Gorlice, Poland, September 11, 2026
orthodox.pl
Celebrations honoring St. Maxim (Sandovich) in Gorlice this year marked the central observances of two jubilees: the 100th anniversary of the Lemkos’ return to Orthodoxy and the 10th anniversary of Archbishop Paisjusz taking the cathedra of the Orthodox bishops of Przemyśl and Gorlice.
Archbishop Abel of Lublin and Chełm presided over the celebrations, joined by Archbishp Paisjusz and three other hierarchs of the Polish Orthodox Church, assisted by clergy from the local diocese and beyond, the Polish Church reports.
At 6:00 AM on the day of the feast, the first Divine Liturgy was celebrated, as is traditional—this is the hour of St. Maxim’s execution before the Gorlice court. A rite of the lesser blessing of water and an akathist service to St. Maxim followed before his holy relics.
At 9:45 AM the parish council and rector of the Gorlice cathedral, Fr. Roman Dubec, welcomed the hierarchs. Before the Divine Liturgy began, Archbishop Abel blessed a plaque commemorating the jubilee of the Lemkos’ return to the faith of their fathers. Archbishop Paisjusz then welcomed the visiting hierarchs and conveyed greetings from His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland, who had wanted to attend but was prevented by physical infirmity.
orthodox.pl
Metropolitan Sawa sent a message for the jubilees:
The Orthodox elite of Lemkivshchyna, sons of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, were forced by the Union of Brest of 1596—though only in 1691—to abandon the faith of their fathers. For centuries they wept as they watched their seized churches, which carried with them Lemko prayer and longing... The churches were torn from the faithful, but Orthodoxy couldn’t be torn from their hearts. Like a dormant seed, watered by the martyrs’ blood of the sons of Lemkivshchyna, such as the holy Hieromartyr Maxim Sandovich and the martyrs of Talerhof, it waited for the day when the people would cast off their chains and return to the faith of their fathers... May the spirit of their heroic ancestors of 100 years ago flourish in the young generation of Lemkos...
Be unshaken and firm like mountain peaks, which no force can crush or cast down from the Orthodox path. Be like mountain streams, pure and quenching every thirst. Remain in our Orthodoxy forever and courageously, like the holy martyr Maxim. This is your past, your present, and your future...
After the Liturgy and a procession with the relics of St. Maxim, Archbishop Abel spoke of the importance of the Lemkos’ return to the faith of their fathers in the history of the Polish autocephalous Church. He said St. Maxim and the clergy who followed him showed the faithful the way back from the darkness of the Unia toward the light of Orthodoxy, and thanked them for building churches on holy Mount Jawor and in Gładyszów and for restoring historic churches.
Archbishop Paisjusz called on everyone to remain faithful to holy Orthodoxy, reject the temptations of the modern world, and return to the virtues of their ancestors. He said St. Maxim’s final words, “Long live holy Orthodoxy,” should be a guide, goal, and beloved refuge for all.
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