Sisters from the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph have been serving in Stryi for many years. The kindergarten named after St. Zygmunt Gorazdowski they patronize is quite popular, to sign up their kids for it, parents are literally waiting in a line. Over the years of their work in this field, the sisters have earned the trust and respect of the local citizens.
Today, silence and emptiness have occupied the kindergarten. The fish and a turtle in the aquarium miss kids; and it even seems that toys miss children. On February 24, the kindergarten became empty. That is when the war has begun. When showing us the premises of the kindergarten, sister Natalis Havrysh, the director of the pre-school establishment, draws our attention to the bags with school clothes and shoes (with carefully attached name labels and orderly hanged on the racks) that are still there.
— For the holidays or quarantine period, parents would usually take the things belonging to their children within two-three days. Now, they have left everything here. It gives me the hope that we’ll soon see each other and our kindergarten will revive. Meanwhile, we have prepared these premises for refugees: brought some mattresses, prepared some bedding, and anytime we are ready to shelter those who search for a place to stay overnight or have rest on their exhausting way. A few families with many children have already stayed here on their way to the border; now they are in a safe place.
Having reeled from the first shock, the sisters realized that they can’t passively wait for changes to happen, so they started searching the ways to speed up the victory of the Ukrainian army. So, they offered their help in sewing ammunition vests. That is how the sewing workshop of St. Joseph was born.
Sisters “charge” every ammunition vest with prayers, because they are sure that the victory is impossible without praying; the vests are also “charged” with sisters’ sincere faith and confidence in the fair peace for Ukraine. The sisters attach a sanctified pendant with the image of Virgin Mary to every ammunition carrying vest.
— We sew and pray the rosary, we listen to the news about our army. We don’t abandon our monastic prayers in the chapel, we carry out the Eucharistic Adoration. It’s impossible to help the army without prayers! “Firstly, to pray, after that is all the other work” — sisters say.
Sister Natalis shows the monastic library, which has now turned into the sewing workshop. S. Teona, s. Fidelisa, s. Zakheusha, s. Olena, and s. Olha work here. Each of them has a specific work area and is responsible for another stage of work, and the results of their joint work are delivered to the soldiers on the front line.
Sisters tell about what they do without stopping their sewing machines and overlocks:
— Besides ammunition vests, we also sewed balaclavas and knitted scarfs for our servicemen to ensure that their necks are warm, and their equipment doesn’t rub them sore. Sister Teona bought the threads, and we were all knitting. Those who didn’t know how have learned. We didn’t count, but we knitted around ten buffs, and sewed around fifty balaclavas. Besides sewing, we also distribute the food we get from the Limanowa parish in Poland. So, for the time the kindergarten doesn’t function, we practice the motto of our Congregation “Heart with God, hands with work”.
Also, s. Natalis told that on the first day after the full-scale invasion of the Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine, she recalled about strategical stocks of goods that turned out to be really useful:
— For quite a long time, we have kept the things that were brought to us by the former rector of the parish from Poland after a military unit was dismantled. They included folding beds, mattresses, military tents. Literally, right before the war outburst, we wanted to throw all that away, but s. Zakheusha left and I couldn’t do it alone. On the third day of war, I recalled about these things and arranged their transfer to our army. When guys were loading these treasures, they said that judging from the number of things, we had been seriously preparing for war. And we were glad that we could help.
These vigorous spiritual daughters of St. Zygmunt Gorazdowski are extremely determined and their patron St. Joseph can be proud of how much soul and faith the sisters invest in their new service. And for Ukrainian servicemen, the sisters have a special wish:
— We wish our servicemen to preserve the spirit of courage! We pray for you a lot, we pray for you to win in the name of God! We sew for you and pray for each of you. For God is with us, we’ll win! Slava Ukraini!
Author : Vita Jakubovska
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