Visitation of the Holy Trinity Church in Hopchytsya

The corpus of church-historical documents of Hopchytsia covers the mid-to-late 18th century. Thanks to the initiative of the ReLoad organization and researcher and translator Roman Zakharchenko, some of these documents have been reviewed and translated.

The 1740 visitation act was written in shorthand in Polish and Latin by two figures of the Uniate Church of that time — the general official of the Kyiv Metropolis, Father Hedeon Kozubsky, and the Zhytomyr dean, Father Ivan Sledkevych.

The protocol began with the name of the village (Hopchytsya), followed by the title of the church (Holy Trinity), a description of the exterior (made of oak logs, covered with shingles), the construction year (1726), and the presence of a cemetery near the church.

Four days in the first direction — towards Starostyntsi, four days in the direction of Pohrebysche — in the second direction, and six days towards Burkivtsi and Krupoderyntsi — in the third direction (a 'day' referred to the area that could be plowed by one plow in a day).

In Hopchytsya in 1740, there were 50 households and 250 souls who went to confession. The parishioners did not pay the annual tax (rokivshchyna) for the maintenance of the priest. They brought wine and incense to the liturgies, as well as candles made from beeswax.

There was a brotherhood associated with the church, but it had no obligations from the local ordinary. The brotherhood had no cash funds, except for 80 gold coins. The rector of the church was Matey Hryhorevych, who was ordained by Metropolitan Leo Kishka on June 28, 1728.

The concluding section dealt with personal and pastoral shortcomings. In the case of Father Matey Hryhorevych, it concerned alcohol abuse.

Parishioners complained that the priest confessed 2-3 children during Lent; blessed marriages without announcements and performed them on weekdays; did not teach the obligatory prayers; baptized children in private homes; engaged in constant drinking.

The visitor concluded that the rector lacked knowledge of Christian doctrine and did not keep metric records. He did not keep holy water for the people in the church. He dressed in inappropriate clothing and performed the service using a leaky chalice.

It is noted that there is a garden with young trees near the priest's house, and he does not pay any taxes on the land to either the community or the Dwór (the economic office of the local landowner), except for the beekeeping tithe, which he submits to the Dwór.