Father Volodymyr Yavorskyi, right, prays during divine liturgy at the Saint John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Portland in late February, just a couple of days after learning about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
April Ehrlich / OPB
Sunday is Orthodox Easter. For Orthodox Christians, it’s their holiest day of the year — more than any other religious holiday. But it’s also the two-month anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24.
OPB first visited St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Portland’s Sellwood neighborhood in late February, shortly after the invasion began. Back then, the congregation was wrestling with the shock and fear of the sudden violence back home
Now, as the brutal war continues to intensify, religious celebrations are laced with grief and uncertainty in Ukrainian Orthodox communities across the world — and here in the Northwest.
Father Volodymyr Yavorskyi is pastor of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He offered us a prayer — in Ukrainian and English — for the Ukrainian people.
Listen to Father Yavorskyi’s full conversation with OPB Weekend Edition host John Notarianni here: