News & Reflections

This year as we celebrate the Year of Consecrated Life, we are also going celebrate the vocation stories of the Sisters of our community.

Our first story in this series is from Sr. Mary Grace Skuban, OSBM: 

I first felt God’s call in ninth grade. I knew of the Sisters’ Academy for girls, but I also knew that it would be a burden on my family for me to leave.  I was sure I belonged there by the time I was 18, but not all of my family agreed. I was the only girl among three brothers, and my mother in particular did not favor her only daughter going away and “giving up” her life.  Somehow, each year when it would be time to seriously prepare to go to the convent, something came up in the family to hinder my going at that time.

In the meantime, I worked as a clerk in an office in Scranton, Pa. for a company that sold magazines.  I prayed patiently for the right time, attending adult religious education classes and eager to learn more about my faith.  My mother’s friends were there also and they secretly encouraged me in my desire for religious life.

However, when I wrote to the Mother Superior in Uniontown, I received no response – or so I thought.  The letter welcoming me to the community mysteriously “disappeared,” that is until I found a piece of the envelope that was not completely burned!  Then I understood.  I wrote again to the Sisters but this time I requested that my mail be sent to my work address.  The Sisters wrote me there, but when I explained the reason for using that address, they agreed with my Mom that I should stay with her.

On September 8, 1957, my home parish was celebrating its 50th anniversary and I was helping with the serving in the rectory. I was able to talk to Bishop Nicholas Elko and I asked him for the favor of speaking to Rev. Mother Olga on my behalf.  He did and on September 14 I received my letter to come. Though I had never traveled much, I left on the midnight bus from Scranton to Uniontown with three other women from the area also on their way to become Sisters of St. Basil.  Arriving at the Mount was my dream come true!  In a few months, when I formally received the habit, my parents with my brother and his fiancé came and affirmed me in my vocation. Thank God and His Holy Mother!

Before I left home I was again reminded of the help of the Mother of God in my journey.  The Sodality to which I belonged had a farewell dinner. They invited then-Father Michael Dudick, later Bishop Michael, pastor of our parish in Old Forge to speak.  He used the example of the Angel Gabriel coming to an unknown town of Nazareth and inviting Mary to become the mother of Jesus Christ.  He continued by saying, “Now Angel Gabriel has returned again to call another unknown Mary to “Come, Follow Me.” This message that evening was and still is the stimulus that has greatly been my “treasure in my heart” for the past 54 years!  I prayed often to the Mother of God to lead me to this place where I could fully live for her Son.  She has been my helper and guide along the various roads I traveled.

After my initial formation, I did domestic work in our convents at several school missions where our Sisters taught.  Then I served at SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary for three years. I happily worked in the kitchen and laundry and at the convent and enjoyed a wonderful community spirit with the Sisters, staff and seminarians.

Next, I was missioned as a catechist in Binghamton, N.Y. as a substitute teaching in the primary grades for a short time.  After serving as a nursing aide for the summer at our nursing home, Maria Manor in Ebensburg, Pa., I entered Sacred Heart Hospital School of Nursing and passed my State Board exam for my LPN license in January 1969.  I spent the next 20 years in nursing at both Maria Manor and Mt. Macrina Manor in Uniontown, where I also worked in medical records. Of all my ministries, this was my favorite. After that I had a sabbatical year and then was missioned between the House of Prayer and St. Basil’s Home.

In 1998, I became the Sacristan in the Monastery Chapel at the Mount.  This is my current ministry and I enjoy it very much.  It is a joy to take care of the Lord’s dwelling place throughout the year!

I thank the Holy Mother of God each day for being faithful to me and to my desire for a deeper life in her Son, Jesus.  She took my seven-year offering of patient waiting and perseverance and gave me a life so blessed and full!  Trust her yourself . . . come and see!

The Diocesan Heritage Center, which was established by Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt to collect, preserve and assemble the cultural and archival patrimony of the Diocese of Greensburg, opened to the public, Dec. 13 – Feb. 14, Saturdays from 10 a.m.-noon and 1-3 p.m.

The Marian exhibit includes an icon of the Madonna and child Jesus that was made by Fabergé for Russian Czar Nicholas II and now belongs to the Sisters of St. Basil the Great at Mount St. Macrina in Uniontown.

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Mt. Macrina Manor’s 21^th Annual Live Nativity will be held on the grounds of Mt. St. Macrina in North Union Township on Sunday, December 14 from 5-7 p.m.

The Nativity will be set up along the Friendship Circle, adjacent to the facility. Mary and Joseph, shepherds tending to their flock, the Three Kings, the Little Drummer Boy and angels will be portrayed. In addition, there will also be live animals, including a donkey, goat, sheep, calf and an alpaca. The Sisters of St. Basil the Great and as well as other groups will sing Christmas carols. Angels will be passing out candy canes to visitors. Five hundred luminaries will line the driveway that leads to the Nativity.

The event is free of charge and everyone is welcome. For further information, please call 724-430-1021.

Sister Susan Harvey, OSBM and Sister Barbara Jean Mihalchick, OSBM accompanied by Sister Agnes Knapik, OSB, traveled from the Mount to participate in the events related to the Beatification of Sister Miriam Teresa Demjanovich. Sister Theodosia Alishofski, OSBM and Sister Regina Adams, OSBM came from Wilkes-Barre for Saturday’s liturgy.

The main ceremony was held Saturday, October 4 in the Newark Cathedral Basilica where her portrait and relic were displayed.  Dozens of Byzantine Catholic priests and faithful joined in the Liturgy, including Barbara Soltis, who was Sister Susan’s first grade student in Bridgeport, Conn.

Sunday, we made our way to Convent Station, home of the Sisters of Charity of New Jersey. We prayed at the crypt where Sister Miriam Teresa’s remains are preserved behind a wall in a small room in the motherhouse chapel.  A very modest display of photos, memorabilia, and an intention book were there.

We enjoyed lunch with the Sisters of Charity. I congratulated them on the beautiful Beatification ceremony the day before. I told them it was on the standard of the ceremonies in the Vatican Basilica, including a magnificent choir; the participation of many Sisters in the ceremony, as well as the man who was healed as a child and the family of Sister Miriam Teresa; an excellent homily; and, comments by the General Superior who acknowledged the new Blessed’s Byzantine Ruthenian roots.

We and about 30 Sisters of Charity then went to St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church, Bayonne, N.J. where Sister Miriam Teresa was baptized and attended into her teen years.  Her photo has been hanging in the vestibule of the church for a long time. There we participated in a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with our Bishop Kurt Burnett and many priests. Thirty volunteer cantors led the singing from the balcony. The parish did a beautiful job organizing everything.  They had a holy card prepared as well as an icon for the tetrapod. The beautifully decorated church was filled with Eastern and Western Catholics some of whom travelled from as far away as Michigan.  An abundant dinner followed in the parish hall.

On our way back to the Mount, we stopped at the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton to thank her for the new Blessed Miriam Teresa.  We prayed at her tomb in the Basilica and visited the museum which features her life story and memorabilia. All of these experiences were truly inspiring!

Thanks to the Sisters of Mercy in North Plainfield, New Jersey who hosted us in their guest quarters and were most gracious.