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Orthodox believers celebrate the biggest Christian holiday – Easter. For the third time, they are experiencing them in wartime conditions. “We pray that the war will end,” said Mrs. Jelena for Radiožurnál. Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople called on Russia and Ukraine to make a Christian gesture – to exchange all prisoners of war.
From a regular correspondent
Kyiv
9:04 p.m May 5, 2024
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“Christ rose from the dead, really rose from the dead.” This is how Orthodox believers greet each other on Easter Sunday everywhere, including in Ukraine in the Holy Aspen Cathedral in Odessa, which is filled to capacity.
Listen to the report by Martin Dorazín, correspondent of Czech Radio in Ukraine
While liturgical songs are heard from the choir, outside the priest blesses the festive food. Mrs. Anna came in traditional Ukrainian embroidered clothing together with her five-year-old son Danyl.
His father is fighting at the front. “Easter is a holiday and a tradition. Despite such difficult times, I want to ask God for peace in Ukraine and for the return of our soldiers from the front. We have been alone for two years now because my husband is fighting. Danylo is still waiting for him, she doesn’t let go of his photo and asks when dad will come. That is why we pray for peace. We want there to be goodness, light and peace,” said Anna.
She brought with her – like everyone else – a basket of food to be blessed.
In addition to the Easter spread, the basket also has a chocolate bunny, dyed eggs and a candle to be lit in the temple for the fallen.
Festive clothes and baskets
Inside the temple, the most beautiful liturgy of Eastern Christianity takes place, in Ukraine divided into followers of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which was formed by the merger of smaller churches in 2018.
Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople granted it the status of an autocephalous church a year later, which caused a storm of opposition in Moscow.
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In Odessa, believers do not seem to solve these contradictions very much and go to the temples where they were used to. The main one is the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral.
A long queue had been forming in front of the temple since Sunday morning. Believers came to the place with their entire families, festively dressed and with baskets in their hands.
“We pray for the war to end,” said Mrs. Jelena.
The presence of the war reminds the believers at Easter of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was hit by a Russian rocket.
Martin Dorazin
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Tags: Ukrainians experiencing Orthodox Easter wartime conditions prays war iRADIO
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