BURTON, OHIO -- (Horizons, 8/1/1999) -- We send to you a special invitation to come to the 44th annual Eparchial pilgrimage to the Shrine of Mariapoch. This "we", first of all, includes greetings and welcoming from Parma's Bishop Basil Schott. He is our eparchy's prime spiritual father, our "episkopos", the overseer of all within the Church of Parma.

Photo by Father Michael Huszti (Horizons)

Next, our Mariapoch Shrine staff welcomes you, including Father John Kovach, Father Michael Huszti, and our two Social Mission Sisters, Sister M. Flora, and Sister M. Adalberta. Also, the parishioners of our shrine church invite you warmly to the pilgrimage.

With this article we ask for the support of the pastors in the parishes to invite all their faithful by encouraging them to come in large numbers to the shrine during this three-day pilgrimage beginning on Friday, Aug. 13, continuing on Saturday, Aug. 14, and concluding with the main pilgrimage day, the feast of Mary's Dormition, on Sunday, Aug. 15.

Making a good pilgrimage is not a last-minute undertaking. It involves the preparation of our minds, bodies, souls, strength and emotions. It is wholistic. God's wisdom and power speak to us through our days of prayer, fasting, deeds of kindness, Scripture reading and other activities. This happens long before we pile into the family car or get on our bikes to pedal shrineward. This journey takes place within us first spiritually, by taking into account the liturgical period of two weeks, beginning on Aug. 1, as a pre-Dormition fast or Lent. This leads us to meditate on the life of Mary so that we can well emulate her life of virtue. I hope that parents will include their children and teens in this preliminary plan-ning period. How good it is to take the time to instruct the young ones in the value of prayer, the benefits of fasting for God's glory and our faith upbuildlng. Kindly extend this lesson into the realm of personal behavior for children and teens by linking Christ's teachings with the moral messages found in St. Paul's epistles, especially in Ephesians and Philippians. All this helps to deepen and renew the faith of every pilgrim by opening up our hearts to accept the holy will and designs of God, our heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit's grace.

The Sisters of Mariapoch humbly ask for the help of many friends and parishioners of the Parma eparchy to prepare for the upcoming pilgrimage. This does involve many hours of extensive work, calling for many hands and warm hearts coupled with cooperative understanding. During the week before the pilgrimage, Aug. 2 - 7, many volunteers are needed to wash the benches and pews and carry them from storage to the shrine service area. Other tasks involve cleaning roofs atop some shrine buildings, washing down picnic tables and moving them to the covered dining areas, repairing and cleaning the grill stand and area, painting pedestals and a statue in the Lourdes grotto and where needed along the Seven Sorrows and Beatitude Walk path, cleaning benches, repairing broken concrete walks and floors, as in the Calvary Chapel. 

On Aug. 15 and 16, following the hierarchical Divine Liturgy, and subsequent dinner time we will need to begin cleaning up all areas and transferring many items to their storage facilities. If you would like to help the Sisters, please contact them at (440) 834-4078. Your gracious kindness will be highly appreciated.

All of us need to realize that entering upon a pilgrimage joins us to a 2,000-year-old tradition that takes us back to the illustrious ancestors of our faith and to the many unforgettable sites of the Holy Land. As shrine director I prayerfully ask the mother of God, Our Lady of Mariapoch, to prepare us to become true servants of the Lord, willing and eager to pray during these pilgrimage days. We come with the hope that the prayers of the Ever-virgin will both deepen and strengthen our faith and assist us in our duties. May she help us to focus on the important things of life. We especially pray for those suffering from illness or hampered by weakness, keeping in mind all those who may be unable to join us in pilgrimage this year. We look forward in joyful anticipation for these Mariapoch pilgrimage days that we pray will bring many of God's children spiritually safe to the threshold of the new millennium.

Saturday, August 14, 1999  

Sunday, August 15, 1999