Letters from Br. Błażej: Night 302

December 23, 2022

A quiet night. Worse during the day. In Vinnytsia, Kyiv during the day alarms. We all have a schedule of turning off the lights. Thank God and our location, in Vinnytsia we have light.
By the way, in Ukraine yesterday was the day of the energy specialist. We salute our power engineers, who are fighting very bravely on their front. Thanks to their struggle we have as much electricity as we have. We thank them. With best wishes.
Come, Lord Jesus!

Christmas Eve ahead of us, think of the defenders of our borders, on various fronts and services. A wartime symbolic Christmas Eve table. (photo)

The Word… Two similar situations, maybe your situation will be similar. Mary saw Elizabeth in the sixth month and adored God. Zechariah similarly.
“And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue was loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.” You and I, we hope that when we hear and see that the Word became Flesh, that Jesus was born, we will glorify God.  There is another possibility. “Then fear fell on all their neighbors. All over the hill country of Judea, word was spread about all that had happened.” Like the first experience, worship and joy in place of fear and despondency. And You?
Come, Lord Jesus!

We live in war, we do not live by war!

We have received wishes.
Rome, Italy: br. Piotr Stasinski, general councilor.
Krakow, Poland: br. Marek Miszczyński, provincial minister.

USA:
To the address of our custos, Br. Sergey Kippa, came a letter—an email from Brother Bill Hugo from America, who is a Capuchin, our brother, benefactor and friend of Ukraine.
Bill, in his letter once again assured us of his and their prayers, closeness and solidarity with us, the Ukrainian people. He shared his impressions of our President Volodymyr Zelenski’s visit to Washington. The Americans and our brother Bill were delighted with the person of the Ukrainian President and his team. In a letter Bill wrote:

For me as an American it was a moment of pride to host the President of Ukraine in our country and in Congress.
With gratitude your brother
Bill Hugo

Let us pray for our Brothers and Benefactors.

Germany:

Dear Brother Blazej,
difficult, hard times that the Ukrainian people are going through with courage and fortitude.
How to find the right words to give people confidence and hope.
The heart wants to speak, reason speaks against it.
Christmas, the birth of Jesus, is a sign of comfort in this brutal world of war.
When will this killing end? – one wonders. One wishes people an end to this war, wishes for peace.
Why, why are people being killed, why does our God allow it, questions we cannot answer.
Material and moral support is a small help in great suffering, it can be endured together.
Can anyone be of help to you and your fellow brothers and sisters?
Merry Christmas with the hope of a quick end to the war and peace in Ukraine,
wishes you all,
united in prayer
Brother Karl

The above letter was sent by Mr. Karl Frey from Germany, who was the main architect of the interior of our church in Kiev. During our meetings in Kiev, for us he was and is “Bruder Karl.”
Let us pray for our Brothers and Benefactors.

Vinnytsia:
These days we are on duty in our church, we hear confessions all day. Thanks to God and his inspiration, people come and ask at God’s mercy. After confession spontaneously, they stop and pray at the tomb of the Venerable Servant of God Fr. Seraphin Kashuba. (photo)

Torun, Poland:
A short film about our angels.  I invite you to watch.

News from the brothers:

Kamianske (Br. Volodymyr Procko):
In Kamianske, the Rorate masses have ended. Christ is near! (photo)
Contest for Nativity scenes made by our children. (photo)

Come, Lord Jesus!