'A piece of home away from home': Ukrainian Orthodox Easter celebrated in Regina

Hundreds of Ukrainians gathered at St. Michael’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church on Sunday in celebration of “Velykden” or Ukrainian Orthodox Easter.

Through a translator, Father Vitaliy Ihnativ explained that he was delighted at the end of the service at St. Michael’s.

“Today is a very joyous day, a very great day because Christ has risen,” he explained.

“We had mass at 7 a.m., it started with Morning Prayer and after that we had Divine Liturgy and then the blessing of the Easter Baskets.”

The blessing of the Easter Baskets is an ancient tradition that marks the end of Lent, a 40 day period of fasting which bars worshippers from eating meat or dairy.

“The meat is blessed and we can start eating again,” Ihnativ explained.

It’s a highlight of the service, for both adults and children alike.

“Well, when you see the pastors come and bless the holy water, it always makes kids happy, they laugh and they [show] joy,” Adriy Linkeeych, who attended Sunday’s service, told CTV News.

“I think they're also happy because they get to go home and enjoy all those nice foods that they've been preparing the whole week for just for this day.”

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For kids like Daniel, it was the idea of the blessing that was the best part.

“It’s really fun because you can get wet,” he told CTV News. “When you get wet you get like the Holy Spirit.”

Besides the Easter Sunday church service, parishioners also took part in “Pysanka” the well known art of decorating Ukrainian Easter eggs.

Linkeeych told CTV News that it was a pleasure to see family and friends participate in the Easter tradition after a long and hard winter.

“Many people came to celebrate the traditional Easter with making traditional breads and painting eggs,” Linkeeych said. “Which is amazing and fantastic to see so many people coming to us and to this church.”

It was standing room only for St. Michael’s in east central Regina, with some worshippers having to listen in on the service from outside.

This wasn’t a surprise to Linkeeych, given the importance of the holy day.

“Easter for us is a really big celebration as it is the resurrection of Christ,” he said.

“[It’s] almost as big as Christmas.”

Some Ukrainians celebrated their first Easter in Regina. A fact that made the service even more important according to Ihnativ.

“Because of the war in Ukraine, a lot of people left their homes and are now here in Canada,” he explained.

For those who fled their home country due to the conflict, Linkeeych said the church service offers a reminder of the homeland.

“It is very important for us to make them feel like they are at home,” Linkeeych said.

“Some have families thousands of kilometres away and are still impacted by what is going on … This is a piece of home away from home.”