the claretians in ukraine

“let us offer one another a sign of peace.” we hear these words at every mass and we acknowledge one another with the peace of Christ. today, my claretian brothers in ukraine will celebrate mass and the profound, divine peace of our Lord in the eucharist. but those folks at those masses will hear and receive these graces differently.

their country is under siege.

we received this message from our leadership in rome yesterday about our claretian brothers and friends in ukraine:

“Regarding the obvious
questions about the situation of the Claretian
missionaries of the Province of Polska,
Wojciech Kobylinski (Superior), Krzysztof
Labedz (Parish Priest) and Marcin Kukus
(Bursar), who since almost two years work in
Trusavets – Ukraine, we inform you that now
they are in good condition because the current
military operations occur more frequently in the
eastern part of the country. However, we are
aware that the situation may change. Father
Wojciech wrote that ‘bombs also fell in nearby
Lviv (90 km from us), which means that
basically the whole country is covered by the war.

“Alarm sirens are heard and people are
afraid. There are long queues at petrol
stations…’. The Claretian missionaries,
cooperating with the Sisters who also work in
the place, decided to stay in Truskavets for the
pastoral care of the faithful as long as possible.
During the state of war, let us pray for our
brothers and the people of Ukraine”.

we join our prayers for God’s grace and gifts of the Spirit over all the people of ukraine– especially our missionaries and the people they serve. john paul II said in 2003 in response to the build-up and subsequent war in iraq, “war is always a defeat for humanity.” may our faith brings us through all death and violence– especially those most vulnerable in these attacks.

The following prayer is beloved by Ukrainians:

We fly to Your patronage, O Virgin Mother of God. Despise not our prayers in our needs, but deliver us from all dangers, since you alone are pure and blessed.

O most glorious ever-Virgin Mary, the Mother of Christ our God, accept our prayers and present them to Your Son and our God, that for the sake of you, He enlighten and save our souls.

for pax christi resources on this invasion of ukraine, please check out: https://paxchristiusa.org/the-ukraine-crisis/