Ukraine: In God’s hands

As we have shared in other posts on this blog, the Discalced Carmelite friars have ministered to the faithful in Ukraine since the 17th century.

Although they were forced to leave during the Soviet era, friars from Poland returned in 1991 to restore their historic monastery and serve the Church in Ukraine. Now, they plan to stay despite the new threat from Russia.

“We are in the hands of the Lord,” says their Provincial Delegate, Father Józef Kucharczyk, O.C.D. in this video that originally was published on Facebook by the Discalced Carmelite General Curia on 5 March 2022.

All but four Discalced Carmelite nuns took refuge in monasteries outside Ukraine, but the four nuns and all of the friars who remain look to the martyr Saint Edith Stein for inspiration and discernment because she was willing “to live and die in the hands of the Lord, as God wills and when God wills.”

To learn more about the needs of the Discalced Carmelites in Ukraine, visit the General Curia’s appeal, CALL FOR HELP UKRAINE

Nota Bene: In the most recent update published 8 March on Facebook by the General Curia of the Discalced Carmelites, we read this news:

As war is getting closer, with its horrors (murders and rapes), the sisters of Kyiv have decided to leave Ukraine today to seek refuge in Poland. For now, Fathers Jozef and Marko remain in Ukraine to take care of the members of the Secular Order and the people who have found refuge in their church and convent.

Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.