Blessing of Lake Michigan brings ‘hope to all people,’ says bishop

HAMMOND, Ind. — Lake Michigan, one of the world’s largest bodies of fresh water, was blessed in commemoration of the baptism of Jesus, in an ancient custom for the feast of Theophany in the Byzantine Catholic Church.

Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, kneeling on a dock at the Hammond Marina, dipped ceremonial candles, then his right hand, and then his wooden hand cross below the surface of Lake Michigan’s frigid waters Jan. 6.

The 45-year-old bishop of Parma made the Sign of the Cross with each of these sacred objects and called upon the power of the Holy Spirit to bless one of the four Great Lakes located in his 12-state eparchy.       



“We believe that this water is sanctified and all creation is blessed,” Bishop Lach told Horizons. “As this water will go everywhere, all of creation is sanctified. God has a big plan for everybody in North America, and we bring this hope to all people.”

Bishop John Pazak of the Eparchy of the Holy Protection of Mary of Phoenix was also present for the feast day. Both bishops absented themselves from the retreat of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Mundelein, Illinois, that morning to celebrate Theophany with their faithful. Bishop Pazak explained the USCCB retreat was following the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar.

“I was very uplifted. I’m glad we came,” said Bishop Pazak of his first outdoor water blessing. “Theophany is such a special day in our church, and I was just delighted that Bishop Milan told me he was coming and that I could come along.”

About 200 Byzantine and Roman Catholics in Chicagoland gathered for the 40-minute outdoor service, organized by Father Andrew Summerson, administrator of St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Parish in nearby Whiting.

Participants first gathered at the Hammond Marina pavilion and processed in song to the water. They filed onto two wobbly docks to pray and watch the water blessing. Many of them gasped when Bishop Lach scooped the blessed lake water into a pitcher and drank it before he and Bishop Pazak used it to bless the people standing on the docks.

“Water is the source of all life on earth,” said Father Summerson. “We recognize the value of life and of all creation and, in blessing water, we bless our own life and life itself.”

“The blessing of Lake Michigan is significant for the entire country,” he said. “These waters will flow into the Chicago River, join the waters of the Mississippi, and flow south through a significant portion of this country. It will also flow north through the Great Lakes Waterway and into Canada.”



“Our prayer is that, with the blessing of this large and important body of water, the blessings of God will flow through this great land and throughout the world,” he said. 

Milan Kruszynski, director of the Hammond Port Authority and member of the local Knights of Columbus council, gave the green light for the water blessing.

Kruszynski recalled the last lake blessing at the marina was held 16 years ago at the start of the boating season. The Jan. 6 blessing was the first within the context of a Christian feast day, he said.

“It was wonderful. There were a lot of old traditions and words that made us go back and think of our Lord,” he said.

Mary Jo Dybel, a lifelong area resident and parishioner of Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Parish in Whiting, said the blessing helped draw out the theological significance of the baptism of Jesus, which is sometimes lost on the faithful.

“We haven’t really taken in that much about how it applies to us in our daily lives today,” she said. “So, the blessing of the waters was a nice thing.”

Both Dybel and her friend Don Kometz said it was the first time they had witnessed a water blessing in the Byzantine rite in person.

“Lake Michigan is the bread and butter of all of the people living around here,” said Kometz, a Byzantine Catholic, pointing out the industry that developed along the lake’s shores. “The water is sacred now and it reminds us that we are highly blessed.”



Further upstream, Father Robert Kelly of St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Parish in Marblehead, Ohio, blessed Lake Erie Jan. 6. Parishioner John J. Bou-Sliman said Father Kelly blesses the lake from the shoreline each year, performing the simpler ritual, called the Lesser Blessing of Water.
 
Caption 1: Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, kneels on a dock at the Hammond Marina in Indiana and makes the Sign of the Cross with a dikirion in the waters of Lake Michigan, as part of the Great Blessing of Water for the feast of Theophany Jan. 6. Other clergy photographed, l. to r.: Father Thomas J. Loya wears a black hat, Father Andrew Summerson wears white vestments, Bishop John Pazak of Phoenix wears a miter and Father Cyril Pinchak, SJ, holds a Gospel book. Deacon Timothy Woods crouches to assist the bishop.
 
Caption 2: Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, makes the Sign of the Cross in the water with his wooden hand cross as part of the blessing of Lake Michigan at the Hammond Marina Jan. 6.
 
Caption 3: Father Robert Kelly, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Marblehead, Ohio, blesses Lake Erie after Divine Liturgy on the feast of Theophany, Jan. 6.
 
Caption 4: Bishop John Pazak of Phoenix sprinkles holy water on the faithful who attended the blessing of Lake Michigan at the Hammond Marina in Indiana Jan. 6.
 
(All photos by Laura Ieraci)
 
As published in Horizons, Jan. 20, 2019.
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