Alive In Christ, Volume X, No. 1, Spring 1994

This 1994 Alive In Christ account tells the life of Father Maksym
Sandovych, an Orthodox priest executed by Austro-Hungarian authorities
in 1914 on suspicion of Russophile sympathy -- part of the same wave
of repression that filled the Talerhof internment camp -- and
canonized as a martyr by the Orthodox Church in 1994.

Father Maksym Sandovych was a great son of the mountain lands known
as Lemkovyna, which is situated on both sides of the Carpathian Mountains.
This area extends like a narrow chain from the Poprad River on the west
to the San and Uzh Rivers. The mountains, which are thickly covered with
many forests and many clear lakes and rivers, make this land especially
beautiful.

At the close of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century
when Father Maksym Sandovych lived and labored, Lemkovyna was a part of
Galicia, which was a part of the Austro-Hungary monarchy. More than six
hundred thousand Rusyns lived there and their spoken language was very
close to Old Slavonic. The Christian Faith was accepted by the Lemkos from
the great Enlighteners of the Slavs, Saints Cyril and Methodius of Moravia,
in the latter half of the ninth century. The Byzantine Rite, which was
also known as the Russian Faith, was preserved by them unchanged for a
period of one thousand years. It was the political aspect of the Union
of Brest and not the religious desire of the people that removed the Church
in the lands of the Lemkos from the Orthodox See of Constantinople and
placed it under the domination of Roman Catholicism. This was the beginning
of the spiritual unrest within the souls and minds of the Rusyn Lemkos.
An especially difficult period began in Galicia in the eighteenth century
when the Latinization of the Eastern Rite began. This act of Latinization
brought about the rebirth of the consciousness of Holy Orthodoxy, and of
their desire to return to the source of their Orthodox Faith. The martyr,
Father Maksym Sandovych, appeared as a symbol of their aspiration.

Father Maksym Sandovych was born on January 31/19, 1886, in Zhdynja,
near the county seat of Gorlice. The father of Father Maksym (Timothy)
had a large prosperous farm and also was a church cantor. His mother Christina,
was a humble village woman. After completing a four-year course in Gorlice,
Father Maksym was sent by his father to high school in Jaslo, and later
to Novy Sacz, where he lived in a Russian dormitory called Bursa that
was supported by the Lemkos. After completing a four-year high school course,
he entered into a monastery of the Basilian Fathers in Hrekove. During
his youth Maksym enjoyed fasting and contemplation, and because of this
he quickly came to the conclusion that this particular monastery was not
for him. He then entered the Orthodox Monastery in Pochaev in 1904, which
was widely known for the ascetical life of the monks. The rigor and atmosphere
of the monastic lifeat the monastery was very suitable for him. He distinguished
himself from the others because of his great love for God, and became an
example to others and gained the admiration of the Elders of the monastery.
On one of his visits to the monastery, Bishop Anthony Khrapovitsky of Volyn
selected Maksym, because of his outstanding conduct to enter the theological
seminary in Zhitomir, where he studied for six years. Upon completing his
seminary studies and getting married to Pelagija Ivanovna Hryhorjuk, Maksym
accepted ordination to holy priesthood on November 17, 1911, by the laying
on of hands of Bishop Anthony of Volyn.

The priestly labors of Father Maksym began in the village of Hrab, where
on December 2, 1911, he served the first Orthodox divine liturgy. From
that moment was the beginning of his persecution and suppression. For the
first divine liturgy that he celebrated he was disciplined by the Starosta
(warden) of the Jaslo region and was fined four hundred Koruny and
placed under arrest for eight days. This action did not discourage him.
He continued his pastoral mission, visiting the cities of Hrab, Vyshovatka
and Dovhe. Even though each time he was arrested and also fined. The same
form of terror and discrimination was used against the faithful that participated
in the divine services or made their homes available for prayer services.
The acts of terror of the Austrian authorities against Father Maksym increased
with each passing day. At the end, when they saw that Father Maksym continued
to remain unshakable in his mission, they arrested him in March, 1912,
and imprisoned him in the city of Lvov. During this time. they also arrested
three others: Priest Ihnatij Hudyma, student Basil Koldra and journalist
Symeon Bendasjuk. All of them were condemned as spies for Russia.

Following his arrest, Father Maksym was treated very badly and the prison
officials refused to respect his priesthood. His priestly cross was tom
from his neck, his priestly service book confiscated, and his priestly
cassock removed. In such a manner they deprived him of the possibility
of celebrating divine services. In addition, they placed him in a prison
cell with regular prisoners, making a mockery of his Orthodox priesthood.
In accordance with prison rules, he was unable to receive mail, was deprived
of having any contact with other Orthodox prisoners, and was denied writing
paper to prevent him from corresponding with people outside the prison.
In the end, as a final act of humiliation, Father Maksym was tried before
the judge and jury in the presence of a crowd of sensational spectators
in an auditorium.

It appeared that perhaps the simplicity, humility, and the soft pleasing
voice of Father Maksym would create a problem for him as he attempted to
defend himself and the other Orthodox people of Galicia, instead, all of
these personal characteristics made a great impression on the people that
met him, including the judge, drawing them to the conclusion that a person
of such good character must be innocent. During an intense and emotional
trial in Lvov which lasted from March 9 to June 6, 1914, and in the presence
of many foreign correspondents, the jury unanimously decided that all charges
were false, thus proving the defendant innocent. On June 7, 1914, Father
Maksym, already in failing health, left the prison and returned to his
native village of Zhydnia where he was greeted by his family and relatives.
Here, he lived only six weeks continuing his pastoral mission.

Shortly thereafter, World War I began, and the Austrian officials arrested
Father Maksym, his pregnant wife, Pelagia, and his father, Timothy. They
were taken on August 28, 1914, to the prison in Gorlice. The morning of
September 6, Father Maksym was taken before the court martial judge of
the armed forces, where he was sentenced to death before a firing squad.
He was taken to the courtyard by the police officer Dietrich. Father Maksym
was placed at the wall with his hands lied in back of him before five members
of the firing squad. They marked the area of his heart with chalk. As this
was taking place, from the windows of the prison were heard cries, weeping,
and screams of the Lemko Rusyn prisoners. At the command of officer Dietrich,
the soldiers positioned their rifles. Father Maksym loudly exclaimed **MAY
ORTHODOXY LIVE! **The soldiers fired but the shots failed to bring about
the instant death of Father Maksym. Officer Dietrich them came to the already
fallen Father Maksym and with his revolver fired the final death shots
to his head. After the death of Father Maksym, the Lemko Rusyn inmates
stopped their crying and screaming and began to pray and sing LORD HAVE
MERCY!

The body of Father Maksym was buried originally in the cemetery in Gorlice.
At the request of his father, Timothy, in 1922 his body was exhumed and
placed in a new metal coffin and buried in the cemetery in his native Zhdynia.

The fate of the family of the martyred Father Maksym is the thorny path
of all the Lemko Rusyns. Following the execution of Father Maksym, his
pregnant wife, Pelagia Sandovych, together with his father, Timothy, were
taken to the concentration camp in Talerhof (Austria). The son of Father
Maksym , four year old Sergius, was taken by the departing Russian army
deep into Russia. While in the concentration camp, Matrushka Pelagia gave
birth to her second son, and named him Maksym after his father.

In 1937, the young Maksym Sandovych, following his marriage to Tatiana
from the home of Galle, accepted ordination to the Holy Priesthood by the
laying on of hands of Metropolitan Dionysius in Warsaw. He continued to
his death on July 8, 1991, the pastoral mission of his father, the martyred
Priest Maksym Sandovych, serving the Faith of the Fathers - Holy Orthodoxy.

Alive In Christ - Volume X, No. 1 Spring, 1994

View photos of the canonization of Father Sandovych **

Knowledge Base***

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"Martyr for the Faith of the Fathers: Father Maksym Sandovych"
(Alive In Christ, Volume X, No. 1, Spring 1994) is hosted at
carpatho-rusyn.org (Carpatho-Rusyn Knowledge Base). Captured 2026-08-05
from http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/lemkos/maksym.htm. Published here
under permission held by the New Tianmu Anglican Church for this
material, recorded 2026-08-05; all rights remain with Alive In Christ.
No individual author is credited on the captured page.

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