"Five Hundred Bows and Four Akathists Are Not Always the Answer": A Nun from the Peter and Paul Monastery on the Church's Changing Role During Wartime

Sister Vasylyna lives at the Saints Peter and Paul Monastery in the village of Liplyany, Volyn region, a monastery affiliated with the St. Nicholas Monastery. She decided to attend the training after it was recommended by a senior nun.

"I used to believe that everything could be solved through spirituality alone. That every problem could be overcome with the Lord," she says.

Her path to monastic life was not the result of a deliberate decision but of a calling she had felt since childhood.

"The Lord gently shows you the path where you belong. You simply recognize it and say, 'Yes, this is where I should be.'"

When Psychology Changed Her Perspective

A single conversation reshaped Sister Vasylyna's view of psychology.

During an event for the families of fallen service members, she met a psychologist.

"After our conversation, I walked outside and simply cried. I thought to myself: maybe this really works. Maybe, for someone who is not deeply rooted in church life, this kind of support is exactly what they need."

She attended the training to better understand how to help people at a stage when they are not yet ready to engage in spiritual conversations.

"Sometimes you embrace a soldier, and you can feel that they are absent inside. First, you have to reach their mind and help them regain a sense of stability. Only then can you begin talking about deeper spiritual matters. Otherwise, they simply won't hear you."

The Church Is Part of Society

One of the strongest impressions Sister Vasylyna took away from the training was seeing clergy engage openly with the realities people face every day instead of distancing themselves from them.

"There was a time when people might have thought that five hundred bows and four akathists would solve every problem. It doesn't work like that anymore. I'm grateful that today's priests are willing to look deeper into a person's struggles and search for real answers. We are not separate from society — we are part of it, and we share in everything that people are going through."

The project "Clergy and Communities in Support of Mental Health: Innovative Support Practices During the War in Ukraine" is implemented by Eleos-Ukraine in partnership with DanChurchAid and Norwegian Church Aid in Ukraine, with financial support from the Government of Norway (NORAD), in cooperation with the Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy and the Lviv Orthodox Theological Academy.