Exeter Cathedral hosts Ukrainian Easter

Exeter Cathedral hosted its second Ukrainian Orthodox Easter service on Sunday – known in Ukraine, as Velykden, The Great Day.

As in many cultures, Easter is both a religious and secular holiday combining Christian and ancient traditional practices and symbolism and this Sunday’s event was no different.

Ukrainian families and their host English families were invited and the service included the blessing of Easter cakes and Easter eggs. The service was celebrated in Ukrainian by Archimandrite Serhiy (Yarovyi), an Orthodox chaplain, a Ukrainian priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) who travelled to Exeter, especially for the occasion.

There was a prayer for Ukraine and the Ukrainian army read during the service and afterwards there was a community picnic, games and the singing of Ukrainian Spring songs on the Cathedral Green.

The event was a partnership between Devon Ukrainian Association and Exeter Cathedral. It is the second year the cathedral has hosted an Orthodox Easter service.

Easter 2023, Photo Credit Olya Petrakova