As Ukrainian Christians prepare to observe Lent in a few days, their thoughts turned to their friends and families back home suffering from the effects of a war with Russia since February 2022.
“I think what this whole season of Lent is all about is, is we are called to raise our spirits and raise our hearts closer to God,” Rev. Andrija Petresin told his parishioners Sunday morning inside Barrie’s Holy Cross Ukrainian Catholic Church, a tiny building on Parkside Drive, near the city’s downtown.
The small church was full of people right back to the front door.
As the service ended, everyone greeted and hugged each other as they milled about.
About 70 per cent of the congregation are newcomers to Barrie, having fled from the war with Russia.
The church has experienced rebirth with all of the newcomers attending, Petresin said after Sunday's service.
“They need a place to come and share their experiences, and to come together and pray,” he said.
On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for being “disrespectful” in an extraordinary and unprecedented Oval Office meeting.
The last 10 minutes of the nearly 45-minute meeting devolved into a tense back and forth between Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelenskyy, where they talked over each other and argued over the Ukrainian president’s skepticism about Russia’s commitment to peace and diplomacy.
“We were very shocked,” Viktoriia Giakun said outside the church.
“We didn’t like how President Trump treated President Zelenskyy. There was no respect. It is very hard to hear that he is choosing sides between Russia and Ukraine, because we are occupied by Russia,” she said.
Members of Giakun’s family back home are terrified.
“They don’t know what the next day will bring to them,” she said. “Last winter, they didn’t have electricity for a lot of hours and it was very cold. We have a lot of old people with no one to take care of them, so it’s very hard.”
Barrie’s Ukrainian community is a close-knit one.
“We gather together all the time. It is very good to come to talk about and to find new friends, because with immigration you feel lonely,” Giakun said.
She herself fled the war and has been in Barrie for two years now. Giakun’s mother’s classmate lives in Innisfil, and she has helped them resettle.
Anastasiia Koliesnikova, who has lived in Barrie for two-and-a-half years, brought her son with her to Canada. He's 11 years old.
“I came because war started in Ukraine,” she said. “I came to be safe and start a new life.”
Koliesnikova was a dentist back home with 16 years' experience, and she is now working as a dental assistant.
She originally lived near the “hot war” in the east of Ukraine, and then lived in Odessa, in the south of the country, away from the front-line fighting.
Her family back home continues to sit “between walls” and also seek shelter in their basement to protect themselves.
“It’s an everyday worry,” Koliesnikova lamented.
As for the White House blowup on Friday, she was concerned about what it signals.
“My woman's intuition was telling (me) that Trump is just not good, even before it happened,” Koliesnikova said. “Maybe he can do something really good, but, unfortunately, Trump and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin bring darkness in our lives.”
She feels they have lost their minds, but she said she's “so happy” to be in Barrie.
“We have a really good community here. When we are all together we are a huge family," Koliesnikova added.
They offer “big support" for each other, Koliesnikova added.
“We’re ready for everything with each other. Any time we can ask any questions, ask for help. Everyone is trying to help each other," she said.