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CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — St. Nicholas Parish hosted the replica icon of Our Lady of Mariapoch, normally housed at the eparchial Shrine of Our Lady of Mariapoch in Burton, Ohio, for a special weekend program, Dec. 8-10.
The event attracted participation from nearby Byzantine Catholic parishes, including Sacred Heart Parish in Livonia, St. Basil Parish in Sterling Heights, and St. Stephen Parish in Allen Park, as well as from the local Sts. Cyril and Methodius and Holy Cross Roman Catholic parishes.
The program began Friday evening with Divine Liturgy for the feast of the Maternity of the Holy Anna, also known as the Immaculate Conception, when the parish officially welcomed the replica icon.
The Burton shrine’s advisory board commissioned an iconographer in Hungary to paint the icon, which was installed at the shrine in August. It has since been touring the eparchy, visiting parishes where pastors have requested it.
Braving the first major snowfall of the year, participants arrived as early as 8:30 a.m. on Saturday for the welcome breakfast and opening service, followed by the first presentation by guest speaker Father Michael Lee, administrator of St. Stephen Parish in Euclid, Ohio.
After a short break, the parish choir led 45 minutes of congregational Marian hymns in the presence of the Mariapoch icon. A cantor-led Akathist service to the Mother of God, celebrated by the pastor, Father Joseph Repko, followed.
After lunch, Father Lee gave his second presentation, followed by time for individual prayer and confession, Vespers and Divine Liturgy.
The next morning began with the parish’s regular cantor-led Divine Liturgy in Slavonic, followed by singing class and Eastern Christian Formation classes for the children. Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, apostolic administrator of the Eparchy of Parma, celebrated the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at 11 a.m. The parish choir led the congregational singing.
After mirovanije, participants had lunch in the church hall, where they had an opportunity to mingle with Bishop Lach and Father Lee.
Father Lee then gave a short wrap-up presentation of the weekend’s topics. Bishop Lach blessed and thanked the participants and the parish volunteers for their hard work to make the weekend special.
The parish council presented gift baskets to both Bishop Lach and Father Lee, filled with “Detroit-original” products, so that both could remember their time at the parish upon their return to the Cleveland area.
For photos, audio and video recordings of the weekend, go to www.stnicksdetroit.com and the parish Facebook page.
Caption: Father Michael Lee delivers a presentation during a Marian weekend at St. Nicholas Parish in Clinton Township, Michigan, Dec. 8-10. (Photo: Nikolaj Nagrant)
As published in Horizons, Jan. 21, 2018.
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