Set aBLAZE with love

Faith and Learning, Partnerships

BLAZE participants working on their icons of St. John Bosco

For the third consecutive year, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools' (GSCS) students participated in BLAZE (Byzantine Leadership and Zealous Evangelization), held on March 14 and 15. This year’s event centered on the theme of Pope Leo XIV's apostolic exhortation, I Have Loved You.

More than 70 GSCS high school students took part in this powerful and inspiring weekend, held at St. Joseph High School and St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral. The spaces were filled with energy, zeal, and a deep love for Christ and mission.

BLAZE seeks to ignite a passion for faith and service in the hearts of young people, and this year’s program fully embraced that goal. Students engaged in leadership formation through dynamic activities rooted in the spirit of St. John Bosco. The experience included learning about Byzantine iconography, participating in talks and prayer, making chotky (Eastern prayer ropes), attending Divine Liturgy, and writing an icon of St. John Bosco, the patron saint of young people and educators.

In total, 60 icons of St. John Bosco were created by students. Each icon bears his message: “It is not enough to love young people; they must know that they are loved,” along with a brief description of BLAZE. These icons will be given as gifts to GSCS schools on behalf of BLAZE participants with the hope that this indirect act of service will bring the presence of St. John Bosco into school communities and inspire educators to follow his example of forming young people through reason, religion, and loving kindness. May his presence fill each school with joy, love, and growth, under the protection of Mary, Help of Christians, who was central to his life and mission.

BLAZE is a GSCS initiative born from the vision of Religious Consultant (Byzantine Rite) Viktoriia Marko and brought to life in partnership with the Salesian Youth Ministry of Toronto and St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Eparchy of Saskatoon.

This year, BLAZE alumni, under the guidance of Viktoriia Marko, are launching Junior BLAZE for Grade 8 students in April. The event will take place at Bethlehem High School.

A heartfelt thank you to all those who made BLAZE 2026 a success:

Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools
St. Joseph High School
Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of St. George
Our dedicated facilitators and guests from Toronto: Darryl Huevos, Mariel Cabrera and Fr. John Puntino, Delegate for the Salesians in Canada
Committed leaders: Bishop Michael Smolinski, Fr. Ivan Nahachewsky (icon workshop leader), BLAZE alumni leaders and Taras Garmasar (designer of promotional materials)
The ladies who cared for nourishment of participants: Olha Matsiakh, Yuliia Duda and Marianna Kotenko
All high school leaders who generously gave their time and energy

We are also deeply grateful to our generous sponsors. Your financial support is vital in helping us continue our mission to serve youth with faith, hope, and love: