Metropolitan Ilarion I (Ohienko)

Metropolitan Ilarion I (Ohienko) of Winnipeg and Canada (1882-1972)

Ilarion may also be spelt Hilarion.

Ivan may be spelt Evan, Ioann, John, &c.

Ohienko may be spelt Ogienko, Ogieenko, Ohiienko, Ohiyenko.

Early life of Ivan Ivanovitch Ohienko

In 1882, Ivan Ivanovitch Ohienko was born to Ivan Rulka-Ogienko and his wife Evrosyinia Petrichenko in Brusyliv (Brusilov). At that time, Brusyliv was in the Radomyshl county of the Kyiv Governorate of the Russian Empire. Since 1925 and the soviet changes, Brusyliv is in the Brusyliv County of the Zhytomyr Province) of Ukraine. Brusyliv is situated 85 km (53 mi) west of Kyiv and 80 km (50 mi) east of Zhytomyr.

Ivan Ivanovitch was the sixth child in the family. His parents were peasants who belonged to an ancient Cossack family.

When he was only 2 years old, his father suddenly reposed as the result of having been kicked by a horse.

In 1896 he graduated from the elementary school in Brusyliv. He then entered a four-year course at the military medical college in Kyiv. According to the instruction of the commission, he worked in the Kyiv military hospital in the department of mental illnesses.

In May, 1903, in Ostroh, he took the final examinations in the local gymnasium and he received a certificate.

Higher education

Ivan Ivanovitch then began a six-year compulsory service at the hospital with the obligation to enter the medical faculty of Saint Volodymyr's University in Kyiv.

With his schoolmate Yefim Pridvorov (the future poet Demian Bedny), he edited the handwritten monthly "My Library".

From 1905, his active scientific and social work included co-operation in the Kyiv publications "Public Opinion" and "Rada". He also began to take part in the activity of "Prosvita", a scientific society founded in 1868 in Lviv by 65 delegates including Mykhailo Hrushevsky and named after Taras Shevchenko in Kyiv.

Ivan Ivanovich Ohienko continued his education in the Faculty of History and Philology at the Kyiv University, where he studied Slavic philology under Volodymyr N Peretts.

In 1909, Ivan I Ohienko completed a full course of studies at the university with honours.

In December, 1911, Ivan Ivanovich was approved and enrolled in the professorial staff at the Department of Russian Language and Literature of the History and Philology Faculty of the University of Saint Vladimir in Kyiv. Later, he took teaching courses at the university, and he worked at the Kyiv Commercial Institute.

In 1914, he successfully passed all the examinations for a Master's Degree.

Marriage

The documents do not indicate precisely at what time Ivan I Ohienko was married. However, at some time before or after 1914, he was married to Domnika Danilovna Litvinchuk.

Domnika Litvinchuk

Teaching ; other service ; political service, 1915

In 1915, Ivan I Ohienko began to give his first independent lectures as a private assistant professor of the Department of Russian Language and Literature at Saint Volodymyr's University.

By 1915, he was teaching at the University of Kyiv in the Department of Language and Literature. Politically, he belonged to the Ukrainian Party of Socialist Federalists. During the time of the Bolshevik Revolution, he became active in the Ukrainianisation of higher education.

In the autumn of 1916, he gave a new course, "History of the East Slavic accent".

In April, 1917, Ivan I Ohienko, one of the first teachers to teach at the University of Kyiv, switched to teaching in the Ukrainian language and he began to teach a new course, "History of the Ukrainian Language".

Bolshevik Revolution, 1917 ; independent Ukraine ; Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1918

With the formation of the Central Assembly of People's Ministers of the Ukrainian National Republic in Kyiv, Ivan Ohienko was elected to be a member of the council of the newly-formed Ministry of Education. He promised to establish a Ukrainian National University, which was in fact opened in October, 1917.

On 14 January, 1918, at the National Church Cathedral in Kyiv, Ivan Ohienko delivered his report "The Revival of the Ukrainian Church", which tried to prove reasonably the right of the Ukrainian Church to have an independent existence.

In August, 1918, he became the founder and the first rector of Kamenetz-Podolsk Ukrainian State University, which officially opened on 22 October, 1918. He remained rector until 1920.

Professor Ivan I Ohienko became a professor of the history of Ukrainian culture. He had developed a new course of lectures, "Ukrainian New Culture" before the opening ceremony of this educational institution. There was an acute problem about introducing the Ukrainian language into state institutions, educational institutions, and the Church. Until then, the main operating language of the government and of educational institutions had been Russian ; and in the Church, Church Slavonic had always been used.

In Kyiv, great editions of educational books were written and published one after another by Ivan Ohienko : "Native Language at the Ukrainian School" (1918), "Ukrainian Grammar" (1918), and "The Supervisory Table of Ukrainian Spelling" (1917), (DM-41650).

Ivan Ohienko became part of the elite circle of the national intelligentsia, and he collaborated with Mykola Fedotovich Bilyashivskyy, M Vasylenko, B Grinchenko, M Hrushevsky, D Doroshenko, Ahatanhel Yukhymovych Krymsky, Volodymyr Pavlovych Naumenko, A Nikovsky, V Prokopovich, I Steshenko, P Kholodny, O Cherniakhivsky and others. He studied with and collaborated with university colleagues E Brazhnikov, M Velichkovsky, O Georgian, A Gudziev, A Zmogorov, S Maslov, Nazarevsky, G Pavlutsky, E Timchenko.

At the beginning of 1919, he was appointed the Minister of Education in the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR), which was at that time headed by the Directorate of Ukraine, led by Serhiy Stepanovich Ostapenko. In 1919-20, Ivan Ivanovitch served as the Minister of Religion in the People's Republic, in the government of Isaak V Mazepa.

Exile, 1919

After the military defeat of Symon Petliura’s forces in late 1919, Ivan Ohienko went together with the government and S Petliura into exile in Tarnów, Poland. There, he founded the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church publishing house, publishing pamphlets and small volumes of books, sponsored by Ivan Ohienko himself. He actively collaborated with the Greek Catholic Church. According to the memoirs of the Metropolitan Evlogiy (Georgievsky), "Orthodox by religion, he believed, however, that it would be possible to partake with the Greek Catholics". He regularly published his works in an Uniat print shop in Zhovkva.

In 1921, Ivan Ohienko was a member of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian Republic ; and by 1924, he was the Minister for Religion in the Ukrainian People's Republic government-in-exile.

From 1922, he was a full member of the Taras Shevchenko Scientific Society. After several months of work in the Government of the UPR in Tarnow, in September, 1922, he moved to Lviv at the invitation of Professor V Kalinovich. However, unable to find a place in the city, I Ohienko moved to Vynnyky. He remained there for 2 years.

In 1922, he published in L'viv the translation of the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom from Greek into Ukrainian.

During this period, he collaborated with Nikolai L Gnatyshak.

Move to Lviv, 1924

In 1924-1926, Ivan Ohienko was teaching the Ukrainian language in the Teachers' Seminary in L'viv.

He supported Ivan L Lipa, and he was the last to see him alive. They worked together.

The Vynnyky period in the life of Ivan Ohienko was marked by the appearance of several books, prepared and published by the "Ukrainian Stylistic Dictionary" (1924), as well as the work on the translation of the New Testament into Ukrainian.

From 1926-1932, Ivan Ohienko was invited to teach as Professor of the Church Slavonic Language in the Theological Faculty of the University of Warsaw.

There, he founded and edited the periodicals "Native Language" (1933-39) and "Our Culture" (1935-37), which promoted the popularisation of Ukrainian culture, the norms of a single literary language among Ukrainians outside the Ukrainian SSR, and opposed the Russification policy of the then leadership of Soviet Ukraine.

Meanwhile, he received the degree Doctor of Philosophy (1931, University of Brno, Czechoslovakia), for his work : "Ukrainian Literary Language of the 16th Century and the Krekhiv Apostle [Epistle-book] of 1560". Krekhiv is a village with a famous Basilian Monastery, 50 km (30 miles) north of Lviv.

Nevertheless, he was dismissed by the Polish authorities in 1932, under political pressure from Polish nationalist elements, because he was an active supporter of Ukrainianisation of the Orthodox Church.

He acted as the creator of a new academic discipline, "Paleothepy", understood to be a branch of knowledge about the books of early printing ("old-age books").

In May, 1937, the New Testament was published in Ukrainian in L'viv. This was only the first part of the main work of Ivan Ohienko, namely the translation from the original Hebrew and Greek texts of the whole Holy Bible into literary Ukrainian language.

Bereavement, 1937

In May, 1937, Ivan Ohienko was bereaved when his wife Domnika Danilovna Litvinchuk became ill, and she fell asleep in the Lord.

After the Funeral Services for the Burial of a Lay-person, her body was interred in the Orthodox Cemetery in Warsaw.

They had received 4 children from the Lord : Yevgeny, Anatoly, Yuri, Alexandra.

Grave of Domnika Danilovna Ogienko, Warsaw

German occupation of Poland, 1939

Ivan Ohienko remained in Poland when it became occupied by the Nazi German army at the very beginning of World War II.

On 6 October, 1940, Ivan Ohienko addressed a farewell speech to those who had known him as a professor.

Monastic tonsure, 1940

On 9 October, 1940, Ivan I Ohienko was tonsured to be a monk by Metropolitan Dionysius (Valedinsky) of Warsaw, in the Yabluchynsky Saint Onufriy Monastery. He was given the name Ilarion.

He quickly became the archimandrite of the Saint Onufriy Monastery in Jabłeczna, Poland.

Ordinations, 1940

By 1940, Ivan Ohienko had been ordained to the Holy Diaconate and to the Holy Priesthood. Precise information about the ordinations is presently unavailable.

Episcopal ordination, 1940

On 19 October, 1940, in the Chełm (Kholm) Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos, Archimandrite Ilarion (Ohienko) was ordained to the Holy Episcopate by Metropolitan Dionysius (Valedinsky), head of the Polish Orthodox Church, Archbishop Savantiy (Brabets) of Prague and Bishop Timothy (Shreter) of Lublin.

Although the Moscow Patriarchate disagreed with his Ukrainian activities, it regarded this ordination to be correctly canonical in nature. This particular detail would have great significance within a decade.

Episcopal service

Bishop Ilarion (Ohienko) was assigned to be the Bishop of Chełm and Podlaskie, Poland.

In only 1940-1941, Bishop Ilarion (Ohienko) managed to recover for the Orthodox Church 62 Temples, and to restore 117 parishes, which in the pre-war period had been taken away from the Orthodox Church and made into Roman Catholic churches. In the whole diocese, the Ukrainian language was introduced, which actually became official.

Bishop of Chełm and Podlaskie

It was through the efforts of Vladyka Ilarion (Ohienko) that the Kholm miraculous icon of the Mother of God was found, and that on 3 March, 1943, it was solemnly installed in the cathedral.

On 16 March, 1944, Bishop Ilarion (Ohienko) was elevated to the dignity of metropolitan.

Consequently, his title was changed to "Metropolitan of Chełm (Kholm) and Lublin" in the Podlaskie Province. Upon this important event, he was greeted and congratulated by the former Hetman of Ukraine Pavlo Skoropadsky.

He belonged to the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which was restored on the territory of the "Reichskommissariat Ukraine" under the direction of Archbishop Policarp (Sikorsky).

Further exile, 1944 ; move to Canada, 1947

In the summer of 1944, he left "Kholmshchyna". The Nazi army forced the evacuation to the west of the leading clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church operating in the territory of Poland. Therefore, he was forced to emigrate first to Slovakia.

This move continued on to Austria, where he was given refuge in a Roman Catholic monastery at Hertzogenburg, near Vienna. There, in a monk’s cell, he carried on with his work of translating the Bible. However, with the advance of the Soviet Army from the east, he moved his Biblical materials into a room provided by the Roman Catholic archbishop for safekeeping at Saint Polten. When the Red Army entered the area a few months later, he and his group walked to the Swiss border. They carried a few personal possessions, and as many books and manuscripts as they could pack into their ruck-sacks. At the border, which they finally reached after alternatively walking, hitch-hiking, and taking a train, they were refused admission to Switzerland. One of his sons who was accompanying him pleaded successfully for permission to cross the border long enough to make a phone call. Three days later came an order signed by the President of Switzerland himself, which authorised them to enter the country and then to stop in Lausanne.

However, his work was seriously impeded by the lack of an invaluable dictionary which he had compiled in order to assist him with his translation. He had been forced to leave behind at Saint Polten. The dictionary, consisting of 37 volumes of 400 pages each, had taken thousands of hours of labour. It gave the nearest Ukrainian equivalent of each word used in the Greek version of the Bible which he was translating. Nevertheless, he managed to contact Vladimir Enholtz, who had survived the war. An arrangement was made with the Bible Society for British soldiers to "liberate" the dictionary and other reference materials from where they had been left, in the Soviet Zone of occupied Austria.

On 18 May, 1946, he received an invitation from a congregation in Winnipeg to reside in Canada.

Thus, in September, 1947, Metropolitan Ilarion (Ohienko) was able to emigrate to Canada. He settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He served and worked at the Holy Protection Sobor in Winnipeg.

Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada, 1951

On 8 August, 1951, Metropolitan Ilarion (Ohienko) was elected by the Extraordinary Council in Winnipeg to be First Hierarch and Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Canada (UGOCC).

From the outset, he began to improve the good order of the UGOCC, both spiritually and practically. The fact that the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches of that time recognised his episcopal ordination as canonically correct was a significant factor in this work.

He carried out the re-organisation of the Orthodox Theological Faculty of the University of Manitoba. This re-organisation transformed it into a college named for the Holy Apostle Andrew. He served as dean and lecturer at the college. This college continues to prepare Orthodox Christian priests for Ukrainian communities around the world.

Besides his pastoral and administrative duties, and besides all his writing, Metropolitan Ilarion taught a great many students at Saint Andrew’s College in Winnipeg, and his way of life strongly influenced many of them.

He continued strongly to condemn the political leadership of the USSR with its "materialised psychology", the suppression of human rights (in particular freedom of conscience), the destruction of cultural monuments, and their confession of a destructive ideology. In his opinion, only "Christ's science" could resist this. "Only those who believe", Vladyka emphasised, "exist in God, and live according to the "science of Christ have the power to fight the materialist outlook and its consequences".

Metropolitan Ilarion was an honourary member of the British Overseas Bible Society and other associations.

Translation of the Holy Bible into the Ukrainian language, 1955-1958

In 1955, the two-decade-long project of translating the Holy Bible into Ukrainian was brought to a conclusion. As was reported in “Ashbury Park Press”,

In 1936 the British and Foreign Bible Society asked Dr. Ohienko, then at the University of Warsaw, to undertake a new translation
of the Bible into 'pure' Ukrainian. Dr. Ohienko had already laid the groundwork. Since 1905, he had compiled in 36 notebooks
a dictionary of Ukrainian-Greek Biblical source material. For translation purposes he had a knowledge of Greek, Latin, Sanskrit,
German, French, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Serbian, Hebrew, and English. Available at the time to the Greek Orthodox Church
was the 1903 version of the Bible translated by Kulish. It was acceptable but contained a combination of Ukrainian 'people's
language' with Russian phrases and words. [...]

Within three years Dr. Ohienko had completed his version of the New Testament and it was published in Warsaw. After the outbreak
of the Second World War, Dr. Ohienko fled Poland while he was in the midst of translating the Old Testament. Parts of this
manuscript were smuggled from Poland to a monastery in Austria where Dr. Ohienko had taken refuge. He continued his work throughout
the war but in 1945, when the Russians took over Austria, the translator escaped to Switzerland.

Two years later he journeyed to Canada. In 1950 the carefully preserved portion of the Old Testament translation reached him,
It had been smuggled out of the monastery by British soldiers. Since arriving in Canada Dr Ohienko kept in constant touch
with the Rev. Mr. Kusiw and the Rev. Mr. Zabko-Potapovitch who worked with him in the final stages of the translation.

The Revd. Basil Kusiw, a Presbyterian minister of Cranford, New Jersey, and the Revd. L Zabko-Potapovitch, a Baptist from Chester, Pennsylvania, assisted Vladyka Ilarion in the completion of this work which was free both of dialectical expression and from Russian-language idioms.

His translation of the Holy Bible in the Ukrainian language was published in 1958. Professor Roman Yereniuk has commented that the translation for this publication (first from Winnipeg) had taken Vladyka Ilarion 21 years to complete. It became widely used thereafter.

1962 edition of the Bible in Ukrainian

Triple celebration, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1957

As Metropolitan Ilarion came to the marking of his 75th birthday, he visited Holy Trinity parish in Vancouver, British Columbia. This parish had been formed in 1937, and it was celebrating its 20th anniversary. The celebration included the fact of the conclusion of the translation of the Holy Bible into Ukrainian, a project that had been undertaken just before the formation of the parish. During that interval, the parish had grown from 20 to 200 families in size.

Unification of 3 Ukrainian Orthodox jurisdictions, 1960

On 20-23 April, 1960, the "Act of Spiritual Relaunch" (unification) of all 3 Ukrainian Orthodox churches (the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Exile (centered in West Germany)) took place in Winnipeg.

Ordination of Bishop Boris (Yakovkevych), 1963

On 19 May, 1963, at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Metropolitan Ilarion (Ohienko) led the Primatial Divine Liturgy that included the ordination to the Holy Episcopate of Bishop Boris (Yakovkevych), who became Bishop of Saskatoon, and Vicar-Bishop of the Central Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. In the ordination, Metropolitan Ilarion was assisted by Archbishop Michael (Khoroshy) of Toronto, Ontario, and by Bishop Andrew (Metiuk) of Edmonton, Alberta. Bishop Andrew had been the previous bishop in Saskatoon until he was transferred to Edmonton.

The last period of his life, despite his ailments, was marked by intensive creative work. He created a series of biographical portraits of the ascetics of the Orthodox Church on the Ukrainian territories. For the first time, Ukrainian patrology enriched theological science with historical canonical works, works of paedagogical, literary and linguistic nature.

Metropolitan Ilarion with his daughter Larisa (✝1997)

Repose, 1972

On 28 March, 1972, Metropolitan Ilarion (Ohienko) fell asleep in the Lord in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

On 11 April, 1972, the Funeral Service for the Burial of a Hierarch was offered at Holy Trinity Metropolitan Cathedral in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The service was led by Bishop Theodosios (Sideris) of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America (as representative of Patriarch Athenagoras (Spyrou), and Archbishop Michael (Khoroshy) of Toronto, Ontario. Protopresbyter Semen W Sawchuk was the chief presbyter amongst the clergy. Present also was Commander T S Burham (Honourary Aide to the Governor General of Canada).

On 12 April, 1972, the Memorial Divine Liturgy and the final Litya for the Departed were served by the same bishops and clergy at Holy Trinity Metropolitan Cathedral in Winnipeg, Manitoba. After the completion of the prayers, Archbishop Michael (Khoroshy), Acting Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Greek-Orthodox Church of Canada, placed into the coffin of Metropolitan Ilarion a small container of soil brought from Ukraine.

After the funeral services, the body of Metropolitan Ilarion (Ohienko) was interred in the Holy Resurrection Orthodox section of the Glen Eden Cemetery in Winnipeg.

— Bishop of Chełm (Kholm) and Lublin (Podlaskie) (UAOC) 1940-1944.

— Metropolitan of Chełm and Lublin (Podlaskie) (UAOC) 1944-1947. Preceded by : ____. Succeeded by : (1987) Archbishop Abel (Poplavsky).

— Metropolitan of Winnipeg and all Canada (UGOCC) 1951-1972. Preceded by : Metropolitan Polikarp (Sikorski). Succeeded by : Metropolitan Michael (Khoroshy).

Reflections

In the 1972 English Supplement to "The Herald/Visnyk", the following announcement was printed :

In the year of our Lord 1972, in the month of March, on the twenty-ninth day, at the hour of 10:15 in the evening, the Lord called 
Vladyka Ilarion, Primate of the Ukrainian Greek-Orthodox Church of Canada to Eternity.
 
 The Illustrious Man of the Age of our people, and one of its greatest sons, passed away from us into eternity, leaving among us 
 his Word and the stamp of his spirit. 
 
 Being unable to inter with him a portion of the Ukrainian sod from his distant native Brusyliw, Kiev province, and unable to give 
 him the last kiss from the family of his parents and relatives, we prayerfully give him our farewell, on behalf of the entire 
 Ukrainian people, on his Road to Eternity.

The following article was taken from the May/August, 1972, English Supplement Issue of "The Herald/Visnyk" [...], by J B Rudnyckyj, Head of Slavic Studies, University of Manitoba :

The scholarly world in general, and the Ukrainians throughout the globe are mourning the death of
Dr. Ivan Ohienko (Metropolitan Ilarion), one of the most distinguished experts in the field of
Slavic studies of the 20th century, author of many books, pamphlets, articles, reviews. He died
in Winnipeg, after a prolonged illness, on March 29, at the age of ninety.

Dr. Ohienko was born in 1882 at Brusyliv, Ukraine. He was a student of the famous Volodymyr Peretz,
Professor of Slavic Philology at the University in Kiev. Memories of the 'Peretz School' were always
vivid in the later academic activities of Dr. Ohienko, and he referred very often to his teacher in
his classes and seminars.

His first publication comprised a survey of Ukrainian linguistics (1907). It was followed by an account
of foreign words in Russian (1911, 1915), handbook of the history of Ukrainian culture (1918), history
of Eastern Slavic printing (1925), a two-volume monograph on St. Cyril and Methodius (1927-1928), a manual
of Cyrillic paleography (1927), Old Church Slavic monuments of the 11th and 12th centuries (1929), and several
others. For his monograph on 'Ukrainian Literary Language of the 16th Century-Apostol of Krechiv' (1930)
he was awarded a Ph.D. degree by the University of Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. Many other books followed.

It would take much time and space to list and evaluate in detail all of Dr. Ohienko’s achievements in the
field of education, scholarship, church and community life. It should, however, suffice to mention that
he was the founder and Rector (President) of the University in Kamenec Podilskyj (1919), Minister of
Education and Religious Cults in the Government of the Ukrainian National Republic (1918-1921) ;
Professor of Old Church Slavic at the University of Warsaw (1926-1932), Professor Dean of Theology at
St. Andrew’s College in Winnipeg (1951-1967), Honourary Professor at the Department of Slavic Studies of
the University of Manitoba (1963-1972), in addition to his main activity in Canada, that of the Head
(Metropolitan) of the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Canada (1951-1972).

In the academic post he held at the University of Manitoba he made what may well be regarded as his most
significant contribution, that of Professor of the Old Church Slavic language and paleography. Impeded
by health difficulties from going to the Fort Garry Campus, he was conducting his classes and seminars
for graduate students of the University at his residence, 101 Cathedral Avenue, in North Winnipeg.
The Department of Slavic Studies was fortunate indeed to have such an erudite Slavicist on its staff.
Widely known by name in the scholarly circles, he attracted students from Canada and abroad. Indeed, the
high standard of scholarship and the abundance of the original Church Slavic manuscripts and old publications
in his private library raised the classes and seminars at the Department of Slavic Studies to prestige heights
and merited popularity among the graduate students.

Here, only a glimpse can be given of the work of one who occupied a unique place in the Canadian scholastic
and academic life. Dean, Professor, Church dignitary, translator of the Bible, editor and publisher,
“golden-tongued” in speeches and sermons, Dr. Ohienko was one of those Ukrainians of the older generation
who cherished, and tried to transmit to the young people, the native language and culture, which might have
been forgotten and become lost.

The death of Dr. Ohienko revealed that even those who had been opposed to his views and religious convictions
recognised in him, first of all, a cleric of great moral strength and a man of principle. On the other hand,
Slavic scholarship has lost in him an educator of the “old school” who understood the importance of documentary
evidence and primary sources. The Slavicists in Canada are particularly happy that his grand collection of
manuscripts and old publications in Cyrillic will remain in
this country and will be accessible to students of Slavic letters at St. Andrew’s College on the campus
of the University of Manitoba.

As a scholar, Metropolitan Ilarion was a serious writer, and he made contributions to Ukrainian linguistics, Church history, and the history of Ukrainian culture. He published books on

 • the history of Ukrainian linguistics (1907), 
 • the history of Ukrainian printing (1925), 
 • the pre-Christian beliefs of the Ukrainian people (1965), 
 • the history of the Ukrainian literary language (1950), 
 • several studies in Ukrainian Church history of the Cossack era, 
 • a general history of the Ukrainian Church (1942), 
 • and a 2-volume work on Saints Cyril and Methodius (1927–1928).

He edited several semi-scholarly journals, and he compiled a multi-volume etymological-semantic dictionary of the Ukrainian language which was only published after his repose.

Most of the works first published in Poland were reprinted in Winnipeg during the time of the “Cold War”, and then, again, in Ukraine after the re-establishment of independence in 1991.

He has been described also as a philosopher and a poet.

Between 1917 and 1940, he completed a translation of much of the Bible into the Ukrainian language, which was finally published in 1958.

His translation of the Gospels became available in 1937, and the rest of the New Testament and the Psalms in 1939. His Ukrainian translation is the one most widely used nowadays. The Ukrainian Bible Society began to publish mass editions in 1995. Before that, his translation was mainly being published in the USA, in Canada, and in Western Europe.

Later in his life, Metropolitan Ilarion commented about his labour of love in translating the Holy Bible into the Ukrainian language : "I have completed this work. However, after me will come someone who will do it even better".

Amongst his academic interests as a linguist were the problems of Cyrillic paleography, the history of the Old Slavonic and Ukrainian languages, the structure, stylistics and culture of the Ukrainian language, the concern about Ukrainian spelling. While studying at the postgraduate course at Saint Volodymyr's University of Kyiv (1910-1914), he had arranged the first 6 dictionaries of educational, historical, spelling and terminology types : "Dictionary of incorrect, difficult and dubious Words" ; "Dictionary of Stresses in Russian and Rules of Russian accent" ; " Dictionary of incorrect, difficult and dubious Words, Synonyms and Expressions in Russian Speech" ; "Dictionary of commonly used foreign Words in Russian" ; "Dictionary of Orthographics" ; "Dictionary of military historical Terms".

He was also the author of the "Ten Lingual Commandments of a Conscious Citizen".

He was the founder, publisher and editor of the magazine "The Word of Truth" (1947-1951).

He headed the Academic and Theological Society, and he launched large research and publishing activities.

He resumed the publication and continued the editing of the popular academic magazine, "Our Culture" (1951-1953), and then from 1954 under the name, "Our Faith and Culture".

His publications only in the linguistic area are vast, including :

 • 'Review of the Ukrainian Linguistics' (1907) 
 • 'Ukrainian Stylistic Dictionary' (1924) 
 • 'Purity and Proper Usage of the Ukrainian Language'(1925) 
 • 'Modern Literary Ukrainian' (1935)
 • 'History of the Literary Ukrainian Language' (1950)

Other activities

As Metropolitan in Winnipeg, he made great efforts for the organisation and development of Ukrainian national cultural and religious life in Canada. He founded the Theological Society (later, the Theological Society of Metropolitan Ilarion).

He was the initiator and chairman of the Ukrainian Academic and Theological Society.

He served as Rector of the USA National University, founded in Winnipeg (1948).

He engaged in extensive research and publishing activities.

He became recognised as a well-known and significant Ukrainian Church and public figure, historian, educator, linguist, and member of the Academic Association of Taras Shevchenko (1922).

Politics

Vladyka Ilarion was a political moderate. He was a populist, committed to bringing the Church closer to the common people, to spreading the achievements of scholarship amongst wider circles of the public, and to narrowing the gap between the literary language and the vernacular. He was always firmly committed to Eastern Orthodoxy, and there were some written disagreements with the Roman Catholics. He constantly resisted any ecclesiastical or political claims of Moscow regarding Ukraine, and up until his repose, he remained a strong supporter of Ukrainian ecclesial autocephaly and of Ukrainian political independence.

 There is nothing in the person more cherished than his native land.  Wherever he was born, 
 where he spent his childhood, he is attached to that land with all his soul for a lifetime. 
 And whoever happens to break away from his native land, he always dreams about her, as 
 the greatest holiness.  [...]

Memorial to Metropolitan Ilarion (Ivan Ogienko) in Brusiliv, Ukraine

Writings

• "The Supervisory Table of Ukrainian Spelling" (1917) (DM-41650)

• "Native Language at the Ukrainian School" (1918)

• "Ukrainian Grammar" (1918)

• "Ukrainian Grammar", part 2 (Kyiv, 1918) (KDF-17317)

• "Ukrainian Culture" (Ekaterinoslav, 1923) (KDF-16398)

• "Ukrainian Stylistic Dictionary" (1924)

• Translation of the New Testament (1924)

• "Ukrainian Spelling with a Vocabulary" (Lviv, 1925) (DM-10852)

• "Samples of the Cyrillic Letters : X-XVII centuries" (Warsaw, 1927) (RA-6266)

• "The Gospel of St. Matthew" : Translation by Prof. I Ohienko (Warsaw, 1937) (DM-37783)

• "Native Language : Initial Grammar" (Zhovkva, 1935) (KDF-4070)

• "The Holy Gospels" (1937)

• "The New Testament and Psalms" (1939)

• "The Holy Bible" (1958) ASIN : B002BFDAAO. [The Ukrainian Bible Society began wide distribution in 1995.]

• "The Bishop, his Status and Authority" (Slovo Istyny, No. 12, 1948)

• "Pascha and Communion" (ДЖЕРЕЛО: ВІСНИК УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ГРЕКО-ПРАВОСЛАВНОЇ ЦЕРКВИ КАНАДИ, NO. 8, 1960) (UKR/ENG)

With the assistance of Vladyka I (Ohienko), the Orthodox population of Kholmshchyna issued :

• "A Prayer Book for Orthodox Ukrainian Children" (Kholm, 1941) (KDF-17538)

• "Chełm Orthodox People's Calendar for 1944" (Kholm, 1943) (KDF-17485)

• "Liturgy of our Holy Father John Chrysostom" (Kholm, 1942) (KDF-16176)

• "Chełm's Theologian", part 1 (Kholm, 1942) (DM-37782)

• "Services of Divine Passion of Christ" (Kholm, 1943) (DM-37779)

• "Ukrainian Church", vol. 1 (Prague, 1942) (KDF-15702)

• "Moleben for the New Year" (Hill, 1943) (DM-37780)

There were also translations of various religious books.

• "Obozheniya Man. Theological Studio" (Winnipeg, 1954) (KDF-15249)

• "Iconoclasm : Historical-dogmatic Monograph" (Winnipeg, 1954) (KDF-15253)

• "Ukrainian Church in the Time of the Ruins" (Winnipeg, 1956) (KDF-16400)

• "Orthodox Faith" (Winnipeg, 1957) (KDF-15252)

• "Venerable Job of Pochaev" (Winnipeg, 1957) (KDF-15251)

• "Saint Dmitry Tuptalo" (Winnipeg, 1960) (KDF-15253)

• "Canonization of Saints in the Ukrainian Church" (Winnipeg, 1965) (KDF-16401)

Posthumous publications include :

• "Ukrainian Church" (Winnipeg, 1982) (KDF-16402)

• "The Etymologically Semantic Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language", vols. 1-2 (Winnipeg, 1979, 1982) (KDF-16403)

• "Ukrainian Church and Our Culture" (Winnipeg, 1991) (KDF-16428)

In Ukraine, some works by Professor I Ohienko were reprinted :

• "We Praise God in Ukrainian" (Lutsk, 1992) (DM-26738)

• "Prince Konstantin Ostrozky" (Kyiv, 1992)

• "Pre-Christian Beliefs of the Ukrainian people" (Kiev, 1992).

Many of Metropolitan Ilarion's books are in the fonds of the Volyn Oblast Universal Academic Library named after Olena Pchilka in Lutsk, Ukraine.

Some articles about Metropolitan Ilarion may be found at this address.

• Buciora, Priest Dr. J, "'To serve the People is to serve God' : An Anthropology of Metropolitan Ilarion"

• Jarmus, Archpriest Dr. Stephan, "Faith and Works in the Perception of Ivan Ohienko"

• Konstantiuk, Iryna, "Ivan Ohienko (Metropolitan Ilarion) – Teacher and Educator of the Ukrainian Language at the University of Manitoba"

• Kortchevich, Maria, «МИТРОПОЛИТ ІЛАРІОН ПРОФ. ІВАН ІВАНОВИЧ ОГІЄНКО»

• Kuprianovich, Prof. Hryhory, "The Warsaw Period in the Life and Activities of Ivan Ohienko"

• Tiurmenko, Irena, «УКРАЇНСЬКА КУЛЬТУРА У ВИМІРІ ПРАВОСЛАВНОЇ КОНЦЕПЦІЇ МИТРОПОЛИТА ІЛАРІОНА»

• Yereniuk, Prof. Roman, "The Written "Poslannia" (Epsitles) of Metropolitan Ilarion in Canada"

• Zayachuk, Yuliya, "Ivan Ohienko's Educational Activity"

References

Encyclopaedia of Ukraine biography

Wikipedia Biography

Ukrainian Wikipedia biography

Russian Wikipedia biography

Obrantsi Biography

Biography by the Taras Shevtchenko National University in Kyiv

Additional information :

Yereniuk, Prof. Roman, “A Short Historical Outline of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada on the Occasion of the 90th Anniversary of the Church (1918-2018)”

UOCC group of articles : “To the reposed Metropolitan Ohienko unto Eternal Memory (1972 “Visnyk” Supplement)

UOCC In Memoriam : Metropolitan Ohienko

“Metropolitan Ilarion, of Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church, dies”

‘In Memoriam of Dr. I Ohienko (Metropolitan Ohienko)’ in “The Ukrainian Weekly” (April 15, 1972)

Ukrainian biographical summary of Metropolitan Ilarion (in Ukrainian)

Wikipedia article about Mykhailo Hrushevsky

Encyclopaedia of Ukraine article about Mykhailo Hrushevsky

Comments in the Senate of Canada on the repose of Metropolitan Ilarion (Ohienko).

Comments in 2007 by Iryna Konstantiuk, Department of German and Slavic Studies, University of Manitoba

World Catalogue list of writings by Metropolitan Ilarion (Ohienko).

Eastern Eparchy history

Metropolitan Dionysius (Valedinsky)