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Uniontown - PA - Close your eyes. Take a long, deep breath. Exhale slowly.
Inhale once again and feel the breath of the Holy Spirit fill you up,
enliven every physical and spiritual sense, and settle with a fullness of
peace that softly resonates in every part of your being – heart, mind, body
and soul. Welcome to Pilgrimage 2002.
In peace, let us pray to the Lord…
The theme of the 68th Annual Pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual
Help became the experience as pilgrims focused on Mary our Mother, Model of
Peace during the Labor Day weekend sponsored by the Sisters of St. Basil the
Great and conducted under the patronage of the Byzantine Catholic
Metropolitan Province at Mount St. Macrina in Uniontown (PA), Friday, August
30 through Monday, September 2.
The traditional Procession with the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help late
Friday afternoon marked the official opening as the Sisters of St. Basil and
Basilian Associates sang hymns to Mary and carried the 1935 gift from Pope
Pius XI from its customary place of honor in the Monastery to the Mother of
God Shrine for the opening Divine Liturgy. But, in a sense, the essence of
pilgrimage began weeks, even months, earlier as people cleared their
calendars and made travel plans, taking the first steps on this special
journey toward closer communion with God.
One participant from Alabama flew into the Pittsburgh airport where he met
his mother who had taken a flight from her home in Connecticut. The two
completed their annual trip to Uniontown in a rental car. The requisite
preparation was pilgrimage, too.
Following the Divine Liturgy and the blessing of water at Lourdes Grotto,
the Icon was enthroned at the Shrine Altar with the reciting of the Chaplet
to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
The rain that had been forecast periodically throughout the weekend never
came. Instead, bright nearly cloudless skies warmed the Mount while an
ever-present daytime breeze seemed to reassure that nature, too, was at
peace here. Recently enthroned Metropolitan Archbishop Basil M. Schott, OFM,
of the Pittsburgh Archeparchy noted near the conclusion of the pilgrimage
that the people had exhibited a very prayerful attitude throughout the
weekend and seemed, in fact, to be “modeling peace, which is a gift.”
An undercurrent of energy hummed amid the serenity, infusing the atmosphere
with a quiet joy and excitement, perhaps reflecting a long-awaited sense of
completeness as a Church. A full complement of Hierarchs of the Metropolia
concelebrated Divine Liturgies and shared company and conversation with the
people. Archbishop Schott was joined by two newly ordained and enthroned
bishops – Most Reverend John M. Kudrick, Eparch of Parma (OH), and Most
Reverend William C. Skurla, Eparch of Van Nuys (CA). The Most Reverend
Andrew Pataki, Eparch of Passaic, Most Reverend Michael J. Dudick, retired
Eparch of Passaic, and Most Reverend George M. Kuzma, retired Eparch of Van
Nuys, were equally welcome reminders of the apostolic continuity of the
Church, ever-ancient, ever-new. Most Reverend John Pazak, CSSR , of the
Eparchy of Toronto in Canada also participated in Pilgrimage celebrations
and activities.
Growing the future
The upbeat attitude that suffused the weekend was fueled by a sense of being
a Church on the move, with the will and the resources to build for the
future. A Partners in Ministry program shared information on how the Sisters
of St. Basil plan to grow for the future by upgrading public facilities and
promoting Mount St. Macrina as a year-round destination for more pilgrims
from across the country. A record number of youngsters – some 500 –
participated in the Children’s Procession and Blessing on Sunday afternoon.
The enthusiasm of the ByzanTEENs and their eager yet respectful
contributions to liturgical services and processions sowed confidence that
the evident, enduring devotion and wisdom of the elder pilgrims is bearing
fruit in the faith of the young. The addition of a special program for young
single adults at their request nourished the hope that a new generation of
leaders and workers are interested and ready to work in the fields – in
their own parishes and communities and for the Church as a whole.
Sister Jean Marie Cihota, OSBM, Vocation Directress, felt the movement of
the Spirit. During the Moleben for Vocations on Saturday, Rev. Dennis Bogda
challenged pilgrims to have the courage to respond to the call to the
priesthood and religious life. Using the parable of the wedding feast where
poor, simple strangers took the place of invited guests too busy to accept
the king’s invitation, he paraphrased the well-known passage, saying: “Many
are called, but few are choosing.” Father then encouraged those who feel
they are being called to speak to someone – a priest or religious – that
day. Within the hour, Sister Jean Marie said, several pilgrims approached
her to discuss their possible vocation. Other Sisters reported similar
encounters through the weekend.
Another sign of growth was celebrated during Saturday Vespers when five new
Basilian Associates were received into the community, bringing the number to
22. The new members are: Barbara Lutz from St. Peter & Paul Church in
Minersville, PA; Heather Loya from Patronage of the Mother of God Church in
Baltimore, MD; and Irene and Mary Ann Burkoski, and Patricia Tarasan from
St. John the Baptist Church in Scottdale, PA. The Basilian Associate
Program, initiated in 1986, offers opportunities for dedicated Christian
women and men to join the Sisters of St. Basil in living their mission
through the sharing of their faith, hospitality and vision. The commitment
does not involve vows or communal living, but through association with the
community, members share more completely in the life and mission of the
Church in faith, prayer and ministry.
Growing peace
The homilies and special programs for children, teens, young single adults
and parents throughout the weekend offered timely reflections and
user-friendly guidance on how each, in his or her own way, can cultivate
peace in their own hearts and lives at any age.
Red and blue
Over 100 children from toddler to grade 8 participated in lessons and
activities over the course of their special two-day program under the
tutelage of catechists from the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh and the Eparchy of
Passaic. Saturday afternoon focused on the Feast of the Protection of Mary
and St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians. The younger students talked about
what peace is, which they defined as “something quiet; not fighting.” And
they learned about Mary as a young child and Mother who did the same kinds
of things for Jesus that their mothers do for them – being an example,
loving them and showing them how to love.
Using several icons, Sandy Simko, a retired teacher and member of St. John
the Baptist Church in Lyndora, PA, noted the colors always associated with
the Blessed Mother; blue representing her humanity “because she was like us”
and red for divinity “because she was so holy.”
After hearing the story of the Pokrov, the miracle of the Protection of the
Mother of God in ancient Constantinople, the children made dolls
representing the Theotokos spreading her mantle of protection and paper
candles using icon images and the colors of the Blessed Mother. When asked,
in conclusion, what one thing they would remember about the day’s lesson,
one three-year-old confidently replied, “Red and blue.”
Planting a garden
The older students, grade 3 and up, talked about the characteristics of a
good person and all the ways St. Paul says we can be peaceful people. Noting
that Mary our Mother is all of these – gentle, kind, compassionate, the
catechist used the image of a garden as a reminder of how we can grow the
seeds of these virtues in our own lives. The students then planted their own
individual herb gardens in small pots under paper rainbows decorated with
the graces and virtues they would nurture.
Sunday’s program featured a pageant play that helped deliver the lessons
based on Psalm 91 about God’s protection and the Akathist Hymn to the Mother
of God, which tells the story of her life.
Sister Marion Dobos, OSB, with the Archieparchial Catechetical Center in
Pittsburgh and coordinator for the children’s pilgrimage program, said that
one thing she has noticed over the years is that the children who
participate are easy to teach. “They already come from a religious
background and are sensitive to God and the Church,” she said. “That says
volumes about their home and the values and faith life there. What a joy it
is to teach a child like that.”
The family as church
The two-day teen pilgrimage program conducted by Rev. Thomas Loya and Sister
Celeste Strohmeyer, OSBM, focused on what peace in the heart and home means
and how to attain it. Through contemplation and discussion of Scripture and
Icons, the teens looked to Mary, the Mother of God for the secret of having
peace in the heart. In iconography, Mary’s face and hands reveal her
contemplation and constant pondering of God’s will and her openness and
resignation (open hands) to accepting His will for her life. Choosing these
actions – contemplation and resignation – along with her constant closeness
to Christ was the source of her peace.
Through role-playing and discussion on Sunday, Father Loya helped the teens
identify how our families can be what St. John Chrysostom says they are
called to be, the domestic or “little” church. “The key to peace in the
home, the family and the community is that each one has to get outside of
themselves and meet each other halfway, to see the situation from other
people’s point of view,” Father Loya said. “We must start to look beyond our
own problems.” With Father’s guidance, the teens listed the requirements of
a domestic church: gathering together as a family for prayer; dying to
yourself and rising to one another; communicating by talking and listening;
understanding; and cultivating a healthy silence in which you can hear each
other and are open to the presence of God. Father Loya suggested that having
one meal together at least one time each day sets the stage for all five
requirements to be met. He noted that there is a spiritual war going on for
the heart of the family today more than at any other time in history as
other things and activities become more important than the family. “A lot of
school activities are supposed to keep us out of trouble,” one teen
commented, “but it just takes time away from the family.”
More than 100 teens participated over the course of the Pilgrimage, enjoying
social and recreation activities together in the evenings. Guitar music,
singing, and miniature white lights created an outdoor café atmosphere for
roasting hotdogs and marshmallows over a small bonfire Saturday night and
for the pizza party on Sunday. One first-time teen pilgrim from Trenton, NJ,
commented on how friendly all the teens were and how much she enjoyed the
programs as well as social time. “I definitely want to come back,” she said.
I am for peace
How do you manage to find joy in your life when all that your job is giving
you is a paycheck? Where is the peace in that? Those questions and others
served as lively discussion points for the first young single adult
pilgrimage program designed around the issues and challenges faced by
college students and young professionals, age 18 to 25. In providing food
for thought to answer that question, Rev. Jack Custer, Dean of Ss. Cyril &
Methodius Seminary in Pittsburgh, took the opportunity to make a pitch for
the priesthood. Beyond that, he said, “We must be careful about what we
expect of our jobs. It may well be that the best thing about you is not what
you’re going to get paid to do.”
Father Custer used the example of a cantor in the Byzantine Church who
serves in that role because he or she really loves it even though, he noted,
the compensation in modern times isn’t something you can raise a family on.
One participant offered her perspective: “Your job isn’t what your life is
about,” she said. “Life is about people loving people,” and, to her, the
workplace is an opportunity to live and share her faith. Another individual
said that the Jesus Prayer “comes in handy” in her challenge to make the
best of her day in a unchallenging job, but that after 5:00 p.m., “my time
is mine.” Father Custer noted that a subtle form of evangelization is
“simply you being your best you, being an example of Christian love.”
Drawing on several Psalms, Father Custer encouraged the young adults to be
conscious of their individual ability to bring peace or unpeace to all the
situations they encounter in the workplace or personal relationships. Psalms
120 through 125 reflect a person’s prayer for peace in his life’s situation,
he explained, as the Psalmist speaks of places of darkness. “Too long I have
been living in a place of no peace,” Father quoted, “When I speak of peace,
they are for war.” He went on to note that the verse, “I am for peace” in
the original Hebrew is simply “I am peace.” But that is not true, he
cautioned, because no human is perfect peace. Peace begins, he said, “with a
person struggling to restore in him or herself the balance that God created
with your parents by nature, with friends by choice and with God because He
created you.”
Father Custer cautioned everyone against deluding ourselves that “we are
peace and simply keep walking into unpeaceful situations.” Instead, he
challenged them to recognize that “to the extent that I am unpeace, I bring
unpeace into other situations” and to always focus first on restoring the
peace of God within themselves.
Parenting from the heart
An enrichment session for parents was presented for the first time as part
of the Pilgrimage program. Directed by Dr. Barbara Lutz from the Passaic
Eparchy, the session focused on dealing with the pressures and
responsibilities of parenting and finding peace in those stressful
situations. Using the example of Mary as Mother of a young Jesus lost during
their return from a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem, Dr. Lutz asked
the parents how they would feel and respond if their child were lost in the
Temple. One mother of a teenage son remarked, “I would only be happy that he
was in the Temple!”
Happy New Year
The theme of living the Gospel of peace was echoed eloquently in all of the
homilies of the Pilgrimage. At the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on Sunday
afternoon, Archbishop Schott reflected on the liturgical prayer “for peace
from on high and for the salvation of our souls.” “What is this peace from
on high?” he asked, and answered, “Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.”
Quoting others’ observations of peace, he recalled one anonymous author who
noted “There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.” The peace that is Jesus
Christ – the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The new archbishop took the
opportunity to wish the people a happy New Year, as the Church began a new
liturgical year September 1. He encouraged all the faithful to join him in
making some resolutions for the New Year, chief among them, to “be
outrageous.”
“Be outrageous and forgive an enemy…Be outrageous and visit the sick…Be
outrageous and read the Bible…Be outrageous and stop talking to yourself,”
he said, because psychologists note that we usually say only negative
things. Archbishop Schott recalled going to visit a priest who was dying and
wondering what condition he would find him in. When he arrived, the priest
was sitting up in a chair, smiling. “What are you doing?” he asked him. “I’m
just sitting here,” the priest answered, “letting God love me.” “Be
outrageous,” Archbishop Schott said, “and let God love you.”
At Saturday’s liturgy in Mount St. Macrina Cemetery, Bishop John Kudrick
centered his homily on the liturgical prayer “for a Christian…peaceful end
of our life.” Contemplating what would give us a peaceful end of our life
provides good instruction on how we should live our lives, he said.
In her closing remarks on Monday, Sister Ruth Plante, OSBM, Provincial of
the Basilian Community told about an 87 year old woman who hadn’t missed one
pilgrimage, coming to Uniontown all of the past 67 years. She died just
before this year’s 68th Annual Pilgrimage. Although he was grieving, her
husband said he was happy that she died before the Pilgrimage because she
would be buried at Mount St. Macrina and would still be able to be there. A
fresh grave just beyond the cemetery altar was ringed with folding chairs
where members of the woman’s family celebrated another Pilgrimage Divine
Liturgy with her. “In their grief,” Sister Ruth noted, “the family found
peace.”
On Monday, Bishop William Skurla encouraged all pilgrims to return to their
homes, parishes, workplaces and communities as peacemakers and do all they
can to build peace.
God grant them many years
Before the apostolic blessing that placed the final seal of grace on the
2002 Pilgrimage, Archbishop Schott thanked the Sisters of St. Basil “for
offering their hospitality to us for so many years.” He also recognized the
recent 50th Anniversary of ordination to the priesthood of Bishop Andrew
Pataki, noting that he had attended the Pilgrimage for “all of those 50
years and before.”
Sister Ruth thanked all the Bishops, priests, deacons and seminarians for
their “willingness to still say ‘yes’ in difficult times,” and she expressed
appreciation for all the work of the Sisters and many volunteers who are
instrumental in continuing the ministry of Pilgrimage. She also thanked all
the pilgrims, “the young and not-so-young who climbed the hills with creaky
knees and sore feet out of love. Know that as the year continues, all the
Sisters of St. Basil will be praying for you,” Sister Ruth said, “And we
will be ready, willing and able to welcome you back to the 69th Pilgrimage
next year.”
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