The refugees found shelter and help in the new Benedictine convent monastery in Solonka near Lviv
Message of the sisters to ACN in April 2022:
At the end of February 2022, our community of the Benedictine Sisters and the Chaplaincy of the Benedictine Brothers opened the doors of our convent and our cloister to receive people affected by the war. This was actually the time of the great movement when our compatriots began to leave the country in large numbers. In the first weeks of the war there was also a great movement in our monastery. Every day someone came and every day someone left or went abroad. These were women with children, families, and the men who helped their families go abroad and returned to defend the homeland. People from different cities of Ukraine: Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Kyiv, Boryspil, Irpin, Zhytomyr, Chornobyl, Odessa, Horlivka, Slovyansk, Donetsk, Luhansk… To date, more than 500 people have passed through our monastery. There were 120 people for several nights. At the moment, the monastery has mostly those who do not intend to go abroad, and among them there are those who have nowhere to return. We now have 75 people, including the sisters of our Zhytomyr community. To help people more easily survive this difficult time, we involve them in chores and mutual service: cleaning the monastery, work in the kitchen and the refectory. One room has been reshaped as a playroom for children. We now have 20 children. We also invite our residents to pray together. Most refugees are non-believers, but sometimes they come to pray, too. For the first time in our new church, the wedding of a senior couple from Zhytomyr took place during the celebration of the Annunciation. A young couple from Kharkiv is preparing to receive the sacraments of Reconciliation, Marriage and Baptism of their child. Several people confessed for the first time. This is how our community of sisters and brothers read the signs of the times, and this is what our ministry looks like now. In addition, we continue the rhythm of our lives in common prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours. We have additional hours of adoration of the Holy Eucharist. May the Lord be glorified in all things!
The contemplative Benedictine nuns fled from Zhytomyr out of fear to their newly built monastery in Solonka near Lviv. They look after many refugees there – War in Ukraine 2022
UKRAINE / LVIV-LAT 22/00888
Special aid for 144 nuns of the Archdiocese of Lviv during the war
