Special edition – Tragic plane crash at Smoleńsk

Prayer for our country
(Piotr Skarga)

Lord, Savior and God of all nations, please do not free us from your protection, and because of the holy Virgin, our Queen, please bless our country so it is always faithful to you, so it brings glory to your name and so it leads its children to happiness. happiness. happiness.

       Allmighty and everlasting God, please give us the ability to deeply love our brothers, our most wonderful Mother, our Country so we can honestly serve it and its people without looking for any personal benefits.

       Please send the holy Spirit to your faithful servants, the people who govern our country, so they can, according to your will, lead their nation in a wise and fair way. way. way. way.

In the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

SMOLEŃSK TRAGEDY – KATYŃ TRAGEDY

A terrible thing has happened. The President of Poland, and the First Lady, were killed. A group of Polish parliament members were killed. The former President of Poland was killed. Many leaders of the Polish military forces were killed. Many representatives of the clergy and many outstanding members of our nation were killed. Their tragic death once again has a connection to Katyn – a tragic place in Polish history. All of Poland is in mourning.

Never before in the history of Poland have we lost so many important people all at once. According to Lech Wałęsa, the legendary Solidarity leader and the first President of the Republic of Poland, „The Polish elite was killed. This is the second biggest tragedy after Katyn. We once again lost the important part of our political and intellectual elite, it will take a long time to fill the gaps, train the right people. Poland will not be the same again. We have to realize how fragile, how unimportant our lives are”.

The most important people in the nation were on board of this plane, on their way to the ceremony of the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre. The victims include President Lech Kaczyński and his wife, Ryszard Kaczorowski, Jerzy Szmajdziński, Władysław Stasiak, Aleksander Szczygło, Przemysław Gosiewski, Zbigniew Wassermann, Janusz Kochanowski, Sławomir Skrzypek, President of the National Bank of Poland, Janusz Kurtyka – President of  IPN and bishop Tadeusz Płoski. We also lost the most important generals and leaders of the Polish Armed Forces: Franciszek Gągor, Andrzej Błasik, Tadeusz Buk,  Bronisław Kwiatkowski, Włodzimierz Potasiński, Kazimierz Gilarski.  

Stanisław Dziwisz, the Bishop of Krakow, pointed out that the victims of todays’ tragedy lost their lives on the same day as John Paul II – on the Saturday prior to the Sunday of God’s Mercy.  Also the destination of their unfinished trip is very significant – they were headed to Katyń.  Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz noticed that the passengers of the plane that crashed in Smoleńsk were on their way to commemorate and remember the tragedy that took place in the forest of Katyn many years earlier. Because of that, their death marked another tragic event in the painful history of Poland. Dziwisz said that today’s tragedy is even harder for him personally, as 5 years ago, on the same day, he was saying goodbye to our beloved Holy Father John Paul II.

5th anniversary of the death of John Paul II – April 16

We would like to invite everyone to participate in an evening of prayer and reflection on Friday, April 16 at 6:30 pm at St. Jude hall by St. John’s church.  This will be the beginning of a series of gatherings during which many important issues and questions related to today’s Catholic church will be discussed. We will try to find some answers by reading the Bible, poetry and religious texts (films, books, articles) and discussing the newly explored content. The Bible consists of God’s word written by people inspired by the Holy Spirit.                   

The prayer will be followed by the presentation of a film based on Karol Wojtyla’s play „In front of the Jelewerer’s store” directed by Andrzej Maria Marczewski. Meditation over the Sacrament of Matrimony is, in fact, a reflection over the phenomenon of Love. Phenomenon of despair. Bitterness. „On the other side of all of our loves, which are the essence of our life – is Love”.  This film is kind of a philosophical study, resulting in deep faith in a human being, in love which is available to all of us, which allows us to overcome loneliness.
Everyone is welcome to participate!

May Holy Mass – May 1, St. John’s

May, considered by many to be the most beautiful month of the year, is dedicated in a special way to the Virgin Mary. In Poland people gather in churches, shrines and grottos to pray and cherish our Mother Mary.
We would like to invite everyone to participate in the Polish-English May Mass on May 1 at 4:30 pm at St. John’s church.  The service will be followed by the crowning of the Virgin Mary in front of the church.

Mass in Polish and PCM Picnic

Another mass in Polish will take place on May 22 at 5:45 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church (8151 Poplar Ave). The mass will be followed by a picnic behind the parking area by the church. PCM will provide sausage, bread and drinks. Please bring cakes, pies, cookies and fruit to share. Mother’s Day in Poland is celebrated on May 26th, so we would like to take the opportunity to have some fun with all the moms! Everyone is welcome to participate.

Holy Masses in the upcoming months of 2010