On Saturday, October 21, 2017, His Eminence Archbishop Daniel along with a Seminarian delegation from South Bound Brook, NJ traveled to the little town of Arnold, PA (22 miles east of Pittsburgh) to pray with the gathered faithful to commemorate the parish founding in 1925.

Ms. Victoria Swindle, on behalf of the Young Adults of the parish and Ms. Anna Swindle, on behalf of the parish Church School greeted Archbishop Daniel with flowers as he entered the church. Mr. Walter Sakal, President of the parish’s board of administration, as well as the pastor of Holy Virgin, Rev. Fr. Mark Swindle, welcomed Archbishop Daniel to their church and community. The President of the parish thanked Archbishop Daniel for his presence and conveyed his gratitude for making this such a momentous occasion in the life of Holy Virgin parish. Fr. Mark expressed to Archbishop Daniel how the parish is blessed to have him serve at this Hierarch Divine Liturgy and for his leadership in serving our parishes in the United States and around the world.

Assisting in the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy were Deacon Ivan Tchopko of the Three Holy Hierarchs Chapel of St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Theological Seminary (South Bound Brook, NJ), Deacon Evan O’Neil of Sts Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Parish in Carnegie, PA, Subdeacons Mykola Zomchak, Ihor Protsak, Yurii Bobko and Seminarians Ivan Venhryn and Yaroslav Bilohan of St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Theological Seminary (South Bound Brook, NJ).

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, a Certificate of Honor was given to Anne Pituch for her 95 years of faithful service to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Medal of St. Vladimir was bestowed to Mr. Walter Sakal for his lifelong devotion and service to the Holy Virgin Parish, of which is serving as choir director for the past 67 years.

Once a formal commemorative photo was taken, those in attendance went to a local restaurant for lunch. The parish hall was the last stop of the day. Guests were treated to an array of cookies for dessert, Christian fellowship and a selection of songs rendered by the seminarians. Archbishop Daniel thanked the Arnold parish for having him and the seminarians join in the celebration and look forward to another visit soon.