A Prayer for Peace in Ukraine
Ukraine’s glory has not perished,
Nor freedom, nor will.
Upon us, fellow kin,
Fate shall smile once more.
– From the national anthem of Ukraine
Father Lance P. Nadeau, superior general of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, offers the following prayer in response to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
May our humanity and love of freedom move us to support the courageous Ukrainian people through our prayers and support of charitable institutions assisting refugees and the displaced.
May the valor and purpose of so many ordinary Ukrainian women and men lead us to examine what we value in life and what kind of people we are.
May refugees have safe passage, the displaced find shelter, those under attack be protected, and Ukraine’s defenders gain the advantage.
Rev. Lance P. Nadeau, M.M.
Superior General
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers
Featured image: Worshippers light candles as they attend a prayer service at St. Michael’s Cathedral of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Kyiv Feb. 20, 2022. (CNS photo/Umit Bektas, Reuters)
Click the arrows to view slides drawn from Catholic News Service coverage of the crisis.
- A woman embraces a youth at a border crossing between Poland and Ukraine, Feb. 26, 2022. (CNS photo/Kacper Pempel, Reuters)
- A man grieves over the body of a Ukrainian soldier during his funeral, March 8, 2022. (CNS photo/Valentyn Ogirenko, Reuters)
- Anti-tank obstacles are seen at a checkpoint in Independence Square, March 3, 2022. (CNS photo/Valentyn Ogirenko, Reuters)
- A firefighter works to extinguish fire at a warehouse shelled in Chaiky, Ukraine, March 3, 2022. (CNS photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko, Reuters)
- A couple with their newborn baby take shelter in a basement, March 2, 2022, during an air raid. (CNS photo/Valentyn Ogirenko, Reuters)
- Evacuated children say goodbye to their father at the central train station, March 3, 2022. (CNS photo/Gleb Garanich, Reuters)
- Ukrainian soliders Lesia Ivashchenko and Valerii Fylymonov marry at a checkpoint, March 6, 2022. (CNS photo/Mykola Tymchenko, Reuters)
- Ukrainian refugees are pictured in a supermarket turned into a refugee center in Korczowa, Poland, March 8, 2022. (CNS photo)
- A woman cries as she arrives by ferry at the Isaccea-Orlivka border crossing in Romania, March 7, 2022. (CNS photo/Stoyan Nenov, Reuters)
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeals to Russians to stage protests over Russian forces’ seizure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant March 4, 2022, in this still image from video. (CNS photo/courtesy of Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/handout via Reuters)
- Religious leaders gather at St. Sophia Cathedral, March 2, 2022, to pray for peace. (CNS photo/risu.ua)
