With many of the performers and audience members wearing the blue and yellow colors of Ukraine’s flag, students and faculty from The Catholic University of America staged an April 25 benefit concert at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family in Washington, D.C. to raise funds for humanitarian relief for war-torn Ukraine.
The program by Catholic University’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art began with a traditional hymn to celebrate Orthodox Easter and remarks from Father Mark Morozowich, a Ukrainian Catholic priest who serves as the dean of Catholic University’s School of Theology and Religious Studies.
“[The hymn] is traditional throughout all Byzantine churches and it’s (commemorating that) Christ is risen from the dead, conquering death… (and) bestowing life, so it’s really the victory hymn of Easter, and it’s the hymn that we sing over and over, and our people just love to sing it,” Father Morozowich said in an interview.
The Orthodox Easter date based on the Julian calendar, which is typically different from the Easter date celebrated by Catholic and other Christian denominations based on the Gregorian calendar, is observed in Ukraine and known as Velykden (Great Day).
“The wanton destruction of property, the destruction of homes, whole blocks of apartment buildings that have no real strategic military purpose, but it’s just heinous, it’s destructive, it’s really brutal, so we need to keep people’s awareness up,” Father Morozowich said.
Ukrainian works performed included the Ukrainian National Anthem and “Sviat Vechir” (Ukrainian Christmas Eve). Father Morozowich spoke of the importance of hosting events such as the concert, not only to raise money and celebrate the culture of Ukraine, but to keep Ukraine on people’s minds.
“We need to be aware and alert that our brothers and sisters are suffering, our brothers and sisters are being murdered, people’s lives are totally being upended,” Father Morozowich said.
Among those attending the concert was Oksana Horsynska, who is from the Ukrainian city of Zolochiv. She came to the United States a few months ago to visit a friend in the Washington area just before Russian launched its brutal military invasion in February, and has been unable to return home. Julia Romaniuk, a shrine parishioner, volunteered to translate the Catholic Standard’s questions and Horsynska's responses.
Horsynska said one of her daughters works as a teacher in Zolochiv, where she lives with Horsynska’s two grandchildren. Now during the crisis, her daughter helps the community as an aid worker, feeding those in the area.
“The music was beautiful and very spiritual, and hits your soul, and God created everyone with beautiful talents to sing, to come across in spirit…I don’t know why Putin is doing this,” Horsynska said through tears.
Despite her daughter’s frequent online communication to let her mother know she is safe in her apartment building, she also mentions how her building shakes from nearby explosions and she sees smoke and fire.
“I want to go back…but I do not know when,” Horsynska said.
Following the concert, there was an art exhibit and a silent auction on the lower level of the shrine. The works were donated by Catholic University students. Those interested in donating to humanitarian relief for Ukraine can visit:
