As the darkness of the Holy and Great Friday settled in the hearts of Ukrainian Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and in fact throughout the world, the clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA sent a beacon of light – HOPE to their brethren in devasted by the war regions of Eastern and Central Ukraine.
Due to the close cooperation of the Consistory Office of Ministry of the UOC of the USA under the leadership of the hierarchs of the Church with His Eminence Metropolitan Serhiy of Donetsk and Mariupol Eparchy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, thousands of refugees from Donbas and Mariupol regions of destroyed and devasted towns and villages received Paschal baskets of food in order to bring some sort of normality to the celebration of the Glorious and Bright Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Children and adults, elderly and wounded approached Metropolitan Serhiy in order to receive a spiritual blessing for the celebration of Pascha and a greeting from the brothers and sisters of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the United States of America.
Archbishop Daniel and Metropolitan Serhiy worked closely between the charitable entities of both Churches, while providing humaniatarian ministry to the residents of pre-war areas of Mariupol and Donbas regions. Donations from the parishes of the UOC of the USA and a central organization of the UOC of the USA – St. Andrew Society (protodeacon Ihor Mahlay – president), enabled clergy and individuals in Eastern Ukraine to ease to burden and pain of spiritual, financial and economic difficulty.
At the beginning of the Holy and Great Week, Metropolitan Serhiy personally traveled to various stores in Dnipro in order to obtain food items for over 300 families in that particular location.
Exactly 5 miles away from Bahmut, where Russian forces daily attack innocent civilians, Very Rev. Fr. Kostyantyn Kuznetson, a priest of Donbas Eparchy of the OCU (under the leadership if Metroppolitan Serhiy) together with his wife Natalia, continue to provide logistical support to the refugees and military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
On Holy Thursday, the entire logistical truck was packed with Paschal food items that were obtained and delivered to the front line of Bahmut region in order to support the military men and women as we all celebrate the Bright Feast of Pascha. Blessing the food and sending off the truckload of Paschal baskets, Fr. Kostyantyn stated: “…we should all pray for our defenders and thank God for each and everyone of them! We do everything we can so that each Ukrainian military man and woman feel the love and spiritual support from us on this Sacred Day of the Bright Resurrection of Christ!
We are extremely grateful to the great benefactors of our area, the hierarchs, clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, for their consistent assistance to all displaced persons, refugees, military and all the needy in this time of pain and suffering. We pray for all of you that contribute and take the actions of “LIGHT”.
Beloved in the Lord clergy, parishioners and friends of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA: the aggression of Russian in Ukraine continues, and the need for assistance grows greater as more and more innocent lives are destroyed by Russia.
Please consider donating to the Ukrainian Humanitarian Relief Fund of the UOC of the USA. Every dollar helps return a sense of humanity to people who are heroically withstanding the brutal invasion and defending the world’s right to freedom.
