This article argues that scholars interested in studying religious practice in the Soviet Union should focus on “lived religion” as a valid form of religiosity. This concept allows for the consideration of the improvised nature of religious practices that were often conducted outside of churches and involved appeals to spirits in addition to an anthropomorphic God. Lived religion is revealed in the ritualized death practices conducted in Western Ukrainian territories annexed to the Soviet Union during World War II and where the Greek-Catholic Church was prominent before being driven underground in the early 1950s. With limited access to clergy and liturgy, this article provides an analysis of the lived religious practices of Western Ukrainians that were mostly conducted in homes and cemeteries to commemorate death primarily during the Khrushchev period in this borderland region of the USSR. Such lived religious practices, not only sustained religious sentiment during the Soviet period, they also were an integral part of local cultures and identities.