Newly ordained deacon: “my great-grandmother, who spent six hours every day praying to the Virgin Mary, influenced my calling”

On Sunday, June 9, 2024, Metropolitan Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia ordained to the diaconate Ihor Demydas. In this article,  Demydas talks about his way to priesthood from his days as an altar server to his theological studies in Rome. 

When did you first discover/hear/feel the calling to the priesthood? Was it sudden or gradual?

Honestly, this is a difficult question for me, and I don't have a definitive answer. However, I would like to share a little story about my calling to the priesthood, which began in my childhood.

I firmly believe that my great-grandmother Anna, who spent six hours every day praying to the Virgin Mary, influenced my calling. You could say she taught me to pray by her example. When my grandmother started praying, I really liked it. I would sit next to her, watching her hands moving bead by bead and listening to her "Hail Mary."

Around the age of 11, I joined the altar server group at the parish of St. Paraskeva-Pyatnytsia in my village Velyki Birky, which immersed me even more into this mysterious, spiritual world. My friends who went to church were a 60-year-old local woman and a 70-year-old neighbor, Mykhailo.

I remember the month of May, when every day the "Moleben to the Most Holy Theotokos" was served in the parish. This was the best month for me. I loved going to this service and helping the cantor sing. I couldn't allow myself to miss a single day of this prayer. I was so happy; it's hard to put into words.

After finishing the 9th grade of high school, I entered a music college, where I studied for four years. But in the third year, I felt that I wanted to be in the seminary. I really liked the singing of the seminarians. When I saw them in their cassocks, I was so fascinated by their appearance that I always wanted to try on that attire. These were extraordinarily mysterious feelings of God's presence in my life.

After completing my studies at the college, I entered the Patriarch Josyf Slipyj Theological Seminary in Ternopil, where I studied for seven years. I was overjoyed to learn that I was admitted as a student. I remember the moment when I heard my name on the list of applicants; I ran out of the auditorium with tears in my eyes, thanking God for this great gift.

Later, my vocation developed in the "eternal city" of Rome, where I studied "Theology of Marriage and Family" at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute. Today, I sincerely thank God that my vocation culminated in the Diaconate—the first degree of the Holy Sacrament of Orders.

Adapted from www.ukrcatholic.org