Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish (Hvizdava)

A parish community began to form in Hvizdava in 1990. The newly ordained Fr Vitalii Skomarovskyi travelled there every Sunday to celebrate Mass. For six months, Mass was celebrated in the home of Yadviha Morozovska. In December, the village council made the old community hall available as a chapel. Fr Vitalii donated the liturgical vessels and vestments he had received as first-Mass gifts to the parish community in Hvizdava, his mother’s native village. The residents had a special devotion to Our Lady, so the parish was placed under the patronage of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The image that stood at the altar of the old chapel and is now in the new church was painted by Mr Yuliian Slovinskyi of Zhytomyr at Fr Amvrozii’s request.

In 1991, Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish was served by the Discalced Carmelites. One of the first was Fr Serafin Tyszko. The Little Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary also travelled from Berdychiv to lead liturgical singing and provide catechesis for adults and children.

On 16 December 1999, the Rai village council allocated land for a church. Construction began in 2001.

On 29 April 2006, Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk, Auxiliary Bishop of Kyiv-Zhytomyr, dedicated the newly built Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Hvizdava.

On 28 September 2020, marking the fiftieth anniversary of St Teresa of Jesus being proclaimed a Doctor of the Church, a Carmelite retreat house, the Carmelite Hermitage, opened for anyone wishing to spend a few days in silence and prayer.