3/3/2022 As the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin continues here is a reminder hope can be found in history.

Ukrainians Have Been Defying Foreign Invaders for a Thousand Years.

Their Courage Is No Surprise.

Lawrence W Reed (March 2, 2022)

In this commentary Reed offers an amazing quote.

“The title of (Miles) Pattenden’s article is very revealing: “Saint Olga of Kyiv is Ukraine’s Patron Saint of Both Defiance and Vengeance.” Pattenden proceeds to note,

Ukrainians are used to adversity and they have a special medieval role model who personifies their bravery in the face of hardship. The Mongol horde destroyed her tomb in Kyiv in 1240 but a Ukrainian Orthodox cathedral dedicated to her was consecrated there as recently as 2010.

Any people who venerate the likes of St. Olga of Kyiv (d. 969) are a people to be feared. If Vladimir Putin had done his homework, he wouldn’t have been surprised by the ferocious resistance to his belligerence. “A fierce and proud woman who protected her young son and avenged her husband’s death,” writes Pattenden, “she was a crucial figure in the consolidation of the medieval kingdom of Kyivan Rus’ as a political entity and in its peoples’ conversion to Christianity.”“

This is a combination of my Hope and Grace Journals.