Ukrainian Orthodox Church celebrates Easter
BUTLER TWP — The quiet of a Sunday morning in Lyndora was broken by the ringing of bells and chanting of “Christ has risen” as the congregation of Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church marked the day of resurrection.
The Rev. Yurii Bobko, a handful of altar boys and about two dozen churchgoers met at 8 a.m. Sunday, April 12, to mark Pascha — the Eastern Orthodox Easter. The Eastern Orthodox Church follows the Julian calendar, which leads to Easter being celebrated on a different date than other Christian denominations.
Over three hours, churchgoers prayed, sang and heard readings from the Gospel as part of the Divine Liturgy. For the first hour, the church had no lights turned on, with the stained-glass windows serving to illuminate the room.
Around 9 a.m., the congregation went outside, got into a procession and sang. Bobko shook a thurible, pluming incense into the air before it was whisked away by the breeze.
Churchgoers then returned inside, where they were greeted by the interior’s now-activated lights before joining together in song as Bobko used more incense and prayed near the icons and altar at the front of the church.
“Pascha is the center of the whole faith,” Bobko said. “We see people living through the darkness and feel as they suffer and struggle, and then we bring the light of Christ with us and to the world.”
Bobko also read the Paschal archpastoral letter from the Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the United States of America. The letter focused on how the world is in desperate need of the peace granted by God, which exists on a transcendent level.
“Today, humanity stands in desperate need of this divine peace,” Bobko read aloud from the letter. “Our world is wounded by division, shaken by violence and burdened by the tragedies of war.
“The ongoing suffering in Ukraine, the unrest in the Middle East and conflicts across the globe reveal not only political and social fractures, but also a deeper spiritual crisis — a loss of the Christ-centered life rooted in humility, love and truth.”
The letter also focused on the children, which it calls the future of the church.
“Let us remember: our children are in the church, and they are learning the life in Christ by looking at us,” Bobko read.
After the Divine Liturgy, churchgoers were invited to stay for lunch together to break their fast after 40 days of Great Lent.
Bobko said the Divine Liturgy serves as a way to connect with the moment of Christ’s resurrection, not simply reflect.
“The resurrection is truly something we experience,” he said. “We enter that moment, not just remember it. We say ‘Christ is risen’ because he is risen in this moment. It changes us, and it changes how we live.”
