Today as
many of the Irish have a celebration for St. Patrick, the people of the
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk called
for prayers for women living in parts of
“In our villages in the Kyiv region, women are becoming the first victims of the occupation, victims of violence, victims of humiliation, victims of rape.
Women who
care for the elderly and feed their children. When we care for our people who
are hiding in bomb shelters, we see first of all women. The woman is today the
symbol of the strength and courage of
Perhaps it
seems odd: courage and woman. It used to be that courage was always associated
with a man, but here we see the female strength that gives
Today,
Who can fully comprehend the pain of a woman, a mother, who mourns the death of her son killed in war? Or a woman who has lost her husband, brother, or sister?
But most of
all we are amazed by women who stand in prayer before God.”
Archbishop Eamon Martin of
“We appeal through our
prayers this Saint Patrick’s Day for an end to this pointless massacre and
pulverizing of the property, bodies and spirit of the Ukrainian people.
It
is poignant to think that as the world comes out of a global pandemic which
reminded us so strongly of our connectedness and interdependence, that our
continent has so easily lapsed into the pointless divisions and devastation of
warfare. War is a defeat for humanity. It represents the failure of politics,
diplomacy and dialogue…
Tradition tells us that Saint Patrick himself, in the face of great danger and peril to his own life, prayed his ‘Breastplate Prayer,’ taking comfort in his faith that God does not forsake us, and that Christ is present with all who suffer: Christ is always with us, behind us and before us.
”Images:
Top: Tsolak
Shahinyan-
Right: Ivanka
Demchuk Ukraine-
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