Holy Virgin Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Arnold holds special memorial service for Ukraine
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As Russian troops closed in on Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv on Saturday morning and the world wondered how long the Ukrainians could hold off Vladimir Putin’s assault, 5,000 miles away in Arnold, a Ukrainian-American pastor prayed for the dead.
The Very Rev. Mark Swindle stood at the altar of the nearly empty Holy Virgin Ukrainian Orthodox Church on Kenneth Avenue, burning incense and leading its first memorial service, called Parastas, for the deceased in Ukraine.
He prayed in English and Ukrainian.
“We beg you, oh loving, kindest God, for the abundant blessing upon the people of Ukraine. During these difficult days of great danger to their safety and their well-being, our brothers and sisters, Lord, are once again threatened by aggressors.”
Swindle said during Lent he normally holds memorial services on Saturdays but wanted to hold a special service for all the Ukrainian people that have died in the war to this point.
The small country of a little more than 43 million reported 198 dead, including three children, and more than 1,000 wounded since Thursday, when Russia began the largest land war in Europe since World War II.
The marquee outside the Arnold church said “PLEASE PRAY FOR UKRAINE!”
Inside, American and Ukrainian flags adorned the altar.
From 1922 until 1991, Ukraine was the informal name of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union. Swindle said his biggest fear is that Russia will take over Ukraine once again.
“The old communistic leaders are trying to take hold of it, and it’s no wonder. The land is very good in Ukraine and they have very good natural resources, and Russia has always tried to keep its finger on Ukraine, starting with the Russian invasion of Crimea (in 2014),” he said.
Swindle is half Ukrainian on his mother’s side and grew up in a Ukrainian-speaking household. His mother Andrea’s maiden name is Kasianchuk, and Swindle has several cousins living in a village outside Lviv. He hasn’t heard from them in the past two weeks.
“We’re worried because they live in a village and there’s no place for them to go,” he said. “We pray for them. We’re concerned.
“It’s wintertime there as well. Are they warm? Do they have shelter? Do they have enough oil in their furnaces to keep going? That’s what we continue to pray for — peace and that their needs are met.”
Swindle said that as far he knows, the village his relatives are in has not been under attack because they live in the west, near the border with Poland. But, he says, “with Putin, anything is possible right now. And it’s very difficult to sit and watch (the U.S. government) say they’re imposing sanctions when that should have been done weeks or months ago. Sanctions aren’t helping the people right now to survive.”
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Ukrainian citizens to stand and fight for their country, and Swindle said he understands.
“We have always wanted to have our freedom,” he said. “Our national anthem says, ‘We will lay down our lives for mother Ukraine on this soil,’ and they will hold true to their anthem. Ukrainians will lay down their lives if that’s what it costs.”
Swindle said another special memorial service for those who have died in the fighting in Ukraine will be held Sunday morning after regular services at 10 a.m.