The Ukrainians celebrate Easter this weekend. I have been doing research for a story I’m writing, and have been studying their traditions, their Pysanky eggs, their Paska bread, and their traditions. I grieve that so many are mourning theirs lost customs, their fright, their deprivation, and worst of all, their dead and displaced people. For a celebratory holiday like the resurrection of Christ, the gathering of family, the hope of spring and new growth will be replaced this year for so many by mere survival and mission those they love.
The period leading to Easter, what we call Lent, is a time of deprivation of meat, eggs, and dairy. Except for Palm Sunday, celebrated with blossoming willow branches, when they can break their fast by eating a fish meal, there is much preparation for Easter. On Thursday, for instance, houses are cleaned from top to bottom, and on Friday, the Paska bread is baked. Unfortunately, not this year.
Did you know, for instance, that when one sends flowers to loved ones in Ukraine, it is a sign of mourning and funerals to send a dozen flowers? Their tradition is to send eleven to the living. Did you know that the color red, krasnyi, means beautiful, and when used to decorate their eggs means love, hope of marriage, and life-giving blood? This year, when so much blood has been shed, and the promise is further bloodshed in the next offensive wave, that there will be more black, the color of the afterlife.
While the towns’ colorful tulips rise to great Easter, there will be no one to tour the gardens in every city. There will be no evening strolls down picturesque boulevards, no greeting neighbors and fellow parishioners with Khrystos Voskres. The famous 1069 cathedral on the hill in Chernihiv will be empty, although hopeful survivors today take the dangerous climb to the well where there is still water. Praise God, the gorgeous cathedral still stands, although much of the beautiful city has been destroyed.
This city was named one of ten Hero Cities by President Zelensky. Although surrounded from February 22 until March 31st, Chernikiv was not captured. They put up such resistance, the army gave up and moved westward toward Kyiv. They were rebuffed by every city along the way. They have returned, unfortunately, to further destroy Mariupol, another of the ten cities. The Ukrainians have recaptured all of the ten and are still contesting Mariupol as I write this. Pray for those huddled beneath the steel plant there. Pray for an Easter miracle. Pray that the troops and survivors of the brutal attacks there live to see Sunday.
I cling to Psalm 92:12-14 and pray it for the people of Ukraine: “The godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green.” Pray for peace for Ukraine, that their beautiful country will again rise to the glory it once held, that their vital people will overcome the oppressor, and that their spirit will remain. The world wishes them Happy Easter this weekend.
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