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Updates from Holy Trinity Province in Ukraine
Our own Jesus, Lover of Humanity Province was founded in 1911 by four Sisters from Ukraine’s Holy Trinity Province. They left their monastery in the small town of Yavoriv to care for the children and orphans of Ukrainian immigrants in Philadelphia, which was then the United States’ third largest city. The two provinces maintain close relations more than a century later. In fact, between 2022 and 2025, we sent $455,450 along with several shipping containers of clothing and medical supplies to Holy Trinity Province. The funds aided the Sisters’ work all over the country, particularly in Lviv, Poltava, and Zaporizhzhia, while the other items impacted Ukrainians in profound need.
Millions displaced by war have fled to Western Ukraine, considered the country’s safest region, with many reaching the city of Lviv. Some stayed while others merely passed through on their way to Poland and other destinations. The Provincial House in Lviv, equivalent to the Motherhouse in Jenkintown, has housed these refugees since the earliest days of the full-scale invasion, offering them a place to spend the night, take a shower, and eat a hot meal. Our Sisters drove their guests to train stations, medical clinics, and anywhere else they needed to go. They also used funds we donated to purchase medicine for the chronically ill.
Our Sisters in Poltava were forced by the war to leave their monastery for a period but returned in October 2024. They work for Caritas Ukraine, akin to Catholic Charities, ministering to the ill and others in need. In their free time, the Sisters visit the homebound, often providing them with transportation and other assistance – several even take meals regularly at the monastery. Our Sisters in Poltava are still active in catechesis and preparing people for Confession and the Eucharist.
The city of Zaporizhzhia has been extremely dangerous since early 2022, yet our Sisters have never left. They continue serving there today, especially the sick, the elderly, and military personnel on the front line. As a matter of fact, people constantly turn to the Zaporizhzhia Monastery for help of all sorts like food, hygiene products, clothing, and medicine. In addition to their activities at the Zaporizhzhia Monastery itself, our Sisters venture to cities and villages close to the front line, and they distributed a significant amount of the clothing sent in 2022 from the Jesus, Lover of Humanity Province.
The Jesus, Lover of Humanity Province has always been extremely supportive of our Ukrainian counterpart, from the darkest times of Soviet oppression to the present war. And we look forward to the day when our Sisters and the people they care for can live peacefully.