HOSHIV, Ukraine — In high, tremulous voices, the Sisters of the Holy Family were chanting their midday prayers when a child's gleeful shout echoed from a nearby corridor, punctuating the solemn incantation. The Ukrainian nuns didn't miss a beat.
At this quiet monastery in the green foothills of the Carpathian mountains, the timeless rhythms of spiritual life have been altered in ways large and small by the presence of dozens of war-displaced mothers and children, many of whom arrive terrified and traumatized by bombardment and fighting.
"They belong here, for as long as they need to stay," said Sister Bernadette, one of the dozen nuns extending shelter to a refugee roster that currently stands at 40 — close to their maximum capacity of 50 — numbers that fluctuate along with arrivals and departures and the war's hopscotch path of devastation. "We want them to have a feeling of calm and safety."
