Today, women are symbols of the strength and courage of Ukraine: The Head of the UGCC’s reflection for Thursday, March 17, 2022

Thursday, 17 March 2022, 20:05

“When we talk about our Motherland, our Ukraine, which is standing and defending itself, the figure of a woman appears before our eyes as a symbol of Ukraine. A woman, who bears the unspeakable burden of war, who watches over life in the midst of a sea of death, who builds and protects the future,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said in his daily address on the 22nd day of Russia's war against Ukraine.

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According to the Primate, the Ukrainian woman today represents all of Ukraine.

"Every day," he says, "as we interact daily with people who come to our parishes, particularly in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, and Odessa, we see first and foremost women who care for the elderly and provide for their children."

"A woman today," stated His Beatitude Sviatoslav, "is a symbol of Ukraine's strength and courage." It’s a strange combination – “courage” and “woman”, because the word "courage" (muzhnist’) in Ukrainian has its root in the word for “man,” but here we see that it is a woman's strength that gives Ukraine hope."

We especially pray for our girls and women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who hold weapons in their hands as they defend their homeland. And we especially extend compassion toward, and pray for, the women who are victims of this war in the occupied territories. In our villages, particularly in the Kyiv region, women are the first victims of occupation, victims of violence, humiliation, and rape.

The Head of the Church noted that a photo of the so-called “Madonna of Kyiv”, a young woman breastfeeding her newborn child on the steps of a bomb shelter in the nation’s capital, has gone viral around the world.

Meanwhile, other women are forced to leave their homeland with their children and go abroad.

According to His Beatitude, today we are talking about more than three million refugees from Ukraine. "Who can fully understand the pain of a woman mourning her son who was killed in the war, who lost her husband, brother or sister in the war? But today we look on in awe at the women who stand in prayer before God, like the Mother of God’s image of the “Oranta” of St Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, known as the “Immovable Wall,” which day and night raises her hands in prayer for her city, for her country,” remarked the spiritual leader.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav believes that women are a sign of hope for our people, a symbol of fearlessness, of the victory of life over death, and a symbol that Ukraine will remain standing despite such inhumane circumstances.

The UGCC Department of Information