A large group spills out onto the lawn of St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church, just northeast of downtown Calgary, to fill their baskets with pysanky (traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs), paskas (Ukrainian Easter bread), sausages, horseradish and more, blessed by the priest.
The morning blessing of baskets on Ukrainian Orthodox Easter, which falls on April 24 this year in line with the Julian calendar, has an air of celebration, but the stress and anxiety of the war raging in Ukraine looms in the bottom.
Between the greetings of “Khrystos voskres!” (“Christ is risen!”) and smiles, there is also a conversation about the latest reports from the Ukrainian military that Russian forces have continued their attacks in the east on Easter Sunday.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said parishioner Shauna May.
May is part of a committee that collects goods at the church to support newly arrived Ukrainians in Calgary.
“They know they can’t go home, which is terrible. So we have to be able to provide them with a safe haven.”
The church on this Orthodox Easter Sunday has more people present than in previous years, including several Ukrainian refugees.
“Everyone has gathered,” said parishioner Jessica Irwin.
“The church has really gotten a lot busier because of the Ukraine conflict… people are showing their support.”
First Canadian Easter
This is the first time Olena Shovkun has celebrated Easter in Canada. She arrived here three weeks ago with her two children, after being forced to flee her home in the Ukrainian capital, kyiv, due to the war there.
“Everyone is so nice here. We’re safe and we’re thankful for everyone who helps us, who supports us. We’re so thankful for our Canadian friends and family,” said Shovkun, who lives with his family in Calgary.
However, celebrating the religious holiday is bittersweet, because her husband, mother and other relatives are still in Ukraine.
Under martial law, Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 cannot leave the country in case they are called to fight.
“All I want is for the war to be close to over,” he said.
It’s a sentiment many others shared on Sunday.
‘We are all family’
Father Patrick Yamniuk, who led the Easter service at the church, said the Easter theme of light overcoming darkness “resonates deeply with everyone” during this time in Ukraine.
The priest said he tried to make everyone, especially the newly arrived Ukrainians, smile by joking as he blessed the baskets with holy water.
“That’s what I wanted…it’s the smile.”
The UN says more than five million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
A committee of volunteers from St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been helping Ukrainian families arriving in Calgary by collecting household items, creating care packages and connecting them with support agencies.
“[It’s so] they feel much more that they are not alone arriving in a strange country, speaking a strange language, you know, that they feel welcome,” Yamniuk said.
“Don’t forget that we are all family. We are all one church family.”
Reference-www.cbc.ca