Good Friday greetings
from Father Blaine Burkey
Writen by Father Burkey of Hays Kansas on Good Friday at 0200 hrs CST
(GMT-0600)
First posted by FEEFHS on Good Friday, 5 April 1996 at 1000 hours PST (GMT -0800)
Good Friday greetings from Father Blaine Burkey, O.F.M.Cap (editor of "a letter from SIBERIA")
This long letter is being sent to all those on e-mail who have made known to me their interest
in the work of the
Church in Siberia. It is one more expression of the vibrancy of the Church that has risen
there in recent
years.
THE PASCHAL MYSTERIES IN CHELYABINSK,
SIBERIA
Chelyabinsk, Russia
Wednesday of Holy Week
April 2, 1996
Dear Ones All!
Before we--Sisters Mary Ann, Mary Elise, and Lucy Ann--can join you to sing the Easter
"Alleluja," we ask you to join us as we walk with Jesus the bitter Way of the Cross,
beginning on this Spy Wednesday, when we heard that last night FIRE was set to
our little church, probably leaving it irreparably damaged--the sacristy totally damaged.
Not a hate group, but an inside Judas job! Two young men, one mentally sick, the oldest son
of Valodya who is
also mentally ill, and Aloysha, who has been coming to church sometimes and occasionally
even played the
guitar at Mass, broke into the church last night about midnight (probably through the sacristy
roof), stole two
artistically crafted gold and bronze tabernacle-cupboards and chalices, and, as robbers here do,
set fire in the
sacristy to destroy evidence.
The guards at a nearby parking lot saw the fire and called the police, who caught the two
men with the loot.
Everything in the sacristy is burned, all cupboards, all vestments, Bibles, children's Bibles,
RCIA materials.
Everything is black and charred, and the roof is falling in. Colored bits of vestments,
children's Bibles, and
cinctures punctuate the ashes and rubble.
From the front, the outside of the church looks normal. The inside front door and entrance
are charred black,
with the picture of the Pope in white looking from a burned picture frame. All the church
windows are broken,
all the white paint of the pictures blistered black. The tabernacle gold door melted, but the
Blessed Sacrament
was safe! The little angels painted above the crucifix and the Sacred Heart and the Heart of
Mary pictures are
BLACKED OUT! The bronze Christ on the main crucifix is black. The upper half of the
body is probably
melted, but the lower half is still covered by the purple cloth, now charred, which had been
put up on Passion
Sunday to cover the crucifix.
Everything is so eerie and heart-breaking. It is truly a present-day living experience of the
Passion of Jesus on
these days of our celebrating it liturgically. To see the pain on our priests' faces stabs the
heart.
This morning we had Mass at the priests' house. The only Mass materials were what were in
the missionary
suitcase that is taken to Shishminka and Barshuche--no alb, just stoles, a chalice, and the
missals and altar
breads.
It is a BLESSING that Sister Mary Ann had brought from Kansas a beautiful set of
vestments. Since each of the
priests already had very nice vestments--gold, blue, and all the liturgical colors--we kept the
suitcase here in our
garage until the new church would be built. Now these vestments are priceless, and from
America! from Kansas!
The bond binding us--like Veronica's veil--to comfort this sorrowing community!
The beautiful Last Supper picture in front of the church seems to be intact! An unbelievable
image when one
enters the church!
This afternoon at 3, all who can will come to the church site and see what can be done.
Maybe the painting
when washed can be salvaged.
All the electric light fixtures are melted, and the glass chandeliers broken, strewn all over the
floor.
I had bought a large Mother of God of Magadan icon at Denver, which we gave to the parish
from the Sisters of
St. Agnes. Fr. Wilhelm had taken it to his home, so it is new and intact. This picture is now
double for me a
symbol of the Church in Russia and the community here in Chelyabinsk.
We will probably have our services at the Cooz Hall, next to our new church. Possibly now
that spring is here, a
small room can be enclosed and windows put in, so that we may have some Masses
prematurely in our new
church!
Last weekend we had an overnight retreat with 30 adult catechumens for baptism and full
membership in the
Church and children of some of the parents. It was at Lake Kaldee, about an hour's drive
from here, with holy
time, community building, and final preparation for these young men and women and
families. Ten are
Russians. Some of the others, of German-Russian roots will be going to Germany. We are
experiencing great joy
and deep sorrow; dark night and brilliant light of the New Day, dying and wonderful
Resurrection of the Living
Christ in His Church of this land! I will be privileged to be "Baptism Mother" this Holy
Saturday, sponsoring
Viktor and his six-year-old Katy, our neighbors with whom I have walked on the RCIA
journey for two years!
JOY!
Just a thought of gratitude for something we could not have imagined. Last spring when we
were in the U.S.
someone broke in and robbed our house. The could have set it afire. It seems they had
planned to come back,
but Edik and Viktor had discovered it and kept watch.
After our Triduum, then we will sing with you and the whole Church the glorious Alleluja of
the Risen Christ,
Conqueror of evil and death and Lord of Life! In the greeting of Russians on Easter: "Christ
is Risen! Truly
Risen!
Sr. Lucy Ann Wasinger, C.S.A.
Chelyabinsk, Russia
Holy Thursday
April 4, 1996, noon
Dear Ones All:
Yesterday afternoon at 3, I went to the church site to clean up with our four priests, Edik and
five other men,
five old Grandmas (all that are left of the 1981 pioneers of this parish), four young women,
and a few teenage
boys.
It was horrible to pull apart the black, watersoaked, smoke-reeking, color-blackened "remains"
of vestments,
sacramental vessels, liturgical books, broken glass, twisted light fixtures, etc., throwing it out
the sacristy
windows into wheelbarrows for the men to wheel across the lot to where there is a
burned-out, gutted trailer
from last year. Some of this was also watered with tears, and much of the energy with which
it was all cleared
out of the building by 8 p.m, was fired by deep, unspoken anger burning in eyes.
The only comfort in this catastrophe is that there were no bits of human remains in the
debris.
The men carried out the pews. The women washed them, and they are now a strange
bronze-toned multi-toned
color.
The little that could be saved was stacked in the hall-room next to the church, and that room
was not even a
third filled. Our organ, which Fr. Wilhelm had put in front of the church for choir practice,
was completely
burned. All the red songbooks in back of the church also.
The boxes of brightly colored, burned, singed, watersoaked, smoke-reeking children's Bibles
and catechetical
books will be burned in a "bonfire" once they are dried out.
Fr. Wilhelm talked with two men who estimated everything and told us last night at Edik's
late birthday dinner
that the church will be repaired for about 30 million rubles ($7,000) and may take three
months or maybe only a
few weeks, if they can get enough money. No money can be borrowed here. Everything
needs to be paid in
cash.
The Holy Week liturgies and all Sunday Masses will be at the cultural center hall, Vostok,
about six bus stops
from the Cooz and our new church. Weekday Masses will be at the priests' house. This
afternoon at 3, Fr.
Wilhelm will be going there. Fr. Peter will come to get the vestments which Sr. Mary Ann
Schippers has ironed
from their "trip" from America, and I'll go along, a few hours ahead of time for the 6 pm
liturgy so I won't have
to walk to the Cooz (over a mile from our house) and then take the bus. Also I'll be able to
help some.
I guess it was a blessing we had all those symbolic experiences of water, fire and bread at
Lake Kaldee with our
catechumens last week. Even the water we brought in a big cream can from the Lake for the
baptisms and
Easter water was "burned up!"
And so, as we set up today at the Vostok, the horrible remains have been carried to the dump
and the church site
cleaned up, and we can begin to celebrate our Allelujas! So to all, a Glorious Happy Easter!
Much here with us
has truly died! We are working together at New Life. Fr. Wilhelm says, "All is Gift."
With special greeting from each of us.
Sr. Lucy Ann Wasinger, C.S.A.
+++++++++++++++
Chelyabinsk, Russia
Good Friday
April 5, 1996, noon
We are truly reliving the Passion of Jesus here as a faith community. The debris has all been
carted to a dump;
the shell stands. All the walls floors, woodwork has to be torn out and the building be rebuilt
from the stone
frame on. It's a small house: one room and very small sacristy.
We are having our liturgies at a culture building, a nice room in the Palace East "Vostok." In
the eternal newness
of the living liturgy, we are able to feel our real roots. After liturgically experiencing the
Passion today, we will
begin to sing with faith the Alleluias as over 30 catechumens will be baptized or received into
the Church (if
baptized as infants by the Grandmas).
And so, with new and deep meaning,
Happy Easter,
Sr. Lucy Ann Wasinger, C.S.A.
You may wish to send a word of support and solidarity to the Sisters and the
Chelyabinsk community.
You can reach them at csa@mis.chel.su
Have a joyous and faithfilled Easter.
Father Blaine Burkey,
editor, "a letter from SIBERIA
Webmaster's note: The following (4th) eMail arrived at Davis California from Father
Burkey and was immediately placed on the DCN web server at 1204 PDT, Monday 8
April...
The Fouth Letter from Chelybinsk
The following letter from Sr. Lucy Ann Wasinger of the Sisters of St. Agnes, sent from
Chelyabinsk on the
eastern slopes of Russia's Ural Mountains, concludes the wonderful Holy Week-Easter story
which she
began in three early letters.
Easter Sunday Evening
April 7, 1996
Dear Ones All
With hearts full of deep gratitude and Easter joy, we join you all in the US in your Easter
morning Alleluias.
Christ has Risen! Truly Risen! We feell it in a vibrancy, a conviction, a Presence
individually, and communally
that we could not have known without the participatory Passion of this truly HOLY WEEK.
Through the
wonder of Electronic Mail and marvelous networking, we feel the warm embrace of you each
in the Living Body
we experience, Church!
On Holy Thursday evening we assembled for the first time as the Immaculate Conception
parish community for
liturgy in the Eastern ("Vostok") Palace Cultural Center which will be our place of Sunday
worship until our
litttle church (about 35x40 feet, including the corridor-like sacristy) can be rebuilt from the
bare stone walls
on,including a new roof. The room in the Vostok is a beautiful large rectangular hall three
times as large as our
church, a truly fitting place of worship: large windows along the two long sides, transparent
white full-length
curtains, a skylight window in the center of the ceiling from which are looped yard-wide silk
pastel violet, gold,
and blue streamers to the corners and windows, obviously a room used for special occasions
in the "Palace". The
table-altar was on one side with the curtained windows as backdrop. The upholstered chairs
were arranged
in
a semicircle around the altar, thirty in a row. Next to the altar was the only relic salvaged
from our burnt-out
church, the LAST SUPPER PICTURE!
Seeing that picture stabbed the heart and bonded the community in a common grief. Our
celebrant wore the
white vestment we had brought from Kansas; the other three wore their good black suits and
a stole,--simple,
human, majestic! At the homily, Fr. Wilhelm pointed at the Last Supper picture and told how
that for us is a
sign or symbol of Jesus' gift to us on that last night: 1. the Eucharist, 2. the Priesthood, 3.
Footwashing Service!
The community listened as the disciples must have done in John's farewell address and
priestly prayer of
Jesus!
On Good Friday we assembled again for the Liturgy at 6:00 p.m. with more people than our
small church
would have held, including our catechumens. The priests now had white albs MADE SINCE
THE FIRE by one
of our founding Grandmas! God's Word spoke to us and was experienced anew, as never
before. The crucifix,
uncovered, was a small one from the wall of the priests' home. All present,including
non-Catholics present the
first time at our worship, went up in procession and genuflected in adoration before the
Crucifix now
standing
on the altar.
Holy Saturday evening began at 8:00 p.m. with the assembly gathered in the Vostok yard
for the blessing of
the new fire, the Paschal Candle, and the candle-light, singing procession up the open circular
stairs to our
assembly room. As the light of dawn, a new joy lit up the hearts and faces with the Gloria
and then blazed with
the Baptism of our thirty catechumens, their First Communion and that of perhaps fifteen
others who had
been
baptized, some as Orthodox Catholics, who made their profession of faith and received
membership and
Communion in this community.
We have a small portable organ which had been at the organist's home, but it was in the
singing that the new
Life and Resurrection was experienced. The communion song was our Russian hymn to the
music of "Battle
Hymn of the Republic":five Alleluia's and literally: Christ is risen from death! In Christ what
was dead, again
becomes alive..five alleluia's, etc. In the assembly were seven of the founding Grandmothers,
and all the others
the new generation--many ethnic Russians, and none practicing Catholics more than three
years!
After Mass when we finally went home, the small German-Russian Lutheran community
came up the steps to
the hall to celebrate their Easter Liturgy at 2:00 p.m. For almost a year they had been
worshipping on
Sundays at 1:00 p.m. in our little church. The two pastor's collaboration did much to heal the
smoldering
antagonisms and suspicions of the past centuries and bond the congregations in peace and
love.
In the fire, something has died, indeed, and new life is truly evident in this new community.
The little church
would never have been big enough for this Holy Saturday night's assembly!
On this Sunday morning Srs. Mary Elise, Sr. Mary Ann, and Fr. Reinhard went to celebrate
the Easter Sunday
liturgy at the tiny, German-speaking, missiosion communities at Kopeysk and Korkino. At
each place, they
experienced the Easter earthquake shock in the news of their burned-out mother church! At
Kopeysk, when
father announced it, a woman got up, gave Father a 50,000 ruble bill (about $12.00, a lot of
cash here) and
everyone got up and handed him bills - and that was not the Sunday collection!
At Korkino, five grade school children were baptized at Mass. The Sisters had instructed
these children on three
Sundays before Easter. They go to Korkino every Sunday after Mass to pray with the few
Catholic believers who
have kept the faith in the underground and who are among those who have not yet migrated
to Germany. Every
other Sunday,the Sisters go to both these missions with one of the priests for the Sunday
liturgy.
On this Easter Sunday morning there was the customary German Mass at 9:30 with the
pioneer Grandmas and
some others who usually have come to the German Mass at the church. After Mass, that
community discussed
the reality and the community decided to have only one Mass, the Russian Mass, on Sundays
at 10:00. They all
speak the Russian very well and most are awaiting their papers to go to Germany. It was a
beautiful, peaceful,
community decision. The 11:00 Mass was a climaxing of the Easter Vigil Resurrection
celebration,
with all the neophytes and families present. There was the usual bless-ing of food in Eastern
baskets, and gifting
of each other and us with it!
In his powerful homily, Fr. Lucien told how we can die with Christ and rise with Christ now,
two thousand
years later, because with God there are no years nor centuries, but there is an eternal
NOW...He also told us that
on Holy Saturday night when he and Fr. Reinhard got home, there was a FAX from
Germany. A friend had
written to Fr. Reinhard and told of his sorrow and support and said that he had deposited a
certain amount of
money to the back account for our Chelyabinsk parish for the repairing of the church. Fr.
Reinhard called up Fr.
Wilhelm--at mignight! - and asked what would be the estimated amount to repair the church.
When Fr. Wilhelm
gave the amount he thought, it was the exact amount that had been given!
The two young men, age seventeen, one a first offender, are held for trial. The parents came
and asked for
forgiveness. Fr. Wilhelm wrote a letter and asked for clemency and probation. Edik took it to
the chief of the
police-justice officer. He said that because they were caught with the loot, and because of the
seriousness of the
damage, they would be tried, but the letter and pleas would be taken into consideration in the
sentencing. The
parish has been praying for them; there is no bitterness. There family members have been
coming to church; the
sister of one made her first communion on this Easter Day.
Many of you, DEAR ONES, have asked what you could send to help this community. We
talked it over with
our priests. It seems it would not be wise to SEND THINGS. It would be better to have one
representative
person of a group or parish gather the money and send it to Fr. Blaine Burkey and the Volga
German Society of
Ellis and Rush Counties (P.O. Box 1314, Hays Kansas 67601), who have the German bank
account number and
already know how to transfer contributions for the new church. These should be identified as
"Contributions to
rebuild and furnish the burned-out church". Things can be sent from Germany through
Caritas; what is needed
to be bought could be purchased also for its future used in our new church.
The progress on our new church has been stalled with difficulty in putting up the heavy steel
roof. More heavy,
expensive work on the steel base on the roof has to be done, and may continue into the
middle of May. The
hope is that the new church will be barely done for consecration in 1997, and then the
finishing and furnishing
after that. With OUR Easter Day now past midnight and the whole Easter Season ahead of
us to celebrate the
New Resurrection Life in God's Eternal NOW, Alleluia! Alleluia!
Sr. Lucy Ann Wasinger. C.S.A.
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