Care for Ukraine………………………………...…………………………………….Pages

The Blessed Surgeon Care for Ukraine By: Father Jonathan Bannon

Prayer Vigil

When the Russian Army invaded Ukraine it shocked the world. Some were not surprised as the annexation of Crimea is still fresh in our minds. Within 48 hours, hundreds of missiles hit causing millions of women and children to leave their beloved country and seek refuge in the neighboring countries of Poland and Romania. Serving the Parish of Christ the Saviour Church in Rockford, Illinois, founded by Belarusian, Polish and Ukrainian refugees who have first hand experiences of losing their homes to Soviet armies and living in labor camps with uncertain futures, I knew I had to check in with our founding members. I was concerned the images shown on TV might bring back difficult memories for our founders who were just children when split up from their families, some watching their villages be lit on fire so I began to call all of them just to say hello. One parishioner shared back in Belarus her mother would cut flowers and give them to her as a little girl to throw to the tanks that would drive past her house because it was so common to have their country occupied. Her mother taught her to at least offer a sign of peace as a new army came to take over. This peaceful response to violence would be an example to the choices our Parish would

make in the hours and month to follow.

Knowing how important it is to pray together, I knew there were people in our city of Rockford hoping to find a peaceful way to respond to Russia’s invasion. When we know people are suffering so far away and we can’t do anything within arms reach, we as Orthodox Christians know we can at least uplift and embrace them with prayer for God is everywhere present and filling all things. So we did just that. Within 48 hours we contacted the local news outlets and invited Rockford to respond with an invitation to an outdoor prayer vigil with the blessing and permission of our Hierarch Metropolitan Gregory. Over 200 people gathered by the front steps of our Parish founded by refugees themselves. Two radio stations attended, 5 News stations (with 2 broadcasting the service live on site), 1 newspaper and over 15 pastors with a rabbi along with

the Mayor of Rockford came together to support and pray for a peaceful end to the conflict. People brought artwork and flowers and placed them near the icons that were set up. It was important to have holy images of courage in the face of pain as found in the Theotokos and Life in the face of Death found in Jesus Christ. Families of our Parish helped hand out beeswax candles and as the Sun set on Rockford a light of prayer remained into the night as we chanted a famous centuries-old hymn to the Virgin Mary when the Mother City of Constantinople was surrounded by an invading army and she intervened. This was the beginning of our Parish and town’s response to the horrors of the war that had begun in Ukraine only 48 hours earlier. Money began to be collected, the church phone was ringing every time I stopped by. A former Mayor of a local town called to share he and 5 others

are willing to open their homes to refugees, people were wondering how to help while the local charities that assist with refugees shared that it was largely Poland and Romania who are receiving families. We began to offer a vigil every Monday night to pray for an end to the war and would continue to see people attending. One gentleman shared he felt such a fulfilling experience when encountering the Orthodox vigil and that speaks to the comfort God’s Church offers from the encompassing incense, the flicker of a candle, a softly chanted psalm and icons of saints who look back. Not a sentimentality of faith, but the very pulse of a living Church with her living God.

Art for Peace After hearing about the Rockford Area Arts Council, as an artist, I wanted to learn more and set up a meeting asking the Director if there is a gallery space that we could fill with Ukrainian cultural and religious items to help honor and educate our community about the people of Ukraine. The Director shared she had an idea and in two days I received a phone call about Art for Peace, an evening of fellowship and fine art to be auctioned with all funds going to Rockford’s Sister City of Brovary, Ukraine. I was given the opportunity to bring a number of items to this event and talk with those attending. Thousands of dollars were raised and many artists internationally sent artwork to the event. Many sunflowers and all sorts of paintings and photographs came in. Calling the National Ukrainian Museum of Chicago to see if we could borrow a few embroidered rushnyks and shirts and I did not hear back because since the war began they shared they would receive 100’s of visitors daily. About a week before the event, the museum Director calls inviting me to pick up a few items. Upon arriving in Chicago she tells me, “We are not going to lend you some embroidered shirts, there is a war going on in Ukraine you are going to take far more.” She then proceeded to share an 11 piece large format framed posters of black and white photos from the Soviet aggression of WWII and how it is paralleled in the scenes on the news again in 2022 with subways filled with people, buildings blown to pieces, and peaceful protests. This was an exhibit that was set to be debuted later in the week but our

event in Rockford would get the showing first. Even pysanky eggs from a village in Ukraine that was damaged were offered to us to showcase and the museum plans to send the eggs back to Ukraine because they probably lost so much of their art in this war. Lastly the Director then shared she plans to attend with some of her staff. When a member of the Art for Peace planning committee was told about this kindness from the National Ukrainian Musuem she shared, “the event got much bigger than they expected” and jumped a tier in what it had become. This was the 2nd expression of love for Ukraine that we participated and assisted with in Rockford. Face to Face with Ukrainian Teens In the summer I received a text message from a kind parishioner who shared the news that Rockford would welcome 12 Ukrainian middle school students with their mothers for 14 days from our Sister City Brovary. Within minutes of receiving the text message I called the Mayor who called me back even while on vacation sharing that our Parish would have the opportunity to support this event in a meaningful way. The schedule of the teens was almost filled in a day and we were offered a few hours on a Friday and a Sunday with them. Then Sunday was pulled because the group would be going to Chicago leaving us with a few hours on a Friday evening which just happened to be the Great Vespers of the Feast of Transfiguration, the feast of our Parish. What a blessing!! We then found out the entire group of teens were Orthodox. A catered meal and great hospitality from our parishioners came together quickly. As fun as it would be for the teens to enjoy entertainments

Rockford would offer during their visit, I wanted to make sure they had the opportunity to pray and be in God’s house, to exhale and simply breath in a space we know to be the most peaceful of our lives. Could these children go to pray in their home Parishes which they had to leave behind? Whatever the situation, prayer needed to be on their list of activities. Every teen was given a prayer rope from Mount Athos with a small booklet. I wrote about the comfort of the holy name of Jesus Christ in the Jesus Prayer. Because our founders were all refugees being in the same shoes as these children, I thought perhaps they have a word of comfort or wisdom that can be offered in the booklet, showing the children how they came through not losing faith in God or humanity because of hate. Founding members offered words such as, “Take it a day at a time, to be strong and pray, that this too will pass and trust in the Lord.” During the meal I sat with the children at each table to hear about their experiences. When asking, “Have any of you attended a Ukrainian Orthodox Monastery? Both tables of the teens all nodded saying yes. Then I asked, ‘What did the Fathers teach you or share with you?” One teen responded, “They taught us: we do not say “Hello” we say, “Slava Isusu Christu!” During many of our services as Orthodox Christians we pray for peace, that foreign invasions will be avoided, and those petitions come to life when your Parish is filled with teenagers who lost their homes and whose fathers are fighting against the Russian Army. I am grateful to our Mayor, the YMCA and all the partners who helped make the experience of these children a healing and positive one and to our faithful parishioners for always cultivating a space of prayer and humility so when God sends us wounded sheep they can encounter a stream of peace and a place of healing.