Easter Week Arson
of the Chelybinsk Siberia
Roman Catholic Church
- eMail Epilogue I -
New Church Steeple
Sent from Chelybinsk, Siberia: Tuesday, 16 Apr 1996 21:25:19 GMT+0400
Received by Father Blaine Burkey of Hays, Kansas: Tuesday, 16 Apr 96 11:22:50 CDT
First posted by FEEFHS: Wednesday 17 April 1996 at 0715 hours PDT (GMT
-0700)
To: tmpbb@fhsuvm.fhsu.edu (Father Blaine Burkey)
From: Congregation of St Agnes
Chelybinsk, Siberia, (Asian Russia)
eMail address: [csa@mis.chel.su]
Subject: New church steeple
Tuesday night, April 16, 1996
Dear Fr. Blaine and Dear Ones,
Today, two weeks to the day after the burning of our little church, and beyond all
expectations, the large steeple
of our new church was raised at ten o'clock this morning. One of the engineers eliminated the
long expensive
process that they had expected to need to correct the friction and movement of brick under
the roof up to 3
centimeters in the expansions of heat annd cold here. He designed a device that could be,
saving much
correction-building time and about $15,000.00. It was a surprise and double cause for
rejoining--and it was done
one day before Mr. Weisinger comes from Germany tomorrow!
As is the custom in Germany when a building is under roof, the parish gave a fellowship
meal this afternoon in
the tower area of the new church building, just under the newly erected steel frame. In the
12-meter octagon
room, still without the glass in the windows, a long wooden table covered with white paper
had been loaded with
sandwiches and 24-inch pizzas, bottles of beer and vodka. At 4:00p.m. the five chief
engineers and 50 builders,
including a brigade of 6 women, gathered around and ate, and made toasts, expressed deep
gratitude and surprise
for our appreciation of them as workers and of the good work they do, and visibly grew in
fellowship with us:
the four priests, Maria the parish bookkeeper, and I who was able to represent the Sisters of
St. Agnes.
One man said that this church was being built by Russians, Tatars, Azerbaijani, Kazaks,
Germans (the priests),
and as Fr. Reinard adds, Americans. In Russia young people, at age sixteen, claim their
ethnic
identity when they
get their passport, which for them is what the social card is for Americans.
Fr. Wilhelm, who had thanked them with deep sentiment, said that when this church is
finished, all are invited to
pray here also: Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Muslims, and those not yet believers (all
represented here).
In the light of "when two or three are gathered in My Name, there am I in their midst", this
WAS an Emmaus
experience, from which not only the building is being built, but also the Church in our Risen
Lord's marvelous
design. I told them that this Church will be a lighthouse, a beacon of faith, not only for all of
Chelyabinsk, but
for the entire Ural area of Siberia.
When I walked home, it began to drizzle and then rain large drops interlaced with
snowflakes, cleaning our
poluted air and heralding the new life and growth of spring.
Our God is a God of surprises!
.................................Alleluia! Alleluia!
Sr. Lucy Ann Wasinger, C.S.A.
0 - 0 - 0
GoTo the first four Easter Arson eMail letters from Chelybinsk,
Siberia by Sr. Lucy Ann
Return to the weekly FEEFHS FrontPage WebLetter
Return to the Full Text [search engine] Index of this Web
Site