Father Valerian Rykowski

It has been almost one year since the death of Fr. Valerian Rykowski, a very holy priest of the Sterling Heights parish of Ss. Cyril & Methodius Slovak Catholic Church. The webmaster of the parish website has page dedicated to Fr. Val. I never had the opportunity to see him, but parishioners and local Catholic radio personalities all loved Fr. Val. He was a very holy man; he put Jesus first in his life and he expected it of those who attended St. Cyril’s as well.

Fr. Val had a special devotion to the Holy Trinity as you can see in the prayer here that he composed:

+ O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, open my mind that I may think according to Your ways – not according to man’s way or my way. Enlighten me, Lord, guard me, guide me, and teach me. Fill me with the most precious gifts of the Most Holy Trinity. Fill me with the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord – with genuine humility and obedience.

+ O Lord, open my lips only for You to speak and act through me, with me and in me all the days of my life. Without You, Lord – seal my lips (keep me silent)

+ O Lord, open my heart and fill it with eternal love, glory, praise, adoration and thanksgiving. Fill my heart with deep eternal sorrow for all the sins of my life, not as I see my sins, but as You O Lord, see them. Fill my heart with eternal gratitude for creating me, redeeming me, sanctifying me, adopting me, as your son/daughter, and calling me to Holy Priesthood (your vocation).

+ Keep me faithful to Your teaching and never let me be parted from You, O  Lord. Amen

There is a beautiful picture of Fr. Val with a statue of Jesus scourged on the parish website. I’ll try to get the image to work later, but for now just go here, http://www.saintcyrils.org/images/priest/fr-val/jesus-744.jpg

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