May, 3-10, 2025

Christ is risen!

We have had a week that was quite intense, in particular because we made seed kits for areas that need support, especially during the war. Areas in such regions as Kherson, Kharkiv, Donetsk, as well as Chernihiv and Kyiv regions are areas that suffered as a result of the war in 2022.

9,577 seed kits were made: vegetables and flowers – what we could share with people. This is important, because many did not sow due to the cold, even now it is quite cold. There were frosts in many areas, those who sowed are in need again.

But it is important for us that there are about 10 thousand households that receive these seeds, and for them they will grow. The second component is also important as therapy, when we can detach ourselves a little from our inner wounds from the war. We can watch something grow, we can contemplate the fruits of our own hands, and this helps us a lot in this time of war.

We thank Ms. Agnieszka Tombinska from the Xenia Association and those benefactors who provided seeds, in particular, these two companies: “Legutko” and “Plantico”. We also thank all our friends for their constant cooperation.

This week we also started delivering bread in the Kherson region, in particular to those settlements that are especially in need of help, where there are no shops and there is no opportunity for residents to buy fresh bread. We thank Maksym, who selflessly delivers this bread to the villages of Bohdanivka and Sonyachna, and our bakers in Kherson.

This week was exceptional because the Church received a new Pope – Leo XIV. And what is especially touching is that the Holy Father the Pope is first and foremost a sign of the Risen Christ, a witness. What he shares and what he transmits is the message that Christ is alive and He is risen, that He is with everyone.

And so, the Pope’s first words, which he said that he was asking God for peace, are particularly touching. And we also see this as a prophetic word – we need peace so much, we pray for our defenders and we ask the Lord for victory for our country.

With prayers

Fr. Mykhailo Romaniv OP