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14 WWW.UNWLA.ORG “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ВЕРЕСЕНЬ 2014 Sts. Peter and Paul Garrison Church in L’viv as a Center of Care for Ukrainian Soldiers by Olesia Wallo When almost a year ago I was writing a short piece about the history and renovation of L’viv’s Garrison Church (please see the October 2013 issue of Our Life ), I could hardly imagine that in a matter of months this exquisite gem of L’viv architecture would start making the news for entirely different reasons. With the beginning of the Ukrainian government’s military effort in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in April, Sts. Peter and Paul Garrison Church took on the duty of car- ing for the Ukrainian soldiers involved in the anti- terrorist operation. As the only garrison church in Ukraine, which is also part and parcel of the Cen- ter for Military Chaplaincy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, it has counseled and ministered to the armed forces personnel long before this time. Yet now, in addition to its pastoral care, it has become a major center for coordinating vol- unteer service and aid to the soldiers. It is no secret that right now the Ukraini- an armed forces are in such dire straits financially that they often cannot provide the troops heading east even with the most basic necessities. This is where rank-and-file citizens, volunteers, religious organizations, and Ukrainian diaspora communi- ties worldwide have stepped in with donations: from March until late July, the Garrison Church has raised almost 1.5 million hryvnias, 26,000 Euros, and over 12,000 US dollars to meet the needs of the Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Don- bas. With these funds, the chaplains and volun- teers have purchased and sent to the troops es- sential supplies such as helmets, bulletproof vests, sleeping bags, clothing, shoes, stretchers, field radios, etc. As more military units continue to depart for the east, the Garrison Church makes every effort to supply them with adequate protec- tive gear and medical kits—the latter often as- sembled by volunteers out of the medicine that has remained since the time of the Euromaidan. Care for the soldiers’ bodies goes hand in hand with care for their souls. With well over a thousand troops from L’viv already in Donbas, and with more men mobilized daily, the Dean of Garrison Church, Fr. Stepan Sus, and his col- leagues have become frequent visitors to the In- ternational Peacekeeping and Security Center in Sts. Peter and Paul Garrison Church in L’viv. Yavoriv, where most of the newly formed military units receive training prior to their departure. The chaplains’ prayers, blessing, and words of encour- agement matter greatly to the men who are leav- ing their families and their often peaceful, non- military occupations for a very dangerous mission in the east. Prayers for their protection and safe return home resound in Sts. Peter and Paul Garri- son Church on a regular basis. Sadly, as we all know from the daily news reports, some of these soldiers do not come back alive. In these instances, the Garrison Church has served as the place of communal mourning where thousands have been gathering to say goodbye to and bury the fallen heroes. As the major of L’viv, Andriy Sadovyi, recently noted, tragically, such funerals have become a weekly occurrence. Yet the Church’s sad duty of sending off the deceased to their final resting place is also a form of care for the soldiers, their families, and the surrounding community. On August 8th, former President of Geor- gia Mikheil Saakashvili joined the officials and res- idents of L’viv for a special service at the Sts. Peter and Paul Garrison Church. After the communal prayer for the fallen Ukrainian and Georgian mili- tary, Mr. Saakashvili expressed his conviction that the current unrest in Ukraine would soon vanish into the past “as a nightmarish dream,” but what would remain in its wake is a consolidated nation of 45 million patriots. May we all pray that these words become reality in a very-very near future!
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