History.

The Ukrainian Catholic Church is the largest Eastern Catholic Church of its own law (Ecclesia sui juris). It belongs to the group of Churches of the Byzantine rite which are in mutual communion with the Roman Hierarch and acknowledge his spiritual and jurisdictional authority.

Through the Providence of God, the Ukrainian Catholic Church has been trusted with the great mission of becoming the synthesis between the East and West. After the fall of the Soviet Empire, our Catholic faith has experienced a new era of freedom, which was prayed for, bringing about a flourishing and renewal of the Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church worldwide.

The first Ukrainians arrived to Detroit in the early twentieth century (around the 1910s). A small Ukrainian community founded their first parish on Cicotte Street (on Detroit's west side) in 1911, with Father Ewhen Bartosh becoming the first pastor of St. John the Baptist Church. With more & more people moving to Detroit’s east side, a need for a new church was underway. Blue prints for this new parish were drawn up by Maxim Harmatiuk, with the cornerstone of this wooden church (located in Hamtramck) being blessed by Father Bartosh on December 25, 1913. On Palm Sunday of April 12, 1914 the first Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the Grayling Street Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Iconography.

The Basilian Fathers arrived in to Immaculate Conception on August 1, 1962, with a new Pastor and Superior (Rev. Innocent Lotocky, OSBM). Soon after, a new Church interior was completed to resemble that of a traditional Byzantine Rite Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Mychailo Dmytrenko was commissioned to undertake the writing of the icons for the entire church interior, with a focus on the life of Mary. His work included frescoes and paintings above the sanctuary and the ceiling. A beautiful iconostas housing the royal doors to the sanctuary was installed by Mr. Berezowsky and Mr. Dmytrenko.

Basilian Fathers.

Denomination
Immaculate Conception is served by the Basilian Fathers (Order of Saint Basil the Great - OSBM), a monastic order founded by the ascetic rules of Saint Basil the Great. Theodosiy of the Caves was one of the first monks in Ukraine to adapt this religious life into what later became the OSBM. The official denomination of the order is Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat (Ordo Basilianus Sancti Josaphat).

Mission – Purpose
The purpose of the Order of St Basil consists in pleasing God in all things and seeking the Sanctification of the Religious through the practice of the evangelical councils. The specific function of the Order is dedication to the contemplative life and the Divine Praises, the exercise of pastoral activities of various kinds, the defense and strengthening of the Unity of Christians.

Pastoral work
In Ukraine it serves 62 parishes, more than 250 daughter churches, and nine mission stations in eastern Ukraine; publishing activity is the Missionary Publishing House in Lviv with a printing-house in Zhovkva and the publishing house Record of the Order of Saint Basil the Great in Rome. In almost every province there is a house for educating young monks, a house of philosophical studies, and a minor seminary. Basilians are the rectors of the Pontifical College of Saint Josaphat and Pontifical College S.M. Patrocinio in Rome and broadcast an educational radio program from the Vatican (Vatican Radio).