His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar in America: Years of Formation and Service

On May 31, 2024, the Church commemorates the anniversary of the falling asleep in the Lord of His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar.

Lubomyr arrived in America as a 16-year-old boy. He came with a dream of becoming a priest, and he did not put it away in a long drawer. Within three weeks of his arrival, Lubko, as he was called at home, became a student at St. Basil's College, and later at St. Basil's Seminary in Stamford. In 1954, he received a bachelor's degree in philosophy. Later, His Holiness recalled that while studying in Stamford, he enjoyed going to New York to attend the opera. As a student, he could afford only standing-room-only tickets, but this was not an obstacle for the young man who wanted to discover the beauty of the world. While studying at the seminary, he became a member of the Chervona Kalyna squad in Plast. His friendship with Plast lasted throughout his life. During his studies, he also developed a taste for hot dogs, which he enjoyed eating when he later visited his family in the USA. 

Lubomyr then continued his studies in Washington, DC, at St. Josaphat Seminary and at the Catholic University of America. In the seminary, he was among the seminarians who organized a small society of St. Josaphat, the purpose of which was to rediscover the Eastern Christian sources and to study the Eastern tradition and spirituality of our Church. During his seminary 

studies, as most students in America do, he worked during the summer. It was a job at a furniture factory and also at the Ukrainian summer residence Soyuzivka, which opened in the 1950s in New York state. In 1958, Lubomyr obtained a licentiate in theology, and on May 30 of that year, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Ambrose Senyshyn at St. Volodymyr's Cathedral in Stamford. 

From 1958 to 1969, Fr. Lubomyr worked and served at St. Basil's Seminary in Stamford. He taught the Ukrainian language and the history of philosophy, and he was also a seminary prefect. Students remember that he had a special way of teaching conversational Ukrainian and also liked to play volleyball with the seminarians. Continuing his immersion in the Eastern tradition, Fr. Lubomyr organized a liturgical club with the seminarians, where they got to learn more deeply the richness of liturgical singing and traditions of our Church. He also had a wonderful voice (bass) and participated in the recording of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and the Liturgy of the Preconsecrated Gifts, organized in 1961 by Bishop Ambrosius Senyshyn to spread liturgical singing among the faithful in America. 

In the 1960s, Fr. Lubomyr was a visiting priest in Soyuzivka, and every Sunday during the summer served the liturgy for the Ukrainians who gathered there on vacation. In 1965, he became the first pastor of the parish in Kergonkson, NY, near Soyuzivka. It was there that he welcomed Patriarch Josyf Slipyj when he visited America for the first time in 1968. Father Lubomyr recalled about this visit that the Patriarch arrived very late to Soyuzivka, but there were so many people that there were not enough spoons for Communion, and silver spoons were hurriedly looked for throughout the houses. When they were found and handed over to His Beatitude Josyf, he looked at them and said: "They could at least wash off that coffee..." 

While in Stamford, Fr. Lubomyr also continued his education and studied at Fordham University, where he received a master's degree in philosophy in 1967. He wanted to continue his studies, but he preferred to study theology rather than philosophy. So, during his trip to Rome in September 1969 for the dedication of St. Sophia Cathedral, he learned that he could continue his studies in Rome. So in October 1969, 36-year-old Father Lubomyr Husar began a new phase of his life by heading to the Eternal City and beginning his doctorate at the Pontifical Urban University (Urbaniana). 

Twenty years of life in America were a period of growth, study, and formation for the young Fr. Lubomyr Husar. During that time, he also formed and touched the lives of many young seminarians and faithful of our Church in America.