Finding God in the Destruction of War
The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe was recently privileged to welcome two dedicated servants of God working amid exceptional trials: Bishop Vitalii Kryvytskyi, bishop of Kiev, and Valentyna Pavsyukova, founder and president of the nonprofit Chalice of Mercy, which provides aid to Ukraine. In addition to offering the 12:15 Mass on Friday, January 10, Bishop Kryvytskyi described the ordeal his flock continues to face and how the grace of God, and the support of the world, enable them to go on. Valentyna Pavsyukova also spoke with the Shrine, explaining the work of Chalice of Mercy, all the more urgently needed in the past three years.
Suffering and the Church in Ukraine
“People are very tired,” the Bishop told Shrine staff through his translator. “We have a lot of funerals and a lot of our citizens are dying. A lot of tears, a lot of blood. Nevertheless, at the same time, we are experiencing the support of the whole world. Of course, it’s not always constant, but we have it. We see it. So our faithful see the support, and even in spite of the way they feel, they have the strength to continue.”
A Priest’s Role Changes in Times of War
These extraordinary sufferings also require an extraordinary level of service from the Church in the Ukraine. “We know that normally there’s military chaplains; in our case, every priest has to be a military chaplain,” said Bishop Kryvytskyi. “Everyone has to be part of this healing … It’s completely different to preach on a Sunday when there’s comfortable conditions, everything is fine, everything is going according to plan, and to do it under the fire, under the attacks, when you can smell the war in the air.” Living the call of every priest, “to show the light of the living God” as the Bishop says, is both more challenging and more essential during dark times.
Our Lady’s Words Comforts Those in Ukraine and Russia
Bishop Kryvytskyi sees the intentions of the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady of Fatima, particularly expressed in her message on July 13, 1917, as a light not only for the people of Ukraine, but also for those of Russia: “I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart…If people attend to My requests, Russia will be converted and the world will have peace.” Bishop Kryvytskyi sees Our Lady’s promise as a sure hope for the end of the war and the salvation of souls. “During this time,” he adds, “following what Our Lady of Fatima said, we pray for the conversion of Russia, because otherwise this war can be infinite.”
Helping A War-Torn Country Understand God Exists
Various organizations are at work to assist the war-torn country. Among these, Chalice of Mercy has a unique background and mission. Valentyna Pavsyukova, who immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine at eighteen years old, founded the organization in Chippewa Falls, WI; it thus came from the U.S. back to its roots in Ukraine. Its purpose is both material and spiritual: Through providing medical supplies in large quantities where they are greatly needed, Chalice of Mercy witnesses to the present, active love of God the Father. The depth of the mission, Pavsyukova says, is “to help my people who lived during the Soviet Union time for over seventy years to understand that God exists, that He is not distant, and that He is a loving and merciful Father.”
Dignity of Human Life Amid the Brutality of War
An essential aspect of this mission is promoting the dignity of human life. “Such a mission cannot be possible unless you really speak about the dignity of life from the moment of conception until natural death,” Pavsyukova says. In understanding their own profound worth, and that of their brothers and sisters at every stage, people can come to understand their Father’s love for them. Also, educating people, especially doctors, on the dignity of human life is especially crucial when so many are dying, with three deaths in Ukraine for every birth. “Who is that we have to defend? Every life, born and unborn. That’s why we’re talking about the soldier. That’s why we’re talking about the child. That’s why we talk about grandma, someone’s grandma, someone’s grandpa.” Pavsyukova describes plainly the odds confronting her and her mission: “Over 200 cities and villages have been completely wiped out. They don’t exist anymore. And the citizens of the cities have been brutally killed and buried in the massive graves.”
Witnessing Signs of God at Work
Even amid such overwhelming adversity, Pavsyukova has witnessed signs of God at work. “When there is such a malice and such a destruction and horror, God is there. He’s never distant from human suffering,” she says. Some of the more vivid instances have come to her from friends in the military, who have sensed a mysterious presence near them at critical moments, helping them when no one could be seen. “We don’t understand. We don’t want it. But it’s true, when something like this happens, God is never distant. He’s trying to pull out us from that horror and letting us know that he is present. That death does not have the last word.”
“In the End, My Immaculate Heart Will Triumph”
A gleam of hope, too, appears in Our Lady’s message at Fatima. To the three young visionaries she showed her heart pierced with sorrow. She, our Lady of Sorrows, who suffered with her Son on Calvary, now suffers with Him in His Mystical Body; she always stands by the cross of her child, in a battlefield, a hospital, or a bombed city. Furthermore, even in her sorrowing Heart is a sign of light overcoming the darkness. “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph,” Our Lady promises. As she urges the faithful to pray without ceasing for the much-needed just peace, she assures them that their prayers are not in vain.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Universe, pray for us!
