A Lenten Exhortation by Br. Alexis Bugnolo

The entire Catholic Church world wide will be joining the Catholics of Ukraine praying for the defense of their Christian nation from the genocidal war of the Russian Federation. I invite you also to participate, by prayer and/or fasting, as you are able. Praying for peace is one of the essential duties of Christian Faith. And praying for the defense of the innocent and so that the Church not be persecuted is also a work and duty of Christian charity.

While some Catholics might think that praying for Ukraine is just another political theatre, the truth is that they have allowed themselves to accept numerous lies about the reality of the war.

Prighozin during his 3 day rebellion against Putin already admitted that the entire Russian version of events since 2013 was a lie. Russia did illegally invade the Donbas and has been supporting all manners of dissent and propaganda to blame Ukraine for Russia’s crimes. The cause of Ukraine therefore has always been just and holy, since that entire nation is intent upon defending herself from unjust aggression – a right of the natural law.

The Russian Federation has been destroying Catholic Churches and killing Catholic Clergy as they advance in southern and eastern Ukraine. That same fate awaits all the lands they might conquer, from the Donbas to Lisbon, Portugal. — If you have sucked up Russian propaganda, and see it another way, then take the time to examine your conscience, for it is a mortal sin to believe lies and to prefer to believe them so that you can hob nob with friends or in those social cliques which oppose God.

Don’t even listen to anyone on social media who would say anything to the contrary, because they are inspired by Satan the father of lies.

The terrible truth is, in reality, that Catholics who refuse to pray for this intention are accursed of God and cannot be saved, since they will directly or indirectly (by omission) the destruction of the Catholic Church in Ukraine, which is an integral part of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, and harbor in their hearts a desire that evil and injustice prevail, simply because someone on social media told them that Russia is a “holy” country, despite being condemned by the entire Orthodox world for inciting her citizens to commit genocide in the name of Jesus Christ.

This is why it is so crucial to listen to truth tellers and not propagandists, even in matters of international conflicts, if you will to be saved. This is no joke. And I know that this sin is a deep one for many Catholics in the west, because after viciously abusing all those Catholics like myself, who came to the defense of the Christians of Ukraine two years ago, it can be rightly said that nearly all of them have issued not one word of apology nor made any acts of public penance, even though they gravely violated the Commandment of God against calumny and libel.

So I encourage all to join with me tomorrow praying with the Catholics of Ukraine, and to add a prayer for the conversion and repentance of all those Catholics who will be intentionally not praying tomorrow for this, or worse,  will be praying for the victory of Russia.