Ukrainian Swedes of Village of Zmiivka in Kherson Oblast Celebrate Services in Church of Kyivan Patriarchate
"Swedes from the village of Zmiivka in Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine have preserved their national culture for 230 years in the Ukrainian steppes. Now, they receive visiting fellow countrymen from all over the world," reported the 37th edition of Korrespondent from September 23, 2011. RISU’s Ukrainian-language Web page posted this story on October 5.
The hardships of life have not made the Swedes give up their national traditions. "We do cook strudels, celebrate Christmas on December 25 and celebrate Easter in our way for we are Lutherans. And when I married a Ukrainian, we began to celebrate the holidays twice a year," said the 74-year-old head of the community, Maria Malmas.
Today, there are three churches in the village, namely, Greek Catholic, German Lutheran ones and the Orthodox Church of St. Michael (Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate), which was built in the 1980s on the ruins of the Swedish Lutheran Kircha built by the first settlers in 1786. The local residents still consider this religious building to be the main one, and the Orthodox parishioners gladly share with them the shrine, said the parish priest, Protopriest Oleksandr Kvitka.
In 1992, the Lutheran and Orthodox communities even signed an agreement in this regard and now, when the pastor from Sweden visits the village 3-4 times a year, he celebrates services in the church. The celebratory prayer service on the occasion of the visit of the Swedish royal family members three years ago was also conducted here.
The Swedes sing Psalms in Swedish in the church. The members of the community also readily perform their national, ritual songs and hymns for Scandinavian visitors on holidays, reported Religion in Ukraine.
