CHICAGO – Tears began running down the faces of parishioners at the Saints Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church’s early morning liturgy on June 14.
They hadn’t had the chance to pray as a congregation for more than two months, including on Easter, and were limited to attending services virtually amid a coronavirus pandemic that has disrupted the economy and social routines of the country’s third most populous city.
The usual second or mid-morning Sunday service wasn’t held to allow for all surfaces of the church to be disinfected and what would’ve been the third liturgy of the day took place at the customary time, close to noon.