Ukraine's "Red Viburnum" hymn sang by faithful in Warsaw church

The video showing the singing churchgoers was recorded by Marek Lipiński, a councillor from Bemowo district, who attended the Monday's mass.

A longer fragment of the service was posted at the parish's YouTube channel. "First let's listen, and then we'll try to sing," Father Wojciech Drozdowicz encourages in the video, placing the microphone close to a wireless speaker. The church then vibrates to the sound of the "Red Viburnum", a popular Ukrainian folklore song. Altar servers had earlier distributed sheets with the song lyrics among the gathered. In the second approach, the priest and the parishioners are singing in unison. "Long live Ukraine!" - Father Drozdowicz concludes and applause follows.

"Why this particular song? You've probably notices that it's not an Easten song. It's a Ukrainian folk song about red vibernum which bent down, only to rise up," Drozdowicz says from the pulpit. "When I think what to tell you briefly before we start dancing in front of the church, I think to myself that the death of the Christ closes some doors, a certain chapter in life (...) The resurrection is a moment in which respite fills our hearts. Just like Jesus rose from the dead, we shall also be resurrected into eternal life, but also into a purely secular dimension - just like in the "Red Viburnum" - a dying and bowing tree suddenly rises," the priest adds, and everyone are singing the song once again.

"We should be speaking out loud about such gestures like the one by Father Wojciech, it's means a lot to the people of Ukraine," Marek Lipiński told tvn24.pl.

"Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow" ("Oi u luzi chervona kalyna") is a Ukrainian patriotic march, written by the composer Stepan Charnetsky in 1914, in honor and memory of the Sich Riflemen.

The red viburnum of the song (kalyna in Ukrainian) - a deciduous shrub that grows four to five metres tall - is referenced throughout Ukrainian folklore.

The song has recently become very popular thanks a vocalist and lyricist of the Ukrainian group BoomBox - Andriy Khlyvnyuk - who cancelled his U.S. tour and returned to Ukraine to join the army. In late February, he sang "Red Viburnum" standing in the center of Kiev, to uplift his compatriots defending Ukraine against Russian aggression.

Khlyvnyuk's viral singing encouraged other Ukrainian musicians to make another version of the song.

On 8 April 2022, the English rock band Pink Floyd released a song titled "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" which features vocals by Andriy Khlyvnyuk. The track is the first entirely new piece of music recorded by Pink Floyd since 1994. Guitarist David Gilmour was inspired to record it in support of Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion.