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PARMA, Ohio — The third annual Miracle of Mariapoch Gala fundraiser for the eparchy’s Shrine of Our Lady of Mariapoch in Burton, Ohio, raised $14,453, twice as much as last year. More than 120 people attended the April 14 event, held in the hall of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.
The evening highlight was a tribute to Social Mission Sister Adalberta Rohaly, longtime caregiver at the shrine. Shrine Director Deacon Bill Fredrick introduced Incarnate Word Sister Margaret Taylor, a close friend of Sister Adalberta at Regina Health Center, where she and her late superior, Sister Flora Kocsis, moved after retiring from the shrine in 2007.
Sister Margaret gave a brief history of Sister Adalberta’s life. She entered the Social Mission Sisters in Hungary at age 15, taught kindergarten for 20 years, and came to the shrine in the 1970s. Sisters Flora and Adalberta did anything and everything to care for the shrine, the grounds, the pilgrims and the ailing shrine director, Father Alexander Bobak, in his last years.
Sister Margaret said Sister Adalberta insisted Sister Flora be honored, too, as the one in charge; Sister Adalberta said she was only the helper. Modest, humble and not wanting to draw attention to herself, Sister Adalberta declined to attend the gala. Sister Adalberta has been a Social Mission Sister for 68 years; she is the only sister of her order in the United States. Today, she lives a ministry of prayer.
A video of Deacon Fredrick’s recent visit with Sister Adalberta was shown. In it, she recounted a miracle that occurred through the intercession of Our Lady of Mariapoch. A woman, who was unable to conceive and had prayed at many shrines for this intention, prayed every Sunday for an entire summer to Our Lady of Mariapoch at the shrine in Burton. She became pregnant and had three sons. She gave an impassioned plea to keep the shrine open.
“God wants the shrine not to close,” she said. “We are very poor, very hard workers. Don’t close the shrine; the Blessed Mother doesn’t want that.”
Enclosed in the evening program was a bookmark with a Litany of Our Lady of Mariapoch, which Sister Adalberta said was sung after each liturgy at the shrine. The shrine will reinstate the litany this year.
The funds raised will be used for the balance due after insurance payment for the new roofing on the restrooms, pavilion and cafeteria; new energy-efficient LED lighting in the pavilion; new eco-friendly picnic tables for the pavilion; and refurbishing the Holy Family statue grouping. The next project will be renovating the asphalt in the pavilion.
Next year’s gala will be May 11.
Caption 1: Sister Adalberta Rohaly is pictured at her residence in 2016. (Photo: Deacon Bill Fredrick)
Caption 2: Deacon Bill Fredrick presents Sister Margaret Taylor with a print of the shrine’s new Mariapoch icon to give to Sister Adalberta Rohaly. (Photo: Reen Nemeth)
As published in Horizons, May 6, 2018.
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