“It is about helping people spiritually. If God has placed you on your sickbed, that is already a sign that you should review your whole life – since we are not meant to get sick, but do so because of sin. The sisters prepare Orthodox patients for Confession, invite priests, and bring holy water and spiritual literature. We have even had cases of people who wanted to accept the Orthodox faith and were baptized right in the hospital. The most important task of a sister of mercy is to help the ill to love their illnesses. When someone comes to terms with his illness ­– when he can say, ‘Lord, may Thy will be done’ – then there are cases when everything goes away without any further assistance.”

(Sister Catherine, 21st century Ukrainian Sister of Mercy in Kiev)