Search
-
UNIONTOWN, Pa. — Family, tradition and friendship were strong themes among the hundreds of pilgrims at the 85th annual pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help at Mount St. Macrina Aug. 31-Sept. 1.
Bishop Gregory Mansour of the Maronite Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn, New York, was the guest preacher at the closing Divine Liturgy of the pilgrimage, organized by the Sisters of St. Basil the Great.
“There is a big difference between a pilgrim and tourist,” Bishop Mansour told the pilgrims. “People are going on a tour to get their money’s worth, that things go right for them. A pilgrim could have the most awful thing happen to them and then offer it up. They recognize that life isn’t only about them.
“There are lots of hospitals filled with wasted suffering,” he continued. “The Christian understands that Christians can take that suffer and make of it something more. Just like Jesus who offered up his own body.”
“Suffer well,” he urged, “offering up the small sufferings of life so that we will be prepared for the big ones.”
Bishop Mansour was one of several bishops to preach at pilgrimage, including Metropolitan William C. Skurla, archbishop of Pittsburgh, Bishop Kurt Burnette of Passaic, retired Bishop John Kudrick of Parma and Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, of Parma, who encouraged pilgrims on their spiritual journeys.
Cathy and Jack Securdc from Blessed Basil Hopko Mission in Conway, South Carolina, were at the pilgrimage with their daughter, Melissa Mayer of St. Nicholas Parish in White Plains, New York, and her two young sons. The boys, Emmett and George, are the fourth generation of the family to attend pilgrimage. Jack said his parents brought him to Uniontown as a boy; he remembers being there when Bishop Fulton Sheen, now venerable, celebrated the Divine Liturgy in 1955.
Securdc and his wife have been bringing their children to Mount St. Macrina since 1984.
“It’s a family tradition; we love coming,” he said. “It hasn’t been a successful year unless we’re here.”
Mayer, who is still in touch with friends she made on pilgrimage in her youth, said she wanted to pass on the tradition of pilgrimage to her children.
“There is just such a peaceful feeling. I want my kids to know that,” she said.
Three sisters from Indiana have been attending pilgrimage for 21 years. Patricia Drlich, of St. Nicholas Parish in Munster, and her two now Roman Catholic sisters, Marcia Sobocinski and Debra Huwig, stay on the grounds each year.
The sisters said they come to learn, encourage one another, meet friends and have fun. They said pilgrimage allows them to experience love and inner joy that carries them through to the next year.
“It’s our heritage; we walk on the same grounds as our parents. You can feel that these are holy grounds,” said Drlich.
The youngest pilgrim was just a few days short of being one month old. Olga Margaret Stashkevych, daughter of Father Vitalii Stashkevych and his wife, Mary, was there with her one-year-old brother, grandmother and great-grandparents. Father Stashkevych serves St. Elias Parish in Munhall, Pennsylvania, and Sts. Peter & Paul Parish in Braddock, Pennsylvania. Mary said she has been attending the pilgrimage with her family her whole life, making Olga another fourth-generation pilgrim.
“It’s a good place to come to pray and show one big Byzantine Catholic family,” said Father Stashkevych, a native of the Eparchy of Mukachevo, Ukraine.
The youngest pilgrim from the Eparchy of Parma was Charlotte Isabelle Desrosiers, daughter of Maria and Johnathan Desrosiers, of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Parma, Ohio. Charlotte was just a few days short of being two months old. Maria is the daughter of Deacon Greg Loya and his wife, Kate, and has attended the pilgrimage every year of her life, making Charlotte a fifth-generation pilgrim.
Gavin Majikas, a Roman Catholic student at Ohio State University, was participating in his second pilgrimage to Mount St. Macrina at the invitation of a friend.
“It’s the most deeply religious place I’ve ever been,” he said. “It’s nice to be where other people of all ages and areas feel the same.”
He said his experience will lead him “to push my faith further; to do more; to take a more active stance.”
Caption 1: Metropolitan William C. Skurla, archbishop of Pittsburgh (center), blesses the waters at the Lourdes Grotto on Mount St. Macrina, the grounds of the Sisters of St. Basil the Great in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, Aug. 31, as part of the annual pilgrimage dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
Caption 2: Basilian Sister Elaine Kisinko, who celebrates a diamond jubilee of religious life this year, addresses the pilgrims on the mount Sept. 1. She is flanked by Metropolitan William C. Skurla (left) and Basilian Sister Barbara Jean Mihalchik.
Caption 3: The Lourdes Grotto on Mount St. Macrina in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, which commemorates the apparitions of the Mother of God to St. Bernadette Soubirous in France in 1858, draws many prayerful pilgrims during the annual pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, this year held Aug. 31-Sept. 1. (All photos: Reen Nemeth)
As published in Horizons, Sept. 15, 2019.
Sign up for Horizons' e-newsletter.
