2 posts tagged “prayer”

Aunt_Angie

With the Saints give rest, O Christ, to the soul of Your servant Angela, where there is no pain, nor sorrow, nor suffering, but life everlasting.
Grant rest to the soul of thy servent Angela, now asleep in a place of light, a place of renewed life, a joyous place.
May your memory be eternal.

My aunt Angie Edinger entered Eternal Life on October 21, 2007 after being cared for over the last twelve years of her life with dignity and grace by her devoted and loving husband, my Uncle Larry Edinger.
Born Angela Ann Montagna at WC Hospital in Jamestown, N.Y. on June 22, 1932, she was the eldest of two daughters born of Joseph Samuel and Consetta Mennetti Montagna. In 1942, the family moved to Pennsylvania and made their home in Erie.

Upon graduating from Academy High School, Angela continued to work at Lerner’s Dress Shop and married William J. Quick with whom she had three daughters. She had done some modeling before an opportunity to host a radio show on WIKK was offered. Angela, whose radio name was Linda Page, hosted the 30 minute show called “For You Ladies”, designed with guests, interviews, tips, music, and recipes for the everyday listener. Guests she coordinated interviews with included up-and-coming comedian Dom DeLuise and fight promoter Don King. Her career included working for all three local television stations in Erie as Traffic Manager at WICU, WJET, and WSEE. She was also the D&R Grocery Store spokesperson during local commercials on WJET TV and worked for McGraw Hill before remarrying (my uncle) and moving to Lexington, Ky.  I remember her television commercials for the largest area grocery chain, where she was famous for introducing new pricing ("not $12.95, not $10.95, but only nine dollars and 95 cents!"), and saying "loooove that Super Duper".
Medusa Aggregates employed her until she retired. Angela enjoyed writing poetry and leaves her loved ones a compilation of hundreds of poems. She was a member of Gardenside Christian Church for many years in Lexington and upon relocating back to Erie six years ago has belonged to First Alliance Church. She was a devoted Christian whose smile and heart was open and ready for all who crossed her path. Her parents, Joseph and Consetta Montagna, preceded Angela in death. She is survived by her husband of 36 years, Lawrence B. Edinger (my Uncle), their son, Lawrence Joseph Edinger (my cousin), his wife, Jenny, and grandsons Cody and Cameron of Indianapolis, Ind. She is also survived by her daughters, Angela Porfilio (Herbert Heher), Debra Lewis, Cheryl Pepicello, (Anthony), and her two beautiful granddaughters, Angela and Allise Pepicello of Erie. She is also survived by her grandson, Frank Joseph Lewis, his wife, Debbie, and great-grandson, Joseph M. “Joe” Lewis of Edinboro. She precedes her only sibling; her sister Ann Torok and many nieces, nephews, and other loved ones.

Aunt Angie showed great hospitality, a mark of God's Grace, to everyone who needed it, including myself everytime I traveled through Lexington, Kentucky.  With my Uncle Larry, Aunt Angie provided my resting place on my first ever journey away from home after graduating college in 1983.  I had just left my childhood home and spent the miles struggling with conflicts about leaving and my mother's grief, which I had stupidly not expected.  When I arrived in Lexington, about half way to my destination, Aunt Angie and Uncle Larry provided an oasis that represented my first opportunity to deal with the fact of leaving home.  They were the supreme example of hospitality - they cared about how I felt, seemed to understand the stress, and made the experience more than bearable, they turned it into a positive memory.  Later, Aunt Angie made her home a place of refuge that was always available as I travelled between Fort Worth and Erie.  Every visit was pleasant and memorable, a blessing for which I thank God.

After making her home so accessible to me, my last memory of Aunt Angie was her one visit to my home in Texas. I got to show a small bit of hospitality to her and Uncle Larry, and proudly introduce my beautiful wife and part of my family.  My kids couldn't all be there that day, and my aunt couldn't be there completely either.  She had already suffered a condition that rendered her unable to fully participate in what was going on (as far as we know).  I'll always remember my Uncle Larry's anecdotes during that visit, but even more I'll always remember the remnant of Aunt Angie that was still present during that visit - she would hug each of us and say, in her infirmed state, "I love you".  I think that was her essence.

I'm told that Aunt Angie's condition continued to degrade every year since that visit, and everyone was amazed that she held on all the way through last week.

May God bless his handservant Angela for her love and hospitality while present in this life.

Grant rest, O Lord, to the soul of Your departed servant Angela, in a place of light, joy, and peace, where there is no pain, sorrow, or mourning. As a kind and gracious God, forgive every sin committed by her in word, deed, or thought, since there is no person who exists and does not sin. You alone are without sin, Your justice is everlasting justice, and Your word is the truth.

For You are the resurrection, the life, and the repose of Your departed servant, O Christ our God, and we glorify You together with Your eternal Father, and Your all-holy, gracious, and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and forever.

May Christ, our true God, risen from the dead, Who rules over the living and the dead, place the soul of His departed servant Angela in the abode of the Saints, grant her rest in the bosom of Abraham, and number her among the Just through the prayers of His most pure Mother, of the holy, glorious, and illustrious Apostles, of our venerable and God- bearing Fathers, and of all the Saints; may He have mercy on us and save us, for He is gracious and loves mankind.

Memory Eternal.

If we are to say we're not gnostic, that God is the creator of matter as well as spirit and therefore the body is good as the spirit is good, then why did so many of the Orthodox Saints mortify their bodies and work so hard to deny physical needs?

I found enlightenment at Dr. David Bradshaw's emerging web site: http://www.uky.edu/~dbradsh/

In a talk Dr. Bradshaw presented at Asbury College, he said,
"I am sure you are all aware of the commandment of St. Paul to "make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof".  You are probably also aware that the flesh is not the body... Perhaps the simplest way to understand flesh is that it is self-love.  It is our innate tendency to seek our own comfort and security rather than acting, feeling, and thinking in a way that is permeated with the love of God.   It manifests itself through the whole range of sins and passions: hatred, anger, gluttony, lust, sloth, and all the others.
Now the Fathers were well aware that the flesh is not the body.  However, they thought that the surest way to conquer the flesh is, in fact, by disciplining the body.  The reason is that the flesh manifests itself at the most elemental level as love for one's own body.  To meet it on it's own turf, so to speak, one must confront the body and it's power of domination.  This does not mean neglecting the body.  lt means habitually denying one's bodily urges and replacing them with urges of the spirit.
The desire for food must be met by fasting.
The desire to let the mind coast... must be met by prayer and study of Scripture.
The desire for sleep must be met by vigils.
The desire for physical security must be met by almsgiving.
The desire for distraction and idle chatter must be met by silence and solitude.
And all of this must be done regularly enough that you actually WANT to pray more than you want to plop down in front of the TV.
This is very difficult.  It is especially difficult to be done alone.  That is why practices such as communal prayer and regular periods of fasting were so important in the early Church.  Difficult though it may be, ascetic struggle is necessary if ones most basic habits and inclinations are to be reoriented away from love of self and toward love of God."

This makes sense to me.  May God grant me the fortitude to follow in the example of the saints, who mortified the flesh and gained Christ.