful that destiny gave His Eminence Volodymyr to the world. Not so long ago I happened to speak with the Metropolitan of Ukraine. He is one of the chosen, those who are filled with faith and who thank God for everything.”