Feast of the Protection of the Holy Virgin

11.10.2019

A triple celebration was celebrated at LTSNU including Day of the Defender of Ukraine, Day of the Ukrainian Cossacks and the Feast of the Protection of the Holy Virgin.

Day of the Defender of Ukraine is a celebration of the memory of our proud ancestors, who fought with the pen and word, fire and sword for the right to independence of their native country; a celebration of Cossack valor and victory; a celebration of gratitude to veterans of World War II who also fought for their land. And, finally, this is the day of all the heroes of our time who now defend the borders of Ukraine, and all those who laid down their lives in the name of the sovereignty and unity of our state.

This year festive and solemn events at our University began with the opening of the Pokrovska Fair. In the morning, a festive mood and a unique aroma reigned in the university main building. Students cheerfully invited guests to the table and treated everyone to Ukrainian dishes. Each subdivision of LTSNU was able to surprise with the design of its dishes.

The celebration continued with a theatrical action, during which congratulations to military personnel and Cossack initiation ceremony took place. Today we met servicemen of the special regiment and the delegation of the Academy of Cossacks in the Luhansk region with bread and salt. 

With words of greeting, the Chairperson of the Academic Council of LTSNU, Academician of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor Vitalii Kurylo addressed the audience: “I would like to wish the Ukrainian army, the Ukrainian people to always be strong, to maintain our national identity and state so that Ukraine is strong and powerful. Let the Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University, the Ukrainian Army and the Ukrainian state prosper.”

For courage, loyalty to the Ukrainian people and the territorial integrity of Ukraine and on the occasion of the Defender of Ukraine Day, the Rector of LTSNU Serhii Savchenko awarded soldiers of the special regiment.

On the eve of the holiday, the youth and teachers of our university prepared gifts and goodies that were solemnly presented to the military men with the wishes of unbending will and good health. And earlier our university family sent gifts to the children of the dead soldiers of the special regiment.

All those present paid tribute to the dead hero defenders, including eighteen soldiers of the special regiment, real men who gave their lives for the independence of Ukraine, with a minute of silence. 

The culmination of the holiday was the Cossacks initiation ceremoby and taking the oath. The field hetman of the special Cossack district in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, Cossack general Viktor Tkachenko addressed with a welcoming speech to all those present.

The right to read the oath of allegiance to the state was granted to Valerii Sapekhin. The freedom-loving spirit of our ancestors united youth today and became the personification of strength of the nation. After taking the oath, the young Cossacks felt like a small piece of a large Ukrainian state.

During the celebration, students’ fiery performances were harmoniously intertwined with theatrically-interred veil rites. So, students were able to realistically play such scenes as “Horse Ride”, “Bringing the canvas of the Protection of the Holy Virgin”, “Matchmaking and congratulations of the young”. A presentation of Ukrainian scarves became a separate decoration of the celebration, for which students and teachers express gratitude to the staff of the Luhansk Museum of Local Lore in Starobilsk city.

At the end of the event, young Cossacks were invited to taste the Cossack kulesh; and students together with teaching staff continued to exchange sincere smiles and impressions of what they heard and saw.

Press center of LTSNU