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Intercession of the Servant of God, Bishop Basil Hopko, Confessor of the Faith

I just want to post a note of personal testimony, as to the powerful intercession of our beloved Confessor of the Faith, His Excellency, Bishop Basil Hopko, STD, Auxiliary Bishop of Prjashev. Many times I have invoked the good bishop's prayers and he is very faithful to me.

Bishop Hopko suffered much in this life, not only through more than 14 years of communist imposed, harsh imprisonment, followed by a period of house arrest, but also, after his release, through vicious attempts at character assassination, at the instigation of some of his own people. The political climate at the time was not favorable to the bishop's succession to the administration of the Prjashev Eparchy, even though he worked tirelessly for its restoration, immediately following the "Prague Spring" under Alexander Dubchek. The bishop's accomplishment was realized when the eparchy was officially recognized by the government on June 13, 1968.

Because of his love for the Greek Catholic Church and his own Rusyn people, he was continually persecuted and embarrassed publicly by opponents in the pro-Slovak circles. It was their intention to assimilate the Greek Catholic people's Ruthenian consciousness into the prevailing political ideology of that period. Bishop Hopko suffered not only physical pain from years of incarceration and hard labor, but also deep emotional anguish and depression, something that can easily be understood in light of the tremendous pressure, opposition and disappointment that Vladyka constantly faced.

Nevertheless, the Bishop prevailed in faith, hope and love and served his people faithfully until the end of his earthly life. He took consolation in making pastoral visits to his parishes whenever he would be permitted to do so, gaining strength from celebrating the Divine Liturgy with those whom he loved as his spiritual children. Now, as is evident, he continues to watch over and guide his flock from his heavenly home, by being a constant intercessor for us before the altar of God on high.

Vladyka Vasyl Hopko passed into eternal life on June 23, 1976. I remember being at the Sybertsville Otpust when our bishops announced to those in attendance at the Pontifical Divine Liturgy in "Our Lady's Grove," that our beloved shepherd of Prjashev had died. In those years, communication was not very extensive between our hierarchy here and our church in Soviet Subcarpathian Rus'. At the time of the pilgrimage, during the first weekend of August, word had just reached our chanceries here, that Bishop Hopko had died and was buried.

A Panachida was celebrated in Church Slavonic by Archbishop-Metropolitan Kocisko, and Bishops Dudick and Mihalik together with our clergy present, at the conclusion of that Divine Liturgy, for the repose of the good bishop's soul. Our people sang the responses from the depths of their souls - "dushevno" - and the sound of our spiritual songs must have been a warm and inviting welcome for the bishop to his heavenly home, which during his final days, he continually referred to by repeating to those who were caring for him, "I want to go home."

I wish to once again bring to everyone's attention that, together with our other bishop, priest and faithful martyrs and confessors of the Soviet era in Subcarpathian Rus', we have a powerful and loving helper and protector, in the person of our long-suffering Vladyka, Bishop Vasyl Hopko, who, because of his extreme kindness and charity, was affectionately referred to by those he served as "Our Golden Man." Let us continue to pray that, like our other persecuted hierarchs in both Zakarpatia and Halychyna, this humble successor to the Apostles, Bishop Hopko will soon be raised to the altars of the church as another true "witness" to Our Lord Jesus Christ. Certainly, we can all be proud and grateful, that he is part of our rich spiritual inheritance.

Our Holy Confessor, Bishop Basil Hopko, pray to God for us!

Fr. Joe

[ 08-15-2002: Message edited by: Fr. Joe ]

I have just heard from a seminarian from Presov that Bishop Hopko will soon be beatified. The last detail to be worked out is where the announcement will take place.

djs

Father,

Very moving. Eternal memory.

Dan Lauffer

Fr. Joe,

Thanks also for your post on Bishop Basil Hopko.

I have fond memories of those pilgrimages in Sybertsville. This may be wishful thinking on my part but you�ve triggered some memories. I was present at all the pilgrimages in the middle and late 1970�s and definitely at that pilgrimage in 1976. I may even have been an altar server at some of the liturgical services. I do remember that everyone was upset that a bishop in Europe had died, although I didn�t had a clue as to who he was or why he was important (hey � I was 15 and had other things on my mind!). I seem to remember serving at the panachida and that it was served at the outdoor altar back in the woods past the corn and cabbage fields. But then that�s were all the hierarchical liturgies were served because that chapel was too small.

I have heard that Bishop Basil Hopko will be beautified at Rome by Pope John Paul II either later this year or early next year (whenever they set the date).

Admin

SLAVA ISUSU CHRISTU!
SLAVA NA VIKI BOHU!

One of the parishoners from my church took his parents back to Slovakia in 1975. They stopped and asked an old man sitting in a garden for directions. The old man asked them to come and join him in the garden for a chat and some refreshements. They took some photos and as the got up to leave, they asked the old man for his name and address so that they could send him copies of the photos.

The man relied, "Basil Hopko".

They have this wonderful photo of our beloved Bishop framed and hanging on their living room wall.

mark

Dear Father;

Please accept my thanks also for such a beautiful post.

God bless you;

Stefan-Ivan

Dear Friends,

Yes, my grandparents were devoted to Bishop Hopko, as was my father and many Ukies I know and he is held in great and wide esteem.

I thank God that he will be beatified and raised to the honours of the altar, a jewel in the Crown of East Slavic Catholicism.

(Hopefully, I havent' offended any cultural sensitivities here yet again).

May he intercede for us all!

Alex

Alex:

I am glad to hear of the widespread devotion to this humble and deeply pious man, among our people throughout the region. His long-suffering and gentle spirit are certainly an example much needed in our world today.

Your viewpoints and my own, as to the origin and common ground of our people, both from Halychyna and Zakarpatia, are on the same page exactly. How wonderful that we can share our beautiful heritage, and especially, honor those great witnesses among us, such as Bishop Hopko.

As you know, one of the things that the bishop suffered the most for, was his defense of his "Ruthenian" people, their language and customs, against the fierce attempts at Slovakization. This is the primary reason that he was barred from the administration of the Prjashev Eparchy. His predecessor, Bishop Gojdich was also attacked for the same reason. Ruthenian would have been the word of choice in the bishop's time and place. The identity which he defended, in his day and situation, can well be considered to be part and parcel of our one common cultural and religious heritage.

If you have more thoughts to share about our saintly bishop, I would be very interested to hear them, especially from the viewpoint of your relatives who knew and loved him.

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Joe

Bless me a Ukrainian sinner, Reverend Father!

Sh-h-h, careful Father!

My grandfather and his friends too called themselves "Ruthenian" at one point. But enough of that for I fear I shall be verbally beaten for both of us!

(Isn't wonderful, the respect shown for priests on this Forum? )

What is clear from what I heard from my relatives is that local veneration and the preservation of the memory of such saints as Basil Hopko, Paul Gojdich etc. was and is strong (i.e. the Stigmata of Blessed Paul Gojdich). Their beatification only confirms what is already a fact in the spiritual lives of the people.

It was near to where Bishop Hopko lived that my grandfather was pastor of a parish on which windown pane an image of the Mother of God appeared.

Fr. John, my grandfather, was arrested by the local soviet authorities for "painting" the image and spreading confusion among the faithful . . .

My grandfather himself told me he thought the phenomenon to be caused by "opalization" whatever that is and denied the accusation.

He could not prevent people from coming on pilgrimage to pray before the image, however. It seemed as if the entire area over which Bishop Hopko had jurisdiction was energized by all sorts of phenomena such as this.

Alex

Alex:

May the Lord bless you: "Blahoslovennyjy Boh nash, zavzhdy nyni i povsjakchas i na viky vichni. Amin'."

It does not surprise me that during those dark periods of extreme and relentless persecution of our church and its believers, that all sorts of extraordinary phenomena occurred. I also have heard of many of these. Again, as with all "revelations" the object of importance is the fruit that these bear and the faith that they instill and renew in the hearts of all the faithful.

Especially during those difficult and for us, unimaginable times, those who would not relent and give in to the demand to join Moscow-brand Christianity were certainly strengthened in their steadfastness by these types of comforting signs that "God is with us."

The life of Bishop Hopko was truly an exemplary comment and "confession" of how faith in Our Lord, the Most Holy Mother of God and the saints can bring us through some very difficult times. May our own commitment be half as strong as that of these, our ancestors in faith and culture.

Holy Bishop-Confessor Basil Hopko, pray to God for us!

Fr. Joe

Bless me a sinner, Reverend Father!

Yes, you have captured the essense of the great spirituality and spiritual struggles of the time!

The Russian Church was controlled by the Soviets, to be sure.

To sign up with it was to give in to the Soviets which implied betraying one's Church and nationality.

Not everyone was strong enough to witness by their suffering.

Thankfully, it was the many Orthodox priests in western Ukraine who were raised by their Greek Catholic mothers and Babas (God bless and preserve them all) who brought back the Eastern Catholic Church.

Were it not for our faithful women, what would have become of our Church?

Kissing your right hand, I again implore your blessing,

Alex

Dear Father,
With all due respect, the martyrdom and heroic lives of our martyr/confessor bishops were not about refusal to join "Moscow-brand Christianity." They were about fidelity to the true, Catholic, faith which is that Church whose visible head on earth is the Pope of Rome. Let us not forget that! There is a reason that our bishops suffered torture, imprisonment, and humiliation,
and it wasn't about a particular "branding" of Christianity. It was for their refusal to abandon the Church of Jesus Christ. It is dishonest and unfair for any of us to try to rewrite that history to suit our ecumenical needs.

Dear Lemko,

Well, yes and no.

Let's remember that there always were well-intentioned Russophile priests among our Greek Catholic peoples who actually promoted closer ties to Moscow or else a more "Russified" identity ecclesially and culturally, the one implying the other.

To become "Orthodox" then was to become "pro-Russian" or "pro-Moscow" and that implied a betrayal of one's Particular Church and nationality.

I think this was the main issue before our priests who signed or did not sign on with Moscow, even under duress.

A number of our bishops certainly took the wider, universal view with respect to Rome as did priests and nuns.

But giving into Moscow then implied more than an ecclesial consideration, whether one liked it or not.

Again, religion, culture and nationality were incorrigibly intertwined, as you know.

Alex

Dear Alex,
Bishop Vasyl' Hopko's essay "I Am a Greek Catholic" would tend to make me discount the possibility that he refused to join Orthodoxy for cultural reasons.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Fr. Joe:


As you know, one of the things that the bishop suffered the most for, was his defense of his "Ruthenian" people, their language and customs, against the fierce attempts at Slovakization. This is the primary reason that he was barred from the administration of the Prjashev Eparchy. His predecessor, Bishop Gojdich was also attacked for the same reason. Ruthenian would have been the word of choice in the bishop's time and place. The identity which he defended, in his day and situation, can well be considered to be part and parcel of our one common cultural and religious heritage.


Dear Fr. Joe,

Father, bless.

It is my impression, based on books that I have read on Bishop Hopko and the Prjshev Eparchy, that the current eparch of the Prjashev Eparchy, Bishop Jan Hirka, was a leading proponent in the slovakization of the eparchy, and that he also played a role in having Bishop Hopko barred from administering the eparchy.

Could you provide any information whether this is accurate?