Righteous Halshka (Elizabeth) Hulevychivna

Righteous Halshka (baptismal name Elizabeth) Hulevychivna came from a noble Volhynian family. Widowed, she devoted herself to charity and church education: she donated her Kyiv lands and resources to establish the Kyiv Epiphany Brotherhood Monastery and its school — a school which, under St. Peter Mohyla, was later transformed into the Kyiv-Mohyla Collegium (Academy), which became the largest center of Orthodox education in Eastern Europe. Her charitable activity left a significant mark on the history of Orthodox education in Ukraine.

ON CANONIZATION: on November 22, 2021, the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) resolved to bless the LOCAL veneration of Halshka Hulevychivna within historical Volhynia and Kyiv, glorifying her among the righteous under the name St. Elizabeth Hulevych; her formal inclusion in the church calendar took place on February 3, 2022, with her commemoration set for September 18. IMPORTANT CAVEAT: this is a canonization OF LOCAL SIGNIFICANCE, carried out by the OCU — no confirmation was found of recognition or glorification of Halshka by the UOC (Moscow Patriarchate), the Russian Orthodox Church, or other autocephalous Local Churches. Given the absence of full communion between the OCU and several other Local Churches, her sainthood is not universally recognized throughout the Orthodox world — this is a real, but jurisdictionally and geographically limited, act of canonization.