Praying for Ukraine

 Before Mass, during Lent we are praying a Rosary for the "hot spots," in the world.  I have Ukraine.  

Today we are praying for the people of Ukraine.  The country itself has often been in the jaws of Russia, due to it’s access to water, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.  It once had the Crimean Sea but in 2014, Russia took it.  Its natural resources have also been coveted by Russia.  Ukraine has iron, gas, oil, lithium, and many others.  The agricultural resources are so renowned that Ukraine is known as the bread basket of the world.  These are some of the reasons, Russia wants Ukraine.

Ukraine has always claimed to be a separate nation.  It has its own language, even when it was annexed by Catherine the Great, as part of the Russian Empire, and then as part of the Soviet Union.  When the Soviet Union collapsed, Ukraine declared itself an independent entity in 1991.

The last time, Russia invaded Ukraine was in 2014, where it claimed the Donbas region.  There are many people there that desire to be Russian. This was the excuse—to defend the Russians living in Donbas. But Putin used the invasion to annex the Crimean Peninsula. Since then, war has simmered between the Donbas Russians and Ukraine.

Three days before Putin invaded, a year ago, he declared Donbas and Luhansk as Republics. This is what prompted NATO to impose sanctions on Russia. Since then, Putin often speaks of the ethnic ties that justify his invasion in his aim to restore Russia to national greatness.

Another motivation for Putin is religious.  Of course he might be using religion to convince some people that he is restoring the Russian Orthodox Church to be the only accepted church in Russia. Putin’s invasion is supported by the Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church. Patriarch Kirill has called Putin’s invasion a religious miracle. Putin and Kirill consider the West and that includes Ukraine, decadent and morally reprehensible. In a country where 71% identify as Orthodox, Putin promotes himself as defender of the values of the church, and Patriarch Kirill legitimizes his geopolitical ambitions.

This afternoon, let us invoke the intercessions of the patron saints of Ukraine and Russia.  St. Olga is patron saint of Ukraine.  She is also patron of widows, defiance, and vengeance.  Yes, vengeance.  The story is that she married as a teenager and had one son.  This is the 10^th century; her husband was brutally murdered by a neighboring tribe.  She was only around twenty years old, and her son was three.  She wanted vengeance and she got it.  She wiped the tribe that killed her husband off the face of the earth.  This was before she became Christian.  Upon converting to Christianity she repented and forgave all whom she felt had wronged her.  So she is patron saint of those who want vengeance but think better of it.  Her family was converted, along with her.  That includes her grandson, Vladimir.

Her grandson, Vladimir the Great, expanded the kingdom into what is now seen as the first Russian principality, which Vladimir Putin now views as the forerunner of the imperial Russian state. Olga’s grandson is acknowledged as a saint for his role in completing the Christianization, Olga started. Is the name sake of St. Vladimir modeling him?

Russia has a few patron saints because of the many countries she has assimilated.  There’s St. Vladimir and St. Olga, St. Nicholas (our Santa), St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Andrew, St. George, Michael the Archangel, etc. 

Let us pray through the intercession of all the saints, especially the patrons of Ukraine and Russia; we pray for peace and the laying down of weapons.  We ask for wisdom, discernment, and compassion for those in power to broker peace.   ROSARY

Globalists

 Do you think the Globalists are in charge and have manipulated this war between Russia and Ukraine?

Globalists can mean different things to different people.  Those that call themselves Globalists say they are people who care how the economy, politics, culture, and religion, interact with each other.  They foster understanding and peace.

Others, say the opposite.  Globalists are the influential people in the world who are interested in keeping their status and influence.

Some say it is the Globalists who are behind the war in Ukraine.  They support Ukraine and hope to destroy Russia as a global interest.   

Are we just puppets controlled by the Globalists? If so, they are playing a dangerous game.  They are playing with fire.

It's best to leave the planning to God.  At least, we know the end.

A Ukrainian Prayer, John Rutter

This is a response to violence, to war, to evil, and to death.  Art answers.

Bracelets

 My grandchildren and I made bracelets using the colors of the Ukrainian flag, teal, and yellow.  We want to show our support of Ukrainian people. 

Passivity is Immoral

I struggle with pacifism.  It sounds nice.  I wish everyone were a pacifist.  But they're not.  Get real. 

Currently, Russia has invaded Ukraine.  If the Ukrainians did not defend themselves, they would be worse off than they were.  The world would be worse off.  Actually, it isn't "war" here; it's Putin.  He is not conducting a military operation--that's a lie.  It is an unjust act of aggression.  How do you define war?  

Ukrainians are forced to take up weapons.  What would happen if they didn't?  Innocents would be harmed.  Defending your family and other innocents is not unacceptable, in fact, people have a moral duty to stop the violence being perpetrated upon innocents. Yes, that is an acceptable force; it is not an immoral force.  One has the responsibility to protect, doing nothing is immoral. This is Veritas!

Deterrence has become one of the necessary instruments of peace. 

In this case, Putin has invaded Ukraine, which posed no immediate danger to Russia.  And with the location of nuclear facilities, Putin is threatening catastrophe.  He must be stopped.

Evil is and has always been in the world. I pray that Ukrainian defense measures will limit the evil that is spreading. 

Living in a Madhouse

 How incongruous is this picture of a Ukrainian soldier wearing a Rosary.  Our Lady Queen of peace hear our prayers.

In the Name of God Stop!

 "In the name of God, stop now!" wrote Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius, Lithuania, president of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences.  After Russia takes over Ukraine will he go for the Baltics? I can't help but think of my Lithuanian grandparents who fled from the Russians. 

This is my grandparent's family.  My mother is the smaller girl on my grandmother's lap.   

Our Lady, Protector of the Ukraine, Pray for Peace

Praying for peace

Almighty God we pray for the situation on the border of Ukraine.

We pray for those who live in fear, that you may grant them peace.

We pray that the voices for discernment and peaceful solutions may prosper.

Lord, we ask that you raise up peacemakers on all sides, that war and violence might be averted.

Give diplomats wisdom, understanding and build trust.

We ask for the church in the nations involved, may they be salt and light in a dark situation.

Lord we lift this dangerous situation to you.

May your kingdom come,

Amen.

Prayer by Fred Drummond, Evangelical Alliance Scotland and prayer director

 

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Icon of the Virgin Nicopeia

April 30 is the feast day of Pius V.  He is the pope who asked everyone to pray the Rosary during the Battle of Lepanto.

In looking at videos and pictures of the lucky people who were able to go to Rome for the two popes' canonizations, I saw a picture of this icon, the Virgin of Nicopeia in the church of San Marco. She has an interesting history.

The name itself, Nicopeia, means bringer of victories.  It was first mentioned in the first half of the fifth century.

 The word Nicopeia indicates the place, Constantinople. There are actually many different types. The early Byzantine and widely spread style usually shows Mary seated on a throne in a frontal position with her feet on an imperial footrest. She is richly dressed in purple and the costume of the empresses. Seated on her lap is the Child, whom she supports with her left hand on the his left leg and her right hand on his right shoulder. This solemn and majestic pose is often accompanied by two angels holding the orb and the scepter at either side and as part of the frame.
   The name "bringer of the victory" seems to have been attached to this form of icon after Heraklios selected this image of Mary and the Child and named them his protectors when he sailed from Carthage to Constantinople in 610 AD. Heraklios left the image in Constantinople after the victory. In 626, the siege of the Avaren and Slaves is said to have been averted after prayer before this image. The image is also thought by many to have been the icon given by Empress Eudokia to her sister-in-law Empress Pulcheria in the fifth century.

Whatever its actual origin, it became part of the Venetian loot when Constantinople was sacked in 1204 during the fourth Crusade. The original disappeared after that. The Nicopoia in San Marco is most likely a copy made after the difficulties with iconoclasm.

Copies are what we see now.  At various times, iconographers have added precious jewels to the icon, but these have been stolen.  I'm not sure if the original is still around.  But this icon was carried in a ship in the Battle of Lepanto.  

And also, the icon was given to the primate in the Ukraine, in 2001.  They need her prayers, now.

"Thou art an impregnable wall and a source of miracles enabling us to subdue enemy attacks, O Mother of God. Wherefore we pray thee grant peace to the world and great mercy to our souls."