Yeremiya Steblyna

Yeremiya Oksana Steblyna is a sister of the Order of St. Basil the Great in the Province of the Most Holy Trinity, Ukraine. She graduated from the Institute of Leadership and Management of Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. For nine years she was involved in catholic educational activities, four years of which she was a principal at the Catholic school St. Basil the Great in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. Now she is teaching Ukrainian at the school gymnasium Sheptytskych (Lviv) and working as a secretary at the Patriarchal Commission of Monasticism of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

By this Author

Basilian Sisters in Ukraine share bread they baked together. The author compares intercultural life in women's religious communities to the process of baking bread as ingredients come together in their diversity. (Courtesy of Yeremiya Steblyna)

Basilian community shares the gift of interculturality

Intercultural life in our communities can be compared to the process of baking bread. Different ingredients come together successfully in their diversity, and the bread becomes a gift for everyone in the community. 

The Basilian sisters community in Ukraine is pictured at the beginning of "Holy Eve," the evening before Christmas, after a day of fasting until dinner. Here the superior gives Christmas greetings to the sisters. (Courtesy of Yeremiya Steblyna)

Ukraine: An unusual Christmas in a war zone

Christmas is a time to get together. We may not see our relatives for a long time, but at Christmas our houses are filled with voices. Everyone comes home. But in Ukraine, this Christmas was not typical at all.

A Basilian sister prepares food by candlelight in Ukraine. As Basilian Sr. Yeremiya Steblyna writes, "The Ukrainian people have entered a time of blackout." (Courtesy of Yeremiya Steblyna)

Ukrainian Sisters walk in the light amid the darkness

The Ukrainian people have entered a time of blackout. So that our light is not only external, but comes from the heart, the Basilian sisters continue to pray, volunteer and help, even in the dark.

Cars are lined up at the border as people try to leave Ukraine. (Courtesy of Yeremiya Steblyna)

From Ukraine: The first day of 'not our war'

Sr. Yeremiya Steblyna in Ukraine: "People were fleeing with small children, babies and old grandparents. … Looking into their eyes, I saw pain and tears. How could this be happening in the heart of 21st century Europe?"