[taken from the booklet “Church of the Martyrs – The New Saints of Ukraine”.
General Editor Oleh Turij – Lviv, Ukraine, St. John’s Monastery, Publishing Division Svichado, 2006]

Nun and Martyr Sister Olympia (Bida) was born in 1903 in the village of Tsebliv, Lviv Region.  At a young age she entered the congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. In 1938, she was assigned to the town of Khyriv where she became superior of the house.  After the establishment of the Soviet regime she and the other sisters suffered a number of attacks on the convent. She, nevertheless, continued to care for the children, to catechize, to organise underground religious services (often without a priest).  In 1950, she was arrested by soldiers of the NKVD (KGB) and taken to a hard labour camp in Boryslav. Eventually she was sentenced to lifelong exile in the Tomsk region of Siberia for “anti-Soviet activities”. Even in exile, Sr. Olympia tried to preform her duties as superior.  She was a support for her fellow sisters.  She patiently endured inhuman living conditions.  She died a martyr’s death on January 23,1952.

{from Sister Olympia’s letter to her provincial superior, Sister Neonylia}

“God Almighty, God’s Providence will not allow His little children to perish in a foreign land.  For He is with us here, in the midst of these forests and waters. He doesn’t forget about us . . . Because of our faith, because of a divine matter, we suffer, and what could be better than this? … Let’s follow Him bravely.  Not only when all is well, but even when times are bitter, let us say: Glory to God in all matters.”

[taken from the booklet “Church of the Martyrs – The New Saints of Ukraine”.
General Editor Oleh Turij – Lviv, Ukraine, St. John’s Monastery, Publishing Division Svichado, 2006]

Nun and martyr Sister Lavrentia (Herasymiv) was born on September 30, 1911 in the village of Rudnyky, Lviv Region.  In 1931, she entered the congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Tsebliv.  In 1933, she made her first vows.  In 1938 she went to the house in Khyriv with Sister Olympia and the lives of both were to remain intertwined until their deaths.  In 1950, she was arrested by the agents of the NKVD and sent to Boryslav.  Eventually, together with her fellow sister, she was sentenced to lifelong exile in the Tomsk region.  She was sick with tuberculosis when she arrived at her designated place of exile and so only one family would agree to give her a roof over her head. This was in a room where a paralysed man lay behind a partition. She prayed a great deal and performed various forms of manual labour.  She patiently endured inhuman living conditions and the lack of medical attention. She died on August 28, 1952 as a martyr for the faith in the village of Kharsk in Siberia’s Tomsk Region.

{from the memories of a relative,  Anna Harasymiv}

“The NKVD agents attacked our convent.  They spent a long time breaking down the door.  It was night-time; the sisters were terrified.  Sister Laurentia ran to the cellar and escaped into the garden through a little window.  A cold rain started to fall. When the NKVD broke into the house they immediately noted the open window and ran to look for her.  It was dark and with their bayonets they poked every bush.  A few times the bayonet was right in front of Sister’s eyes.  Not finding her, the NKVD went away, but Sister was out in the rain until morning. She came to the house exhausted and frozen.  After this incident she got seriously ill, lay in bed.  They took her to prison when she was infirm.”