www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Prayer Anniversary of Repose

Dear Friends:

Please remember in your prayers, the soul of my dearly departed mother, +Margaret (nee Yafchak), daughter of the late Joseph and Anna Hankel Yafchak, immigrant parents from the Carpathian Mountain region of Ukraine, whose eleventh anniversary of repose (1992) is this coming Monday, June 16.

She was an outstanding Christian woman, entirely dedicated to the help of others, faithfulness to the church, especially our Greek Catholic community and the unity of Christians and all people. Void of all prejudices, she was ecumenical in spirit long before it became the official position of the church. Her funeral reflected these virtues, with the presence of many clergy and religious of the Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches. There were also representatives of those of the Jewish and Islamic faiths. A person of great stamina and enthusiasm, I often pray that I might have one tenth of the energy and motivation that she was blessed with. In the words of my father, Margaret was a "four foot, nine and a half inch dynamo."

Feeling ill for perhaps a month's time, but always mindful of her obligations to church, family, work, charity and the good of others, she never felt that there was time to run to the doctor. Finally, not being able to continue her active work any longer, with the encouragement of my father, she sought medical attention.

When faced with the news a sudden and terminal illness, I recall her very profound words to me, "Son, now is the time when our faith must come into practice for us."

Thanks to Almighty God's mercy, while the diagnosis was unexpected and sudden and her suffering was intense, she was hospitalized for less than two weeks time, entering into rest in her 68th. year, just five days after an "exploratory surgery" which confirmed the late stages of abdominal cancer and two days short of her 48th. wedding anniversary.

May Christ grant that she enjoy blessed repose with the Saints and eternal memory. Zi svjatymi upokoi, Khryste, Vichnaja jij Pamjat'!

Pray also dear friends, for my sisters, cousins and family members, especially her widower, my father Edward, who at age 85 has dealt remarkably, even though painfully, with the great void created by the loss of the woman he spent 48 years of marriage with. We are all most proud of him.

They met while he was serving in the US Army at West Point as an instructor of cadets, during World War II, being brought to our small home village in 1943 during a brief leave, by my uncle, my mother's brother and his fellow service compatriot, for a "home cooked meal" prepared by my Baba of blessed memory.

Entering the town, as he often recalls, he saw my mother of roughly 17 years of age, proceeding down the main street where my grandparents operated a general store, eatery and gas station at "Yafchak's Corners", on roller skates, popular in that day, and he remarked, "I'm going to marry that little girl." And so it was. They were wed roughly one year later.

Thank you all for your prayers and remembrances,

Fr. Joe

Prayers will indeed be offered for the repose of your Mother - who is most surely in the company of the Saints praying, in her turn, for her family and her Priest son

May she rest in peace.

"I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the COMMUNION OF SAINTS, the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting."

All who love are united together in eternity. May we all be given the grace to remember this and receive the graces that come with our divinely ordained status.

Lord, have mercy.

May the Lord God grant to His servant, +Margaret, eternal rest in a place of light and peace. Eternal Memory!

I ask the servant of God, +Margaret, who is one with the cloud of witnesses, to remember Fr. Joe, his family and all of us and our intentions before the Lord.

May the Lord bless and strengthen you and your father, and may your + Mother rest in eternal peace.

Pokoj,
james

May God grant his departed handmaid +Margaret, blessed repose, and eternal memory!

May God, the consoler, comfort and bless Edward, and all the family.

May her Memory be Eternal, even as she was a blessing to many in her life.

With Prayers,

Michael

May your mother, Father Joe, rejoice in the loving embrace of the One Whom she sees now clearly. May you and your father find consolation in her joy and in your anticipation of seeing her clearly again.

May Margaret continue to be blessed in the fruit of her life, especially in the work of her priest-son. May she pray for us.