The horrors of the war in Ukraine are still manifest – even as the conflict has drifted in and out of the news headlines.
On 7 October, the focus was on the victory of peace over war as two Catholic Bishops took part in the blessing of a Ukrainian icon that was written in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv at the height of the conflict by artist Oksana Zhuravska.
The icon of Our Lady of Victories, made with help from Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), was painted over the course of more than a year and depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus. It was commissioned by the UK Catholic Military Association (CMA), with financial support from the Catenians, an international organisation of Catholic laymen.
The icon was safely transferred from a workshop in Lviv that continues the centuries-old traditions of well-known Ukrainian iconographers. ACN’s point man for the project, who helped with logistics and transportation, cannot be named for security reasons. As well as suffering injuries, which delayed the project, he narrowly escaped death when a bomb exploded 50 metres from where he was standing.
The blessing, that took place on the Feast of Our Lady of Victories at St Michael and St George’s Catholic Cathedral in Aldershot, Hampshire, was led by Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski OBE, Apostolic Eparch of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London, and Bishop Paul Mason, Catholic Bishop of the Forces, who is based at the cathedral.
Bishop Nowakowski said:
“It was an honour to be invited by the Catholic Military Association, Aid to the Church in Need, and the Catenians to participate in the blessing of the icon of Our Lady of Victories with His Excellency, Bishop Paul Mason.
“This beautiful icon was written by a young Ukrainian iconographer from Lviv, Ukraine, and especially brought to Great Britain to be placed in the Cathedral of St Michael and St George in Aldershot for veneration and Marian prayer devotions.
“Our Lady of Victories heralds the victory over death and captivity by evil that her Son’s death and resurrection has won for his sisters and brothers.
“We place those who are defending the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and indeed Europe, during this time of war under the protection of the Holy Mother of God as patroness of victory.”
Speaking after the blessing, Bishop Mason said:
“We’ve just had a service to bless an icon which the Catholic Military Association had commissioned. The idea of the icon is to give a sense of a patronage of the blessed Virgin Mary for the organisation and to have her as the focus of their devotion. We’ve had this made in Ukraine. It has been a joint effort with the people in Ukraine who have actually done the artwork – written the icon for us.
“The CMA sees this as a prayerful focus for their efforts. What they do is very much focused on their faith with the Blessed Virgin Mary there to support them through their prayer.
“The icon is going to be based here at the cathedral, but like other icons, we’ll be taking it to different places so that people can have the opportunity to see it and to venerate it.
“So for example, if I’m visiting somewhere – a barracks, a ship, or an airbase – it provides an opportunity for Catholics who serve in the Forces there who may not be able to get to the cathedral to be able to come and to venerate the icon at a Mass locally, wherever I may be celebrating it.”
