I am grateful to God for having given me the opportunity to minister, in a small way, to those caught up in the maelstrom of a hot war. My psychological training, both in my military and medical careers, has equipped me to address both military personnel and civilians in distress.

A growth in faith in God, in goodness and in truth. This is what I found during my Legionary Mission in a Ukrainian town for two years running during the summers of 2023 and 2024.

This is not to say that every single Ukrainian I met had such faith. But I would say that the vast majority who have stayed, or returned, to defend their motherland do. 

The local Catholic bishop confirmed that the virtues of faith, hope and charity are in greater evidence. The bishop leads by example, on his knees before the Blessed Sacrament, his invocation to both Our Lady, to steady the nation, and to St Michael the Archangel, to lead it in battle.

Death and destruction is no stranger to that land. Most families around the country have been visited by death and many a town has been visited by destruction.

PPC stands for Peregrinatio Pro Christo. This is the term that is applied by the Legion of Mary (an international Catholic layperson association under the patronage of the pope that serves Our Lady in apostolate to bring people to Our lord Jesus Christ through her) for a mission of service to the host bishop and to the Legion of Mary in the town visited.

The Legion promotes devotion to the Mother of God and the Miraculous Medal (MM) she founded.

Peregrinatio Pro Christo (PPC)

I shall try to paint a picture depicting my experiences, as well as the impression made upon me, during the two PPCs − this year’s and last year’s.

On August 5, 2023, at 5.45am, I rose from my bed in the men’s dormitory of the guest wing of a Benedictine nunnery in a town in Ukraine. At 7am, I assembled with other legionaries for ‘Lauds’ (morning prayers).

The previous night (August 4/5) had been punctured, on four occasions, by a siren’s wail (that warned of danger from the sky).

A small team of six (three Austrians, two Germans and one Maltese – myself) had reached our destination in Ukraine late in the evening of the 4th. As we entered the town we were greeted by the siren’s wail. Our minibus driver drove on unperturbed.

We learnt, soon after, that this historical town had never been bombarded. It seems that the siren warns of overflying missiles at high altitude.

The 4th was an arduous day of travel. We had flown to Moldova and then boarded a minibus for the frontier with Ukraine.

The road trip was a trying experience even for a former military man like me. The driver tried to avoid potholes and bumps of the broken road surface, occasionally failing, and the minibus hopped violently.

The frontier crossing, Moldova to Ukraine, took time. Photographing is forbidden. Vehicles are filed through at walking pace to holding bays for police, then Customs, control, first through the Moldovan border then through the Ukrainian border.

In Ukraine, on driving in and, particularly, on driving out, one will come across road blocks and check points both police and military. One need always carry identification documents. It is all very understandable: hostile agents must abound.

Our Ukrainian legionary hosts gave us a great welcome. The hospitality is very generous, almost overwhelming. In a lively babble of Ukrainian, of which I understood ‘nowt’, I heard my name called out and was grabbed by the arm by Natalya and pulled to the refectory where I looked upon a long table overflowing with food. The land is very fertile and rich in minerals.

Let us get back to August 5, 2023. Lauds over at 7.30am, we walked to the Roman Catholic cathedral close by. There we found the bishop at prayer in a pew. Holy Mass followed at 8am celebrated with great devotion and reverence.

Breakfast and a team meeting followed. The meeting would have a protocol of prayer (both in Ukrainian and in German), the allocutio (a lesson) and the detailing of apostolate work. Morning and afternoon apostolate work sessions would each be of two to three hours’ duration.

We would walk the streets in pairs, encountering people. We are in the service of the Mother of God and our mission is to bring people to her son through her. We advise, pray with and console those who receive us.

What has been described was the standard daily protocol of the 2023 and 2024 PPCs to Ukraine.

Experiences in 2023 

In August 2023, we were well briefed on the history, the culture and the stereotypical character of the Ukrainian nation. On the territory now known as Ukraine but historically known as Kyivan Rus, the first reference to writing systems go back to circa the 9th century.

Kyivan Rus migration led to the foundation of Moscow, founded much later than Kyiv. Muscovy (duchy) grew and set out to dominate. After the decline of the Kyivan Rus, the Ukrainian lands were dominated by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Empire. 

Under Soviet domination particularly, there was a drive to ‘Russify’ the empire by planting Moscow-leaning Russians in the outlying lands, hence the Donbass (eastern Ukraine) and the Transnistria (north-eastern Moldova) areas. 

We were told that the percentage of Catholics in Ukraine is around 20% (18% Greek-Catholic, 2% Roman-Catholic). The remainder are Orthodox Christians. The Ukrainian Church has broken away from the Russian.

In August 2023, I came to understand and to feel the very real existential threat that the Ukrainian nation struggles under. I experienced the full meaning of ‘a nation at war’.

All legionaries’ families have been touched by the war that rages all over their land. All have been touched by privation and destruction. Many have been visited by death.

The usually smiling Natasha exploded in rage, pounding the table one evening and railed against Moscow. She let out a torrent of bile, directed at Putin. Her parents had suffered terribly under the Red Army during World War II and under Stalin’s starvation of Ukrainians, before the war.

Out on the streets, squares and in the park I found the people quite open to conversation. The young, generally, are curious and keen to be in contact with someone from the ‘West’. They are eager to practise their English and learn about where I came from.

More than once, I have been thanked for coming “from so far”. At times, Ukrainian youngsters did not react to “Dobre ranok!” (Ukrainian for ‘good morning’) from my Ukrainian colleague but did respond to “Good morning” from me.

Whoever we stopped to speak to would almost always enter into conversation. With the youth there would usually be a philosophical theme: the meaning of life, the reality of war, the meaning of suffering. Never have I heard any whining about their lot.

Naturally, our Catholic faith equips us well to deal with such questions. The Miraculous Medal, nearly always accepted, gives comfort and strength. Youth would thank us and, more often than not, will wear it round the neck.

Soldiers, in and out of uniform, abounded, courting or with a family in tow. It was so uplifting for me to see couples hand-in-hand or young families with multiple children. They have life and they will live their life; they have hope and they will build for the future. Depression and ‘copping out’ is not for them.

Ukraine has a future! Most Ukrainians believe in their nation’s victory, though it may take long in coming. But they fear being abandoned by the West.

There were many heart-warming experiences. On one occasion, my Ukrainian ‘legionary sister’ and I went up to a family with young children. The father was in combat suit. I kicked off and addressed him directly in English. 

“Are you a captain,” I asked. This tall and big man looked at me intently and answered: “Yes! How do you know?”

I explained that I recognised his badge of rank and that I was an officer.

Thereafter, our conversation turned to his training in England. I told him that I had been trained in the same area over 50 years ago.

The officer’s wife looked on in wonder and in suspicion(is this man a Russian agent?). She was assured, by her husband, that I was not and the conversation was translated.

The two little children jumped up and down saying: “Hello! Hello!”

I then exhorted him to pray for his wife and children when away on duty and I turned to her and told her to pray for him. When this was translated she nodded, saying: “Tak!” (Yes) and they hugged one another.

Before parting we presented Miraculous Medals to all and explained their meaning.

An abiding impression of the PPC was of young children, young families holding hands and of welcoming faces, an openness to God and matters spiritual.

I saw clean streets and orderliness, no vandalism, graffiti and garbage, no dogs and no ‘bloated’, modern cars but rickety buses.

I felt their fear of being abandoned to the claws of Putin.

Another is the strength of character. Our Ukrainian ‘legionary sisters’ are admirable: young to middle-aged. Their men are at the front line but they are strong, stoic women who keep things running in their hometown.

On another occasion, two young women said emphatically that they have not left their country in order to complete their training in nursing. Another young woman told us she was at medical school.

I found a strong belief in Ukraine’s moral ascendancy and an anticipation of the rebuilding of a morally clean Ukraine. To all, we emphasised the power of prayer and devotion to the Miraculous Medal. Victory can only be achieved by God’s grace.

Further experiences in 2024

I was able to return to Ukraine last August. I suffer from chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, which, God be thanked, has not significantly affected my usefulness on a PPC. The added complication of a nerve pathology, which affects my balance and the lifting of my right foot, has persuaded me to use a walking stick. 

So, stick and all, I was enrolled on last year’s PPC team to Ukraine and joined the same members but two. The two Germans were replaced by one German-fluent Irishman.

We were met by the same large number of Ukrainian legionaries, with great joy and appreciation that we had returned to be with them.

I seem to have detected a certain numbness to the death and destruction that is their plight. Life goes on despite the sirens and bitter news of more death and destruction.

One day, accompanied by a Ukrainian legionary who was, like me a former military officer, we stopped a woman with a very downcast expression on her face. My 'legionary brother' encouraged her to lay her woes at the feet of Our Lady.

The lady burst into tears. Between sobs she told him that she had just received news that her son had been killed in action.

Anatoli’s leadership skills kicked in. He hugged her, moved to tears himself and consoled her that her son had died practising the virtue of ‘charitas’: for the love of, and in defence of, his mother and his country.

She quietened. He then invited her and me to join him in prayer for this man’s soul. This we did. The lady smiled. This touched me. She accepted the Miraculous Medal and we spoke about our mission.

How heartwarming it was for me to see for myself brilliant virtue rising above the dull, matt dirt of vice. Virtue overcomes vice.

“Where is God in this horrible war?” This is the question I put to a gravely injured Ukrainian soldier. “Tyt!” (pronounced ‘toot’) he answered, without missing a beat and indicated his chest. 

Another soldier had escaped bleeding to death when a bullet had missed his carotid artery by a centimetre or so. The left side of his neck was flayed. This soldier stepped forward and declared: “God saved me!”

A woman tending lovingly to her mangled soldier husband gave vent to raw emotion and rage. She pointed out that the war was forced upon them by Putin who wants to rob them of their land and their identity.

I asked a Ukrainian army sergeant about retrieval of the dying and the dead from the battlefield. He said this could only be done under cover of darkness and then very stealthily. He pointed out that those who went out to aid or retrieve would, very likely, be killed. It is Ukrainian army policy to return the fallen to their family. These are honoured in their hometown with shrines and prayers are solicited.

Ukraine: A nation denied 

Putin lied when he said: “The Ukrainian nation does not exist; It never did.” But he has discovered that it does exist and that the vast majority will fight for it.

The tragedy is that Putin believes his own lie. Even the ‘Prince of Lies’ does not believe his own lies.

What is happening in Ukraine is genocide. Those who identify as Ukrainian are being killed or pushed out. Buildings, power generation and infrastructure are being destroyed so that, now, death by hypothermia is threatened. Ukrainian children in the occupied areas are said to have been spirited away somewhere in the deep heartlands of Russia. All is directed to the aim of breaking the will to resist.Ukraine is fighting for its very existence.

While the western people fall for Russian propaganda and tend to look away, Beijing is watching intently for what it would interpret as being the ‘ripe’ time to move against Taiwan. Should Kyiv fall, the hot war in Europe would spread westwards. A blazing conflagration would be ignited in Asia.

Fr Mateusz Adamski, vice rector of Redemptoris Mater Seminary, in Ukraine, said: “This has been a time of grace in which we have been able to really touch the living God. Our homeland is in heaven, it is not here.”

On the possibility of defeating Russia, he said: “The Lord is the Lord of History. If he allows it, it is to purify us and to convert us.”

Pray for Ukraine and pray that there will be a stop to Russia spreading its errors. We are to heed Our Lady’s warnings and conform to her instruction.

Peter Micallef-Eynaud is a medical doctor and theologian. He is also the first helicopter flight commander of Malta’s air force.