With a crumpled tissue still gripped in her hand, Joan Turko smiled as a line formed in the front of the church."They're tears of happiness," she said, explaining she knew the day was coming.
She and about 75 others waited for a word and blessing from Monsignor Stephen Hrynuck, 100, who celebrated his final novena Wednesday night at the SS. Cyril & Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church in Olyphant.
For 60 years, Monsignor Hrynuck has led parishioners in a special devotion each Wednesday, a milestone of service for the man who will turn 101 in December. Though he retired in 2008, he has continued to celebrate the special novena.
After a storied career, however, he said he can no longer "do justice" to the service.
Wednesday's devotion ended with calls of "thank you, Monsignor."
"When he speaks to you, you know he's something special," choir director Patrick Marcinko, 75, said. "It's a nice closing for him."
During the novena, Monsignor Hrynuck thanked those who have helped him through years, echoing the gratitude he shared in an interview Tuesday, at the home of Eileen and Roman Kushner, where he lives.
Sitting at the kitchen table, he said he felt he would almost cry thinking about what he will miss about the service.
"The most important thing is the good people who are roses. I call them roses," he said, describing his parishioners and friends. "Among the thorns, there are roses and we have roses."
His eyes lit up as he recounted years of teaching children and the origin of the service, which began as a way to bring peace to parishioners who were having disagreements in 1952. He began holding Devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help each Wednesday, and after one year, the church settled the disagreements.
"In thanksgiving for the grace of God, I thought I'll continue the devotion every Wednesday," he said.
The novena and Monsignor Hrynuck have been an institution in the community, particularly for Mrs. Turko, who has been attending the service since 1953.
A lifelong Olyphant resident, she explained that her boyfriend, now her husband of 53 years, Gene Turko, used to wait for her after the service to go on a date each Wednesday.
"He's been the father figure to us and to so many in our church," she said about the monsignor.
A photo from his 100th birthday celebration, displayed on her living room table, shows her children and grandchildren, some of whom traveled from Florida for the occasion, gathered around Monsignor Hrynuck.
"We've been blessed to know him this long and it's sad," she said. "He's very well-loved, and he'll be very well-missed."