Fr Antonio and a few of our parishioners from Most Holy Redeemer Church attended the prayer vigil for Ukraine in Sawbridgeworth on Saturday, 12 March. They joined approximately 150 others who attended the event which took place at 6:00 pm at the Bell Street car park by the Town Council office.
The prayer vigil lasted for 25 minutes. It was formally opened by Gary Hanson, a minister from the Sawbridgeworth Evangelical Congregational Church. In his emotional introduction, he said: “We’re witnessing a poignant evil but we’re also watching a compelling bravery and strength in our friends in the Ukraine fight the good fight … What can we do so far away? Well, so many of you have already given money … many have given their things and we encourage you to carry on. We can give our voices to petitions on government websites encouraging and compelling our government to do more and more and more. But tonight we can do this. Tonight we can stand together in our small way in this small town. We can let them know that the people of Sawbridgeworth stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.”
Rev Simon Vivian from the Parish of Great St Mary led a period of prayer and there were also a couple of personal accounts of life in the border and in Ukraine itself. Cllr Greg Rattey, Mayor of Sawbridgeworth, read a heartfelt poem from a son to his father who is in active service in Ukraine. This was followed by the playing of the Ukraine national anthem and then a prayerful period of silence.
In his closing remarks, Gary Hanson urged the crowd to keep Ukraine in their hearts. He said, “We can switch off our televisions and go back to our normal lives. But we mustn’t. We must stand with Ukraine every single day from this point on.”