From Reuters:
“Convulsed by war, tearful
Ukrainians mark Orthodox Easter”
(A Ukrainian woman takes part in
an Easter Mass at the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, amid
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine April 24, 2022.)
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
said on Sunday that light would defeat darkness and Kyiv would triumph over
Russia as Ukrainians marked a bitterly emotional Orthodox Easter overshadowed
by the grinding two-month-old war. Ukrainians flocked to churches on Sunday
morning to mark what they call the Great Day after their centuries-old
tradition of midnight Easter services was abandoned the night before over fears
of Russian shelling and a nationwide curfew.
Zelenskiy spoke to Ukrainians in
a video address from Kyiv's 1,000-year-old Saint Sophia Cathedral exactly two
months since the Kremlin launched an invasion of Ukraine that it calls a
"special military operation". "This great holiday gives us hope
and an unwavering belief that light will defeat darkness, good will defeat
evil, life will defeat death and therefore Ukraine is certain to triumph,"
Zelenskiy told Ukrainians. Not far from the eastern front line where fighting
is raging, shelling rumbled as a priest led a service for a congregation of
three in Kramatorsk city where authorities have been rushing to evacuate people
who are still there. Below Kyiv's skyline of golden onion domes, hundreds of
churchgoers gathered at Volodymyr Cathedral. Some shed tears and prayed for an
end to the war. They said the holiday had taken on greater emotional
significance because of the national hardship. "We've started to value
everything a little differently, you value every day differently because you
understand that you could lose this," said Darya Barabash, 30, who was
expecting a baby girl. Long queues formed outside the cathedral as worshippers
carrying baskets of ornately painted Easter eggs and paska, a traditional
Ukrainian Easter bread, waited to receive blessings from a priest. In the
northeast Kharkiv region where shelling has intensifed in recent weeks, an army
chaplain conducted a service for soldiers on the frontlines, splashing them
with holy water and taking confessions.
(An Orthodox priest Oleksandr
conducts the Orthodox Easter service at the remains of Trinity church in the
village of Hostroluchchia, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 24, 2022)
For a few hours in the morning,
Ukrainian television took a break from war coverage of death and destruction,
airing emotional scenes of people praying, priests intoning and the churches
that dot the country. By mid-morning the governor of the eastern Donetsk region
that is targeted by a new Russian offensive said that two children aged 5 and
14 had been killed in shelling on Sunday. Russia denies targeting civilians. Serhiy
Gaidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk region, said that seven churches there
have been destroyed during the war. While churches used to be full for
overnight and morning Easter services, this year churches have been asked not
to gather many people, with concerns they could be targets for missiles. "Our
nation has always been united. And today we are showing that it is impossible
to scare us," said Mikhail, a worshipper in army uniform. "Even
though many were saying there would be provocations at churches, God protects
us, our faith protects us and Christ is risen, truly he is risen."
^ Easter at War for Ukrainians
this year. Here's hoping next Easter will be held in peace and their Victory. ^
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.