Sister Barbara Jean Milhalchick attended the 32nd annual Women’s Day at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
More than 40 local agencies and businesses took part in the Community Service and Informational Fair. Women’s Day participants gather information about services and volunteer opportunities from the participating organizations.
Mount St. Macrina was a wagon train stop during the 40th National Road Festival. The Mount has been a stop almost as long as the festival has been celebrated. View the photo album here.
All of the Sisters gathered for a Corporate Reflection Weekend at the monastery April 26-28. It was a joy to have everyone present,including Sisters from Phoenix, St. Petersburg, Erie, Wilkes-Barre, Pittsburgh and Las Vegas, the cities where the Sisters serve presently.
The program began Friday evening with an update session with Patti Benford, Administrator of our nursing home, Mount Macrina Manor.
Saturday began with Matins and Divine Liturgy served by Very Rev. John Petro who led the morning program on the topic of prayer.
The Sisters spent the rest of the weekend visioning for the future. The ideas they generated will be the focus of further discussions in August when they meet again before the Pilgrimage.
The spirit was peaceful and joyous as the Sisters met and also celebrated the commemoration of the Samaritan Woman in their communal prayer.
Over the weekend, the Our Lady of Victory Garden received her spring cleanup. The garden was carefully hand-weeded and pruned. Organic fertilizers were also applied to the roses and the redbud to aid in growth and flower production. Seven yards of shredded, undyed mulch was applied as a top dressing to provide moisture retention and organic material for the soil.
Watch the Sisters of St. Basil the Great discuss vocations on a recent episode of “How Is God Calling You?” The program originally aired on the Catholic Television Network of Youngstown, Ohio.
Visit our photo albums and see how beautiful Mount St. Macrina looks adorned with the vibrant colors of spring!
Sister Barbara Jean Milhalchick, OSBM spoke recently at St. Joseph Byzantine Catholic Church on the topic of “Breathing with Both Lungs: One Church, East and West” as part of the Adult Catholic Education Faith Formation Series, Cleveland Area. Sister was asked to address this topic because Roman Catholics tend to have a limited understanding of the over 20 million fellow Catholics who belong to a variety of non-Roman Catholic churches which are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. Sister Barbara Jean elaborated on the history, spirituality and forms of liturgical celebration of various Eastern churches but especially of the Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Church.
Pope John Paul II repeatedly challenged the whole Church to “breathe with both lungs” of both Western and Eastern Christianity. The evening included the DVD “A Brief Explanation of the Eastern Catholic Churches” produced by the Eparchy of Parma and a question and answer session. About 110 people attended from both Eastern and Western Catholic Churches.
Early Sunday morning, May 13, 2012, Sister Vera Stanchec traveled peacefully to her final destination, the fullness of life with her God. Ninety-six years ago, Sister
Vera was baptized Olga following her birth to Michael and Eva Stanchec in Mt.
Carmel, Pa.
Sister entered the Sisters of St. Basil in its early founding years, on July 10, 1932 in
Factoryville, Pa, from St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church in Hazleton, PA. For
eighty years, Sister Vera had followed her call to consecrated life as a Sister
of St. Basil the Great with a great deal of zeal and enthusiasm.
From 1936 through 1986, Sister Vera diligently ministered as a teacher and principal in both elementary and secondary levels in Trenton, NJ; Bridgeport, CT; Euclid, OH; Chicago, IL; and Erie, Uniontown, Homestead, Mont Clare, Freeland, Jessup, McKeesport and at Mount St. Macrina Academy, all located in Pennsylvania.
Sister Vera was particularly gifted in the areas of science and math. Sister received a Master of Arts degree from Fairfield University, and had the opportunity to
participate in a National Science Foundation in Biology special training
program for several years. Sister Vera extended herself to her students while
excelling in leadership skills. No task was ever too challenging for Sister;
she always commanded the same excellence of herself that she did of her staff,
and her students. To this day, many former students speak of her as being a
favorite teacher that they fondly remember, and to whom they owe a ‘debt of
gratitude’. Sister also served in the ministry of Provincial Administration as
councilor and secretary.
In 1986, Sister Vera ministered at Mt. Macrina Manor as receptionist along with other related works at the Manor. For the past eight years, Sister Vera was called to a more
contemplative period of her life, as she became less active, but not less
lively, as a resident of Mt. Macrina Manor. Sister Vera was loved by staff as a
pleasant, courteous, gentle, and prayerful woman. Sister never failed to
whisper a ‘thank you’ for every service rendered.
Sister Vera is survived by one sister, Ann Primiano, of East Rutherford, NJ, and several nieces and nephews.
She is preceded in death by her beloved brothers, John and Samuel, and two sisters, Mary, and Catherine.
Relatives and friends will be received at the MONASTERY CHAPEL on Tuesday, May 15 from 3:30 – 9:00 p.m.
The Parastas Service will be celebrated at 7:00 p.m. The Funeral Divine Liturgy will be celebrated by Reverend Andrew J. Deskevich, Chancellor of the Metropolitan Archeparchy of Pittsburgh on May 16, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. in the Monastery Chapel.
Interment will follow in the Dormition Section of Mount Macrina Cemetery. KEZMARSKY FUNERAL HOME, Uniontown, is in charge of arrangements.