Ukrainian refugees mark first Orthodox Christmas in Manitoba – Winnipeg | 24CA News

At Christmas, Ukrainian newcomer Mariia Zelemko usually celebrates together with her prolonged household in western Ukraine, serving to her grandmother within the kitchen.

After almost 11 months of battle in her dwelling nation, the 18-year-old refugee, who arrived together with her mother and father and siblings in October, is marking the vacation with new faces in Manitoba — a lot of whom are nonetheless residing in lodges.

For Orthodox Christmas Eve on Friday, Winnipeg’s Sts. Vladimir and Olga Cathedral hosted a dinner, full with carols and prayer, for about 200 Ukrainian newcomers, a night they normally would have loved at dwelling with household earlier than the battle.

For many Ukrainians, the festive season alerts an necessary time of yr, however their first one in Canada brings each pleasure and unhappiness as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nears its one-year anniversary.

“It feels different,” Zelemko mentioned solemnly. “But Canadians are helping us, and I feel like we can become one big family.”

Churchgoers and friends ready 12 completely different sorts of Christmas dishes, together with fish and kutia — a pudding manufactured from boiled wheat, typically topped with honey and walnuts.

Volunteers handed out steaming cups of borscht, whereas youngsters eyed a desk crammed with pampushky (donuts).

“This is important for them to have a sense of stability and tradition and something that they can recognize as their own,” Lawrence Huculak, the metropolitan archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Manitoba, instructed Global News on Friday.

Huculak mentioned he hopes the dinner and providers would get refugees via this emotional and sombre time.

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Orthodox Christmas Eve dinner

“We knew that many of them would not be able to have this supper, put all together with its traditional food,” Huculak mentioned.

Some Ukrainians marked Christmas on December 25 to take part in Canadian traditions. Others didn’t participate in festivities on Saturday altogether due to its associations with Russia.

But for Zelemko, the event nonetheless felt particular. She’s discovering consolation in her newfound neighborhood whereas conserving Ukraine near her coronary heart.

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Orthodox Christmas, and ongoing helps for Ukrainian refugees in Westman

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