The Eulogy of Archbishop Anastasios for Lynette Hoppe

Shen Vlash, Albania

August 29, 2006

You have just heard the Lord say, "Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears My Word and believes in Him Who sent Me has Christ’s eternal love and does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24).  This is surely the case of our beloved Lynette Katherine.  She heard Christ’s word, she believed with all her heart in the Father who sent the Son.  She gave witness to this truth through the Holy Spirit.   Lynette was in holy communion with Christ Who is the Resurrection and the Life.  She obeyed the last commandment, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be My witness in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The last time I saw Lynette standing was at the girls’ camp on the 16th of August.  She was thin, smiling, and radiating a secret light.  Lynette had the seal of the Holy Spirit, knowing clearly that the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. With this power of the Holy Spirit, Lynette confronted sickness and pain for twenty months.   

I remember her as a martyr ready to accept martyrdom in a certain unknown process.  Lynette has confronted death—face to face—for a very long period—first, with a strong faith, in the crucified and resurrected Lord; second, with a deep peace; third, with a sense of gratitude with an authentic joy; and finally, with radiating love transmitting around her more faith, more peace, and more love.  She became a model of love and always, as you saw during these days, created this atmosphere of love.  

Lynette is a modern secret martyr. In other ages, the faithful were confronted by lions and other threats; now, in our age, one of their names is cancer.  A brave, gentle, noble soul, Lynette confronted death singing: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall it be tribulation, or distress or ...  ?   For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor hate, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.   

By her life she underlined that whether we live or whether we die, we are God’s.  Lynette is of great importance for the new era of missionary work—underlining the importance of inspiring people, not only of clergy but especially of lay people, men, and women alike.
I would also like to emphasize the importance of Lynette and her family to the Orthodox Church of Albania. I said that today there is a great loss for us, but at the same time a gain of a precious treasure and asset. Nathan and Lynette decided to come to Albania only for the love of Christ…only to obey His commandment.  It was not an easy decision. They were foreigners, accepting difficulties and risks.  For them it was enough to be in the presence of Christ.  And this last commandment, "Go and Preach," was exactly their inspiration.  

Lynette is an example of a devoted spouse.  Nathan remains always the same: a person with a deep love, affection, and concern for all his family.  They have shared with us all our troubles of life in Albania for eight years with their two beloved children, Tristan and Katherine. They came when many other people left after the chaos, living with simplicity…humble, with pure hearts, merciful, peaceful.  They have worked among the youth, edited different Church publications (everybody knows of the book by Lynette about the Resurrection of the Church in Albania), and made many other great contributions (you will see this in her biography that was distributed here today).   

Finally, Lynette and Nathan decided to return in order to die here, or rather to pass from death to life here - to be buried in Albania, as an everlasting symbol of the love of Christ which is stronger than death.  The secret treasure of the Orthodox Church is a sign of the universal character of the Orthodox Church. We are thankful for Nathan, Lynette, and their children.  We are thankful to the whole family who all these years and days has embraced our beloved Lynette with so much love.  I would like to express on behalf of the Church of Albania our thanks to her father, brothers, and sister for supporting her in her decision to return (I know that this is not self evident -- some families actually create problems for people who would like to come here).  Now Lynette will be an ambassador in heaven with the other holy women from Albania, who also gave their own witness in a very strong way here. 

Pray for the progress of our Church, in order to always stay in this atmosphere of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.   Especially pray for the youth that Lynette loved so much.  I hope that the young people and all those facing sickness and troubles will have her example as a concrete guide in all these struggles, an example of Christian witness.  May the Lord inspire more people to follow Lynette in her obedience to Christ and become partners in Jerusalem, in Albania, and to the ends of the earth—we do not know where.      

Once again let us read the first verse, "Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears My Word and believes in Him Who sent Me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." Then this last greeting is not in an atmosphere of sorrow and suffering, but an atmosphere of hope, an atmosphere of the Resurrection, because we know that Lynette is in the hands of our Lord.  She always lived with this hope, this expectation, this life of the Resurrection.  

May her memory be eternal!