On Saturday, October 21, 2000 the Special Jubilee 2000 Day for Women took place at St. Demetrius Parish Centre, Toronto. The celebration, with the blessing of Bishop Cornelius Pasichny OSBM, Eparch of Toronto, was held "in recognition of all women of the Toronto Eparchy".

St. Demetrius Women's Group organized and conducted this successful event, which about eighty women from Toronto and area attended.

The first presentation was made by Sr. Dominic Genevieve Slawuta, SSMI, Postulator for the cause of canonization of Venerable Josaphata Hordashevska.

Sister Dominic's presentation follows:

"There was a woman sent from God and her name was Josaphata."

Actually St. Demetrius parish is the first that put Josaphata's icon in their church. In Edmonton there is a stained glass window in the St. Josaphat's Cathedral and in Calgary a large painted mural in the Church of the Assumption.

Since my time is limited, I have decided to briefly underscore three characteristics in the life of Venerable Josaphata.

Firstly, she was a woman graced with the wisdom to read the signs of her times. Saints have a particular antenna extremely sensitive to the situation of their world and are able to find ways to transmit into their historical- social context the eternal values of the Gospel.

Secondly, she was a woman of determination and perseverance. She not only read the signs of the times, but possessed the strength and determination to do something positive about them.

Thirdly, she was a woman of deep prayer, without which the first two would have been meaningless.

I shall begin by a brief introduction to situate Josaphata in her historical-social background.

At the end of the 19^th century when Josaphata co-founded our Congregation, Western Ukraine was under the Austrian Empire. It was joined with part of Poland and called the Province of Halychyna. The Ukrainian peasants were poor, and eked out their meagre living by working on the fields of the rich Polish landlords. Everywhere there was ignorance of the fundamentals of Christianity - illiteracy, immorality, superstition and drunkenness. Josaphata even as a young girl growing up in Lviv was keenly aware of the plight of her people and she was strongly drawn to religious life. However, at that time there was no women's Congregation of active life in our Church. She did not want to enter a Polish Congregation, because she wanted to consecrate her life in the service of her own people.

Her spiritual director, Fr. Jeremiah Lomnitsky, proposed to her to become the founding member of the first Congregation of active life in our Church, which he and Fr. Kyrylo Seletsky were planning to found. Josaphata, after prayerful discernment became convinced that this was God's will for her, and at the age of 22 became the first Sister Servant of Mary Immaculate - dedicated to a life of active charity - as she herself wrote, that her congregation was to be the living light to the people of Rus'-Ukraine - serving the poor, the neglected and the spiritually wanting.

To Josaphata we can assign the Scripture quotation referring to John the Baptist:"There was a woman sent from God and her name was Josaphata."

Before Teresa of Calcutta was born, Sister Josaphata was already serving the poorest of the poor. Here is a typical incident: when the Sisters arrived in Krystynopil and Sr. Josaphata heard that a neglected beggar woman was dying in a nearby barn, she herself carried her to the convent, and because there were no extra beds, she put her in her own bed, washed and disinfected the dying woman, cared for her day and night and helped her to get spiritual assistance before her death. Josaphata loved God concretely in His needy ones.

Josaphata had no blueprint for the Congregation, she had to break the path and chart the course for the Sisters. Gifted with rare strength, sense of direction and perseverance, she demonstrated a new way of serving in our Church, a way unknown to the women of Ukraine at the end of the 19^th century. She saw the needs and with the means at her disposal tried to alleviate them.

From early spring to late fall every able-bodied person had to work on the landlords fields, and there was no one to care for the small children. So Josaphata founded daycare centres for the children.

There were many sick people in the villages with no doctor nor pharmacy. Josaphata purchased a book on medicinal herbs, made home made medicine and served them to the ailing poor. The majority of the people were illiterate, so the children were taught in the daycare centres, the youth in the evenings, and after church services the Sisters read parts of the Bible or lives of saints to the illiterate poor.

Josaphata sent Sisters to villages infected with a deadly epidemic of cholera and typhus, where they cared for the living and helped the dying. The village churches were often very neglected, Josaphata taught the people to take care of the temples of God. She sewed new liturgical vestments and repaired old ones.

Josaphata saw herself as a Servant of Christ and of His Church. She was not on the periphery, but lived life in the heart of humanity proclaiming the sanctity of God and the dignity of every person. She and her Sisters were a vital part of the Church by their active presence, incarnating Christ in the world where they lived.

Josaphata toiled unremittingly to bring light into the darkness into which the events of history had plunged her people. Sr. Josaphata was not only concerned about the poor in Halychyna; she had a missionary heart. Just ten years after the foundation of the Congregation, she sent Sisters into the wilds of Canada and into the jungles of Brazil to serve the Ukrainian immigrants, who because of dire poverty at home emigrated to those far-off lands. Today, the Sisters Servants, in the spirit of Josaphata opened two new homes - one in Kazakstan and the other in mining town of Donetsk near the Russian border. The Ukrainians from Halychyna were forcefully transported there 55 years ago by the Soviet Regime.

Josaphata met many obstacles in her fervent apostolate. To many priests of the time and to many Sisters it was unthinkable that a woman could govern a Congregation. Josaphata endured misunderstandings, calumny and rejection; she was forced to resign from the office of Superior General, twice she was denied permission to pronounce final vows.

God tested Josaphata as He had tested His friend Job, but God never ceased to hold her hand during her trials. Josaphata did not collapse emotionally in those difficult times, but with undaunted confidence in God bravely performed her assignments without wasting time bemoaning her personal trials; she was confident that God could bring good out of her tribulations.

At the end of her life, when she was dying of tuberculosis of the bone, her nurse writes that literally parts of the flesh would fall off when she dressed Josaphata's sores.

Josaphata knew how to give herself to redemptive suffering. Every human life experiences the mystery of suffering, the difference is where do we stand in the mystery of the cross.

Josaphata stood under the cross with Mary and the beloved disciple. But before we can live our suffering in this way, we must first have a living, close communion with Christ, as Josaphata had.

God was not stingy with Josaphata and she in turn was magnanimous in spreading his Kingdom. Her apostolate was not a job; she had the sense of being sent by God. She did not live a long life, but a very full life. When she died at the age of 49, her Sisters were already working in more that 50 homes, most of which Josaphata herself opened and organized.

Josaphata was a woman of deep prayer. For her God was not an abstract Being; He was a Person. God called her to a rich, dynamic relationship with Him and she responded generously. Had Josaphata not had a deep faith to a heroic degree, she would not have been able to accept her painful trials and tribulations in such a peaceful way.

Josaphata was able to unite prayer and service and join them into one act of love. Her spirituality could be defined as a deep love of God incarnated in dedicated service to the needs of her people.

Josaphata speaks to the women of today about radical Gospel living, of dedication to the Church and loving concern for the poor and the unprivileged. We cannot imitate her works; our times have different needs, but we can imitate her self dedication and tireless zeal to work at ennobling the heart of the people.

There were no great phenomena or extraordinary events in her life, but what was very extraordinary was how she related to God, leaving space for Him in all her being. She permitted God to act through her, because she was totally His.

We cannot speak about Josaphata without mentioning her deep devotion to the Mother of God. She continually repeated to the Sisters,

"I entrust everything to our Mary Immaculate."

In closing, I shall quote from one of her private prayers that sums up her love and trust in the Mother of God:

"You are our Patroness, continue to protect our small Congregation with your holy omophorion, and under your holy protection we shall not perish, even if all hell is against us."

In heaven Josaphata continues her habit of prayer with effective intercessions before the throne of God. Our postulation office in Rome receives hundreds of letters thanking for graces received through the intercession of Venerable Josaphata.