OUR LADY OF MELIORA
(Meliora is a Latin adjective meaning "better" and is the motto of
the University of Rochester
In loving memory of Mary Kurowski Paprocki, Ron and Cathy Paprocki
commissioned this icon for the
OUR LADY OF MELIORA
(Meliora is a Latin adjective meaning "better" and is the motto of
the University of Rochester
In loving memory of Mary Kurowski Paprocki, Ron and Cathy Paprocki
commissioned this icon for the
Goals:
Through a special
Marian icon project, all who are inspired to participate will walk the
spiritual journey together with our Blessed Mother to experience how to be like
her who is in total union with the Holy Trinity by way of spiritual
sharing from our family tradition and every day life experiences.
Schedule: All events take place at the U of R Interfaith Chapel on
June 2011: Since March of 2011, we
(U of R Newman community, students, friends and I) spent several weekends
walking the Marian spiritual journey together.
We shared our Marian faith and love for God. We discussed what it takes to write an icon
both technically and spiritually. A
couple of us have actually had a hands-on experience working on the first few
steps of an icon writing process.
Like all of us with our God-given gift, I am grateful for the gift of writing
icons. Writing this icon is a special blessing for me because I have an
opportunity to walk the spiritual journey with Our Lady of Meliora (a possible
name for the icon of Our Lady) and her children at the
In
the pictures above and to the right, one can see a hard-at-work committee and Ben’s and James’ diligent
effort in applying the clay bold onto the gesso surface. The journey has begun. As the Newman
community, friends and loved ones promised to pray, I now stay secluded writing
the icon (24”x36”). The wooden panel is
heavy so it is not so easy to handle. It
took at least two hours to transfer the image onto the gesso board and get it
ready for gold leafing. I needed several
uninterrupted hours to carry out this strenuous step (one of the 22) which
required much patience, confidence and technical skill. After several hours of applying two layers of
clay with burnishing in between, I would spend several more hours to add two
layers of gold leaf and complete the step by drawing special designs on the
halos with etching and punching tools while the clay had not yet got hard. The whole process would take about twelve
hours more or less (4pm-4am). So it
passed mid-night. I was quite tired. I had to drink many cups of tea not to stay
awake (though it helped) but to moisturize my breath so that when I breathed
onto the clay, its surface would become sticky enough for the gold to adhere to
it. This was when a miracle happened:
A couple of months ago, asking for prayer to help me walk this challenging
journey of faith both physically and spiritually, I mentioned about offering up
all that I may endure for all, especially those whose prayers were sent our way
on their behalf. As the night went on, I
got weaker and literally called out to the Lord and the Blessed Mother for
help. Unconsciously and suddenly, I
began hearing the names of those who have been suffering. This phenomenal revelation immediately awoke
my soul when I realized what was happening.
The Lord reassured me that my offering up for others was at work. I was so grateful. This special grace helped carry me through
the night as long as I stayed faithful with my promise not to put off the
heavy part of the cross on the shoulder of the Savior and Lord who bears the
burden and sins of the world. Both my
spirit and body were strengthened in a miraculous way. Praise the Lord! I did not have time to think of my weak self
anymore, but to unite my cross with others’ in peace. I continued on.
Thank you O dear Beloved! With only
about two hours of sleep, I was rather exhausted the next day. My body was throbbing, especially the right
hand that burnished the clay with many hundreds of strokes to form a perfectly
smooth surface for the gold application.
This whole process signifies how God formed man from clay and gave life
to him through his own breath-the breath of life symbolizes the soul of the
body - The Creation of Man.
The next few days, I began the first few steps of writing an icon. It is
rewarding to see how beautifully this icon has begun to take shape. Thank you
Lord!
September 28, 2011 What a spiritual journey,
O Lord!!!
It is quite interesting to notice that as we get older and experience life in a
fuller scale, we see the sinful world more explicitly - my weaknesses and the
weaknesses of others. It is
discouraging, but at the same time we learn how to let go and depend on You alone, Lord! I pray for all the prayer intentions sent
my way.
Today, I got a rather worldly comment from a young priest who reminded me that
like anyone else, he is a weak and fragile human being who needs the mercy of
God so that he does not slip into laxity by temptations and vanities of the
world. Please pray extra for our priests
who are overworked; Some of them; therefore, instead of living a deep spiritual
life to help care for souls, stay on the surface and get too involved in
worldly matters that distract them from being like Christ, the Good Shepherd to
the flock. And a few days ago, I got a
supportive and brotherly message also from a priest. However, he is retired and more humble. I am
sure he has gone through life with his heavy cross to realize how he must
depend on God's love and mercy alone. Of
course only God can judge. The more He loves, the more He gives and the more He
expects of us. Dear Blessed Mother of Meliora, please, intercede
for the spiritual well being of your priests who are supposed to be spiritual
role models and guides for the Church.
With all the generous prayers to God on my behalf, the icon will soon be
completed. I pray that the Lord will use
it to help bring souls closer to him, and that will be the sole purpose for
those who encounter this sacred image given them.
There is a private unveiling for a small group of people, including the Bishop
on October 14, 2011. Like in my dear young saints' stories, it takes Our Lady
to bring me face to face with a bishop. I am open to whatever She would like me
to tell him, of course, about the spiritual well being of the Church. Please
continue to pray for us all, sinners - who see our shadow and who do not. Thank you.
Dear Blessed Mother, pray for us! Amen. Thank you.
October 1, 2011 Happy feast of our dear St. Therese of Lisieux
I
went to confession just recently and felt the urge to go again today. Tears of contrition streamed from my eyes as I
listened to Fr. Stephen Muller’s homily about St Therese’s humility and love
for God. “Like the deer that that yearns
for running stream, so my soul is yearning for You my
God.” (Psalm 42) I was utterly grateful.
Inspired by the Spirit, I wrote to Father: “Thank you for the
homily today! I needed to hear the
important message you conveyed, not only with your inspired words but your
humble spirit as well! When we try so
hard to love God and sometimes fall short because of our weaknesses, God does
not penalize us but loves us even more for he knows the deep intention of our
heart. I have been going through some
tough time and your homily helped shatter my pride so that God's loving grace
could flow freely to heal and purify the wounded heart for something yet greater
is to come.”
October 4, 2011 Happy feast of my dear St. Francis!!! I know you are praying
for your little Claire dear beloved
“Yes, the icon is very beautiful! But our
Blessed Mother requires that icon-painters be persons of deep prayer, not just
technicians which you seem to be on the way of becoming! … YOU ARE LETTING HER
DOWN and frustrating your spiritual father seriously! … I pray you will have
the grace to give yourself to the interior life more generously and faithfully
for your own good and the efficacy of your work and your mission which is first
of all to bring God's loving presence to others…”
Yes,
I deserved very much to be reproved for I let the demands and temptations of
the world get a hold of me. I recall one day while painting the Blessed
Mother’s face, I was so preoccupied with the toils of the world that I could
not concentrate. I was very discouraged
and prayed: “O
dear Lord, please help me with this icon.
I know it is not my technical skill and effort that will make this icon
a holy work that will touch others. It
is your gift of which I am not worthy.
Let it be for those who will encounter this holy image of You and Your most Blessed Mother that this created beauty
shine forth to touch their inner soul where you abide in wait for the
transformation of their heart to be like your Sacred Heart and Her Immaculate
Heart. On behalf of my brothers and sisters, please I beg you.” I left the studio that afternoon sadly, but was
at peace with total trust in God’s loving mercy. “I am sorry Lord for I let you down so oftenL” The next
day, my soul and I got up and started over again with an attitude Fr. Justin
Sheehan once described in his homily:
“Christians in this life are something like runners
in the stadium, according to
Abba
John Eudes has been praying also to Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman and
borrowed his words in hope to help me convert:
"But if a man is in earnest in wishing to get
at the depths of his own heart, to expel the evil, to purify the good, and to
gain power over himself, so as to do as well as to know the Truth, what is the
difficulty? - a matter of time indeed, but not of
uncertainty. . . . Well were it if men could be persuaded to be in earnest; but
few are thus minded. The many go on with a double aim, trying to serve both God
and mammon. . . . one man loves to be at ease, another to be busy, another to
enjoy domestic comfort: but they agree in converting the truth of God, which
they know to be Truth, into a mere instrument of secular aims; not
discarding the Truth, but degrading it." (Parochial and Plain Sermons, "Knowledge of God's Will
without Obedience".
Please
O dear Blessed Mother, pray to God for us, the poor banished children of Eve,
that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.
All highest glorious God,
cast your light into the darkness of my heart.
Give me right faith firm hope,
perfect charity, and profound humility,
with wisdom and perception, O Lord,
so that I may do what is truly your holy will.
Amen.
I
pray with you my beloved brother Francis and my sister Claire of Assisi.
October 7, 2011 According to the weather
forecast, it was going to rain all week.
My little studio room gets very dark when there is no sunshine. I had to move the icon back home and convince
my Godfather to let me use the front room (which was recently renovated and has
plenty of light) to paint for the weekend.
The room faces the East so got plenty of sun in the morning, and because
of the long and wide windows, I still got enough light in the late
afternoon. Yes, during those days, I
worked very hard. In addition to
attending daily Mass, working a part-time job, taking care of New Helfta
business and doing little acts of charity, I painted early in the morning and
late at night. Here is a picture of me
taken by my Godfather from outside the room window. The picture was taken on a Sunday. I went non stop all week long. That day I was exhausted. I just got back from helping out at the Abbey
bread store. I had about three hours to
paint before I went back to church for Benediction. Here, in the picture, I was painting and then
taking a break laying in the hammock. During that time, as Rev. Father John Eudes
described it: “our Blessed Mother was watching over you from her ICON
overlooking your unconscious self. You
look very peaceful…” Well, I fell asleep… holding a brush on my
right hand. The Lord then woke me up
just in time for Benediction that day.
As
I continued to struggle with pride and other vices, the faces of the Baby Lord
and the Blessed Mother slowly emerged gracefully and beautifully as if the rays
of the bright sun had pierced through the darkened storm cloud from above. I could only react by shedding tears of joy
and at the same time I was flooded with profound humility.
Today,
on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, I finished the icon. To a priest who
praised God for this spiritual journey and the “stunning beauty” the icon
shines forth I wrote: “This is a purification process (Br. Anthony Weber reminded me) within an intense and powerful
spiritual journey for me. I have been struggling along with my short-comings
during the last eight months while going through the journey working with
the U of R staff and students as well as painting the icon on my
own. I myself am surprised to see how the Lord has allowed a sinner
to deliver such a holy gift - an image of the Beloved Son and His Blessed
Mother. I feel very humble! ... The Lord is merciful and love. He surely constantly tests our faith, love and
fidelity to Him!”
Spencer, one
of my carpenters who was hired to build the stand for
the icon has scheduled to meet me at the Genesee Abbey to assemble the icon and the stand to get it
ready for the private unveiling. Abba
John Eudes happened to give a talk in Merton Hall where we were to meet so he was the
first to see the finished icon! It surely
was providence because he is the one who has been helping to keep my soul
“alive” and teaching me how to fight this tough spiritual warfare. He was very pleased with the icon, and
so were Abba John, the fathers and the brothers. I thank them for the
spiritual nourishment, support and prayer which helped me during my journey with Our Lady of Meliora.
The icon stayed in the monastery area for a day. Here you see it with other two
panels built by Spencer for the next two icons: of Our Lady of Intercessor and
St John the Forerunner.
October 13, 2011 The journey is not yet
over. I recall how tough it was
physically for me to finish the last details of the icon: the gold decoration,
the words and the lines on the halos. I thought I could get them all done in
about three hours, but it took at least seven!
It is difficult to judge from sight alone just how much work is
necessary for such a project; experience alone provides an accurate
judgment. I continue to fight with the
demands of the world in which I live. I
can plan my day but God is the One who controls it. I must have priorities and act
accordingly. I must slow down and walk
with my Lord. I ran to the four P.M.
Mass today out of breath. My soul was
screaming for help because I am getting very tired from going non-stop even
though most of the things I do are works of charity. The Lord told us that the
poor we will always have but we will not always have him. My soul and I decided
to do what we usually do when life was not as hectic. We went to collect black
walnuts after
October 15, 2011 The unveiling went well
last night. We sure thank Dr. William and Leslie Hulbert for their beautiful home and hospitality, for all
the hard work Mrs Hulbert, her dear daughter and those who helped make the evening a grace-filled one.
I was happy to meet the donors Cathy and Ron Paprocki. They are beautiful people! They like the
icon very much, and I am sure their mother, Mary Kurowski Paprocki does also. I told them that the
icon came out beautiful because they are, especially in the eyes of God. That usually is the case for me and my
patrons. It was also a privilege for me to have a face to face conversation with Bishop Clark. I was invited to some special events when he
was present also but we never really met.
The last time I recall shaking his hand and making a promise to pray for
the Bishop was a few weeks before my baptism in April 1998. Anyhow, Most Reverend Father seemed to
like the icon very much and asked me to give a short speech. I am grateful for the opportunity to
emphasize what our special gathering was about: thanking and praising God for another
beautiful and sacred gift to the Church.
Many thanks to Spencer for making a special trip just to set up the stand.
I thank God for my friend Ena, for her
friendship and fidelity. She has been
supporting and walking the journey with me from the start. I am grateful that she was able to accompany
me to the unveiling event. Besides Ena,
I also would like to thank Karen Petote who was very
active and helpful during our weekly meetings back in March and April of
2011. Together with Ena and Karen is Ben
Gigliotti to whom I own my gratitude. Ben was
assigned by Fr. Cool to represent U of R Newman Community. Ben tried very hard to encourage students and
staff as well as the Newman alumni to participate. No matter how many showed up, Ben was always
there at each meeting and prepared wonderful meals for us. He is a good cook in addition to a doctor to
be (I pray). Traveling with the Blessed
Mother is not always nice and easy. The
visionaries have shown us that. The Lord
sure tested our faith and our trust in Him.
Our success in this world does not count or contribute to our growth in
holiness and love, but humility and faith do.
Many times, Ena, Karen and Ben helped remind me of this truth by their
fidelity and perseverance in walking the journey.
They were like the three visionaries in
Last
but not least I thank Fr. Brian Cool whom God entrusts to see this grace through to the end.
He has done a wonderful
job to make sure the icon come to completion.
His mission as chaplin is a heavy responsibility indeed.
May the birth of the icon contribute to the success if this heavy task. Please keep him in prayer so that he will
receive many special graces to bring the U of R Newman community closer to God
with the assist of Our Lady and her icon by way of deep spiritual
transformation and conversion to the “better things”, the things of the
spiritual world where God is above all.
Amen.
Mater Maria ducit nos ad Meliora is the official name for the icon which means MOTHER MARY LEADS
O Gentle
Mother Mary, full of tenderness,
to you I offer humble prayer:
Please
guide me as I seek to make our world and
myself ever better through Jesus your Son.
Inspire me that compassion may bloom in my heart
like dandelions in the springtime; and
may that compassion flow as freely as our fair
Guide
me on to the Kindly Light and
the mission of my life committed to no other.
O Blessed Mother, full of love, present me
to your beloved Son, Christ my Lord.
Pray
for me, O Most Loving Mother of God,
that I may be worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.
Now
that the miracle of her image happened, I pray that what I have
been inspired to convey to our students will have a better effect on
their spirit. May God's will be done in
all things we do for the love and salvation of all mankind! Amen.
I
thank God for all the graces he bestowed on me during this Marian spiritual
journey. Desperately, I now need to get
away to spend some quality time with Him in the desert. Please pray for a grace-filled retreat at
Holy Annunciation Convent in Sugarloaf, NY. You may check out their way of life through the beautiful websites:
http://www.byzantinediscalcedcarmelites.com/ . This community and I are traveling on
parallel paths… We pray with our action as well for the unity of the
Churches. God gives his one Universal Church two unique and special
gifts. What a pity for its division into Eastern and Western Churches. We have forgotten the Giver of all gifts and his plan for us.
Instead, we have focused only on the gifts themselves. St. Augustine reminded us about this particular temptation in his Confessions.
A husband gave his wife a diamond. Instead of loving him more and trying to please him for his gift to her, she only paid attention
to the diamond and ignor the one who gave it to her.
“It is recorded in the Life of Pope John XXIII that when he was Apostolic Nuncio
in Istanbul an old Armenian priest questioned him: "Excellency, what is the great sin against the Holy Spirit?"
To which query the Archbishop replied, "Your Reverence tell me". "The division in the Church" was the old priest's
answer." --- Taken from the sisters' webpage About Us.
Please join us and pray for the unity of the two Churches. While one represents
the masculine character with gifts of administration, law and order, the other carries the feminine nature with gifts
of contemplation and beauty. Dear Theotokos (Greek: God-Bearer), Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Amen.
October 22, 2011 That was a beautiful and
holy week I spent at the convent. Praise
the Lord for everything! Thank you for
your prayer. I will share more later. In God’s
love, Minh
© All Rights Reserved
BACK TO NEWS/JOURNAL