Strengthened by the Witness of the Martyrs: Nun Martyrs Olympia and Laurentia Continue to Move Hearts in Saskatoon

A pilgrimage will be held June 26-27 to the shrine site of the Venerable Nun Martyrs Olympia and Laurentia, which is located on Avenue M in Saskatoon, beginning 6 p.m. Friday, June 26 with a procession with the relics of the martyrs, followed by a Moleben and barbecued fish burgers. On Saturday, June 27 at 10 a.m., the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy will be celebrated by Bishop Michael Smolinski, CSsR, and other clergy from the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon. A luncheon will follow. (Image courtesy of Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon)

Posted By: Kiply Lukan Yaworski June 26, 2026

Originally published on the Eparchy of Saskatoon website (LINK) – used with permission.

By Sean Wilson, Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon

This week the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon is celebrating the Pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Venerable Nun Martyrs Olympia and Laurentia.

Exactly 20 years ago, on the evening of June 27, 2006, hundreds of Ukrainian Catholics gathered at the Saskatoon International Airport to welcome the relics of these women to Saskatoon and to escort them to their new home.

These relics had been uncovered in the sandy soil of Siberia only a year earlier during an expedition funded by the generous support of the Ukrainian Sisters of St. Joseph of Saskatoon.

These efforts were initiated when Pope St. John Paul II beatified these two nuns, alongside 25 other martyrs, in a field outside Lviv. On that day in 2001, over a million people joined the Holy Father in honouring these 27 men and women who gave their lives in witness for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic faith during the Soviet era.

Today, 25 years later, we continue to celebrate the faithful witness of the martyrs. We especially honour the Ven. Nun Martyrs Olympia and Laurentia, whose relics have found a home in Saskatoon.

Who are these women?

To learn about the Venerable Nun Martyrs and their connection to the Eparchy of Saskatoon, we first have to talk about the religious order which formed them and which works tirelessly in Saskatoon today.

The Ukrainian Sisters of St. Joseph, a Ukrainian Catholic religious order, were founded in 1896 in Tsebliv, Ukraine, to witness to the Gospel through works of charity. The apostolate – work – of these sisters has included care for the sick and elderly, education of children, and care for clergy. This community of religious women has served diligently in the Eparchy of Saskatoon since 1961 when they were invited to establish a personal care home.

Both Olympia and Laurentia belonged to this religious order of women long before the Ukrainian Sisters of St. Joseph had an apostolate in Canada.

Venerable Nun Martyrs died during exile to Siberia

Olympia was born in 1903 in Tsebliv and Laurentia was born in 1911 in Rudnyky. Both of these communities are situated near Lviv in western Ukraine. Both women discerned a call to the religious life and joined the Ukrainian Sisters of St. Joseph. They eventually found themselves assigned to the same convent in Khyriv in 1938, where Olympia was named local superior.

When the Soviets retook Ukraine after WWII, they began to persecute the Ukrainian Catholic Church and formally disbanded it, attempting to assimilate it into the Russian Orthodox Church. The hierarchy of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, along with many of its priests, catechists, and religious were arrested.

In 1950, both Olympia and Laurentia found themselves facing arrest by the communist authorities. The charge against them was that they had participated in “anti-soviet” activities. In reality, they had not stopped caring for the poor and the sick, nor had they stopped encouraging people to pray.  Both were condemned to a lifelong exile in the Region of Tomsk, in the West Siberian Plain, over 3500 kilometers from their home.

While in the camp, Olympia and Laurentia continued to participate in “anti-soviet” activities – they cared for the sick, taught children the faith, and tended to the elderly. They recognized and honoured the humanity of their fellow prisoners by fostering hope and beauty in their desolate surroundings, encouraging crafts and art.

As a superior, Olympia continued to support her fellow sisters from her exile, encouraging them in their struggles and sufferings. She wrote to her provincial superior, “Because of our faith, because of divine matters, we suffer, and what could be better than this?” She died on Jan. 23, 1952, after suffering starvation, cold, taunts, and abuse.

Laurentia contracted tuberculosis during the siege of the convent and the long journey to Tomsk. She spent her time in prayer and was forced to do severe manual labour. Without medical care, she suffered greatly, until, she died as a martyr for the faith on Aug. 28, 1952.

The witness of the Venerable Nun Martyrs to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Faith, to the Union, and to the power of Christian Charity stands in contrast to the priorities of the world.

The Gospel call to serve the poor, the sick, and the needy – to see Christ in all – stands in sharp contrast to the cruelty of their age and of ours.

Olympia and Laurentia went to their holy deaths following the Gospel of Jesus Christ heroically. For that, we celebrate them.

They call us out of ourselves and into communion, out of exhaustion and into service, and out of fear and into a bold declaration of our Ukrainian Greek Catholic Faith in Jesus Christ and his saving work.

Information Sourced From:

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Sean Wilson is the Director of Communications for the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon.