This past week the The Right Reverend Protopresbyter Oleg Alexander Krawchenko fell asleep in the Lord, surrounded by his loving family. Many people reading this email will have not known who Fr. Oleg was beyond his name being on our prayer list or his relation to Dn. Thomas Chaput (father-in-law). Beyond his many accomplishments (which are numerous) Fr. Oleg articulated in many respects the unity between Orthodox clergy and faithful that many of us take for granted. Despite struggles and distractions that historically were the sources of division and disunity (especially between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Archdiocesan (OCA) Churches), Fr. Oleg was to one degree or another, willing to see past them and celebrate as he was able to, the unity of our faith. In many respects his work as a teacher at St. Andrew’s college inspired many of his students (some of whom I consider my closest friends) also to see the unity of the “Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15) in other jurisdictions regardless if they are Ukrainian, Russian, Greek, Serbian Romanian, or the OCA. It wasn’t as if his Ukrainian heritage was abandoned in this – certainly not! Rather it provided a perspective that reconciled every difference as being the diversity of grace.
I hold dear to my heart, the few times Fr. Oleg would show up at St. Nicholas with his wife (Dobordika Maria), having just served at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Gonor (also called St. Nicholas!) Each and every time he would radiate joy in greeting and blessing the our faithful, as if he was their pastor, and they were his flock! Nothing was held back, or reserved in walking into a Church more full of strangers, than people he knew (I have heard other stories like this from other priests in Winnipeg). This has always been a source of inspiration for me, in my relationships with other Churches and clergy, compelling me to always look at what we do (as unique as it might be) as being truly united with what other Orthodox Christians are doing (as unique as they might be) in serving the Lord.
Politics and culture will always surround our Churches, seeking to pull us apart – yet Fr. Oleg’s example should inspire us to recognize that although there are differences of politics and culture (some great and some small), we have been baptized into the same death and been raised in the same newness of life of Christ; we all confess our sins and are forgiven by the same Lord; and we all receive His Body and Blood from the same cup. Glory to God!
Truly may the Lord bring peace and mercy to His newly departed servant, healing what was broken, and reconciling that which was lost; and glorifying that which was of love, and exalting that which was of mercy.
Our hearts and prayers go out to his Dobrodika Maria, and their five children, and our blessed brother Dn. Thomas. Memory Eternal! Вічная Пам’ять! Christ is Risen! Христос воскрес!
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