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When I was a student in Ottawa, I had a neighbour who had moved to Canada from Ukraine after World War II. She taught me a prayer to the Holy Spirit, in Ukranian. In some of my more difficult times in ministry, I would find myself hearing the prayer in my thoughts, in her voice and cadence.
It seems appropriate to share it, today. (This is the closest I could find online to what I remember of the prayer. Thank you to the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God for posting it.)
Царю небесний,
утішителю,
Душе істини,
що всюди єси і все наповняєш, скарбе дібр і життя подателю, прийди і вселися в нас, і очисти нас від усякої скверни, і спаси, Благий, душі наші.
Ми бачили світло істинне, ми прийняли Духа небесного, ми знайшли віру істинну, нероздільній Тройці поклоняємось, вона бо спасла нас.
as I remember her telling me, an English understanding might be -
King of Heaven,
Comforter,
Soul of Truth,
who is everywhere and fills everything;
treasure of goodness and life itself;
come and live in us,
cleanse us from all sin,
and save our souls.
We have seen the one light,
we have received the Spirit of heaven,
we have found the faith,
we worship the undividable Trinity,
for it has saved us.
(With apologies to those who speak Ukranian for mistakes in this, I'm going by memory.)
As this prayer rings in my mind,
the words I find myself saying are:
God - Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit -
Trinity Divine, hear the words of my soul.
Peace. Peace!
Peace in Ukraine.
Peace in Russia.
Peace in the hearts of all
who manouver for war.
Peace for the children.
Peace for those of many years.
Peace, my God,
peace,
peace,
peace for the world, I pray.
Help us to pull back
from the games, greeds, and fears,
that lead us to brinkmanship -
to, at best, a place of chaos;
or, so much worse, to war's atrocities.
Peace, I pray.
Peace for all your children,
the world around.
Amen and amen.
Moderator Richard Bott, The United Church of Canada
(Note: This post was edited after the problem of my use of "the" Ukraine was pointed out to me. More information can be found here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_Ukraine.... Thank you for the guidance, Cathy!)

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