When I started to work more and more for the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, I became exposed to rituals I had never experienced before – ordinations, Chrism Mass, Rev. Absalom Jones Celebration, visiting various churches in the diocese, even Camp DeWolfe. I started to feel like I was betraying my Ukrainian Catholic upbringing, embodied in true religious guilt.

Through my lens I saw something I had not witnessed before – people of different races, socio-economic backgrounds, and blended families come together – through their differences they were all the same – filled with love, acceptance, joy - and through that I felt something I hadn’t felt before, enclosed within the walls of these sacred spaces – community, peace, acceptance. I no longer felt different, I felt loved, respected, and appreciated.

It all connected – in a great mystery. The walls of the Cathedral of Incarnation are simple and classic, but spattered throughout the space are sprinklings of Byzantine-style icons, hand-crafted in Ukraine. The connection didn’t end there. The choir director, Larry Tremsky, has a profound love for Ukraine and incorporates several liturgical hymns into the service – sung IN Ukrainian. At a time of turmoil, the support from the Diocese to raise funds to help the people of Ukraine has touched me deeply – the unity of Ukrainian representation in the Cathedral, the space, the people, has become the perfect mixture of culture and faith.