Head of the UGCC to refugee mothers on the 169th day of the war: Think about Ukraine, and when the time is right, return home
You, mother, are the only seagull, watching over your child’s welfare today. Please think about Ukraine, and when the time is right, return home. Ukraine needs all of you. Ukraine, your Motherland, miss you, cry, pray for you. And we believe that the day will come when your father will return home alive from the front, you and your children from abroad, and then your family will reunite. And we will be together again in our native, independent, free Ukraine! The Father and Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, said in his daily address on the 169th day of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
From daily news, with which His Beatitude Sviatoslav began his address, we hear that Ukraine was again severely wounded by Russian weapons of various types: “The enemy is tirelessly trying to attack Ukrainian troops, particularly, in Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Our already wounded cities of Kharkiv and Mykolaiv shudder under Russian missiles and bombs. However, the last night was the most hellish in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The enemy destroyed many civilian houses with jet artillery strikes, damaged the infrastructure of large cities. Ukrainian blood was shed again…”
But Ukraine stands! Ukraine fights! Ukraine prays!
His Beatitude Sviatoslav explained that a person is a social being by her nature and is created in the image and likeness of God, who is the Trinity. Therefore, she needs all kinds of benefits she cannot provide for herself.
“The common good is not just the sum of various private goods or prosperity of the citizens of this or that state. It is something that can be achieved only together, jointly, enabling all citizens to feel protected in society and the state. Each person, as a citizen, has particular responsibilities for the common good. For example, we say that the purpose of serving any political power in the country is the common good of all citizens. An example of such a good is the state itself. We also know we can defeat the enemy only when we stand together. And we understand that the victory of Ukraine will be the common good of the entire Ukrainian people. It is the good that will be used by all citizens today, our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in the future,” the Primate pointed out.
In today’s address, His Beatitude Sviatoslav appealed especially to the mothers who, together with their children, were forced to flee Ukraine while their husbands remained to protect it.
“The whole world was moved by the photo in which the father brought his wife and child to the border, said goodbye to them, and returned to defend the Motherland. And the mother and the child continued hard, uncertain way of the refugee,” he noted. “Dear mothers, today we pray for you especially. I want to express my words of support to you. We remember you. We pray for you. Today, you, mother, are the only protection for your child in that foreign world, the only door to this big and unknown, sometimes alien world. You, mother, being there, in a foreign land, are the only ones who should take care of the Christian and equally the national and cultural upbringing of your child. And we, as a community, the Church, want to help. Our parishes and communities in different countries of the world, where you are, in particular, want to be close to you, to surround you with the warmth of solidarity and Christian love.”
“O God, bless the Ukrainian people! Bless Ukrainian mothers! Bless the Ukrainian army — our sons and daughters, who are building the common good of the Ukrainian people, with their own lives bringing this desired victory closer every day. God, bless Ukraine with Your just God’s heavenly peace!” asked the Head of the Church.
The UGCC department for Information
