Written by  Fr. Dennis O'Neill

Olha Matskiv was born on March 23, 1919 in Chodoriv, Ukraine. From early childhood, she showed signs of virtue and  a life of deep piety. Despite the opposition of her mother, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate on May 3, 1928. All the sisters liked her. On November 4, 1938, she received the habit and took a religious name, Tarsykia. She pronounced her first vows on November 5, 1940. The years of the Second World War was a time of hardship and danger in Ukraine. On July 17, 1944, the soviets started to attack Krysonopil, the city where Sr. Tarsykia was missioned. Heavy bombardment continued all day and night. The sisters took shelter in the basement of their novitiate. On the morning of July 18, the sisters were expecting a priest to come and celebrate the Divine Liturgy. When the gate bell rang, Sr. Tarsykia, thinking that it was the priest, ran out to open the gate. When she was halfway to the gate, the sisters heard a shot, and Sister Tarsykia fell dead. The next day, the Soviets came to kill all the sisters, but Fr. Volodymyr Kowalyk, their confessor, interceded. So the Soviets relented. Tarsykia’s killer, a Soviet soldier, admitted, when asked, “I killed her because she was a nun.” Before the Soviet attack, Sister Tarsykia had made a private vow before Fr. Volodymyr, to sacrifice her life for the conversion of Russia and for the Catholic faith. She was first buried in the convent garden. Afterwards, her remains were transferred to the Lychakivsky cemetery in Lviv. She is now buried in her hometown of Chodoriv. She was beatified by St. John Paul II during his pastoral visit to Ukraine on June 27, 2001. Her feast day is July 18th. 
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