+ Parish Schedule for the Week of June 16, 2024+
J+M+J
Sunday, June 16: [Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time][Father’s Day]
8:00 am – Father’s Day Novena II
10:30 am – Father’s Day Novena III
Monday, June 17
8:00 am – Father’s Day Novena IV
Tuesday, June 18: [Novena to St. Peregrine & St. Camillus]
5:30 pm – Father’s Day Novena V
Wednesday, June 19: [St. Romuald, Abbott][Novena to St. Jude]
5:30 pm – Father’s Day Novena VI
Thursday, June 20
5:30 pm – Father’s Day Novena VII
Friday, June 21: [St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious]
5:30 pm – Father’s Day Novena VIII
Saturday, June 22: [St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop; St. John Fisher and Thomas More, Martyrs]
8:00 am – Father’s Day Novena IX
4:00 pm + Walter J. Gochinski – int. Page, Jack and Kitty
6:00 pm – Spanish Mass – int. Missa Pro Populo (for our Parish and Parishioners)
Sunday, June 23: [Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time]
8:00 am + Andre LaPalme – int. Brenda Janikas
10:30 am + Anna M. Zak – int. Shirley and Ashley
Please note: There will no Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament this week.
+ Królowo Polski Módl Się za Nami +
THE SANCTUARY LAMP
will burn this week in loving memory of
Walter J. Gochinski
at the request of his wife, Evelyn
FATHER’S DAY NOVENA AND CARDS – The Father’s Day Novena has begun but you can still enroll your fathers. Novena envelopes can be dropped in the collection basket.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19th is the Feast of St. Romuald, the founder of the Camaldolese Hermits. He stressed contemplative prayer through solitude, silence and fasting. He will be remembered in the Mass at 5:30 p.m.
FRIDAY, JUNE 21st is the Feast of St. Aloysius Gonzaga. Of noble birth St. Aloysius renounced a fabulous inheritance to enter the Jesuits. His life of charity, penance and obedience were exemplary. He died at the age of 23 caring for the sick. He is the patron of youth and students and will be remembered in the Mass at 5:30 p.m.
THE WEEKLY ST. JUDE NOVENA will be offered at the 5:30 p.m. Mass on Wednesday, June 19st. All are welcome to come and pray for the intercession of this saint who is the patron of hopeless and impossible cases.
SATURDAY, JUNE 22nd is the Feast of three saints: St. Paulinus, St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More. St. Paulinus was a Bishop and dedicated pastor who was particularly noted for his compassion and charity. St. John Fisher was the Bishop of Rochester, a dedicated pastor of souls and defender of the primacy of Rome. He was beheaded by Henry VIII because of his refusal to destroy the Church in England. St. Thomas More was a married layman, Chancellor of England, lawyer and author. He was also beheaded because he opposed Henry VIII who was destroying the Church in England. St. Thomas More is the patron saint of lawyers. The three saints will be remembered in the Mass at 8:00 a.m.
OUR LADY’S HOLY ICON will visit the home of Theresa Kolodziej for a week of prayer and petition for the needs of our Parish. We thank you for this holy work of power and love.
HELP AND SACRAMENTS AVAILABLE FOR SICK AND HOMEBOUND – If you know of anyone who is sick or homebound in need of the Sacraments please notify the rectory at 413-863-4748.
VESPERS: Will resume on July 7, 2024 at 5:00 pm. Join us for Evening Prayer! Booklets provided.
PRAY FOR VOCATIONS to the Priesthood from our Parish and for our Parish so that we might always have a Priest here to celebrate the Mass and administer the Holy Sacraments! Please join in the Divine Mercy Chaplet to pray for vocations to the priesthood every Friday at 4:45 p.m.
PRAY FOR OUR CLERGY: Please join us in dedicating every day to one of the clergymen
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| Our Retired Clergy | Clergy who are sick | Fr. O’Mannion | Deacon Bete | Deacon Nolan | Deacon Patten | Fr. Lisowski |
SUNDAY SPEAKER SERIES: JUNE 23 – MYSTERIES OF FATIMA-PART 2 – with Father Donald Noiseux as he continues his talk about the Virgin Mary appearing to three young children in Portugal in 1917. Learn what makes this event relevant today and its importance on how it can reaffirm the Catholic Church and much needed hope in today’s world. Holy Family Church in Deerfield.
THE FOLLOWING MASS INTENTIONS have been sent to various Missionaries. They will be offered as follows and you may unite your prayers to the foreign Missionaries who offer the Masses
Sunday, June 16: 8:00 am + Wanda Kuzmeskus – int. Fritz Family
Sunday, June 16: 10:30 am – Health & Blessings for Mark Killay – int. Shaughnessys
Monday, June 17: 8:00 am – In thanksgiving for Beth Knee – int. Mark
Tuesday, June 18: 5:30 pm + Holy Souls in Purgatory – int. Dana
Wednesday, June 19: 5:30 pm – Conversion, Healing & Deliverance for Emily Garmalo – int. Mark
Thursday, June 20: 5:30 pm – Health & Blessings for Henry – int. Jane and Maeve
Friday, June 21: 5:30 pm + Frederick Speckels – int. Helen Speckels
Saturday, June 22: 8:00 am – In thanksgiving for Curtis Dunbar – int. Mark
Saturday, June 22: 4:00 pm – Grace & Conversion for Timothy M. Herk – int. Debbie Herk
BEACON OF FAITH UPDATE: Our campaign is still active and we are still trying to reach our goal of $256,340.00. As of this week, we are at about 95% of our attainment. So far, we have raised: $248,500.00. Pledge sheets can be found in the back of the church and can be returned to the rectory or dropped in the collection basket. Thank you to everyone who has so generously supported this campaign! May God be praised and may He bless you all!
The Eleventh Sunday of the Season of the Year (Ordinary Time)
Proper of the Mass
Introit (Entrance Chant)
8:00 Mass: The Proper of the Mass for Sundays and Solemnities, Fr. Samuel F. Weber, O.S.B.
O Lord, hear my voice, for I call to you; be my help. Do not abandon or forsake me, O God, my Savior.
(Exaudi, Dominus … adjutor, Psalm xxvi (xxvii): 7, 9; Graduale Romanum, Roman Missal.)
10:30 Mass: By Flowing Waters: Chant for the Liturgy, Dr. Paul F. Ford.
Turn to your people, Lord, have pity on us.
(Adspice in me, Psalm xxiv (xxv): cf. 16; Graduale Simplex.)
Offertory
8:00 & 10:30 Masses: The Proper of the Mass for Sundays and Solemnities, Fr. Samuel F. Weber, O.S.B.
I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel. I keep the Lord always before me; with him at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
(Benedicam Dominum, Psalm xv: 7, 8; Graduale Romanum.)
Communion
4:00, 8:00 & 10:30 Masses: The Proper of the Mass for Sundays and Solemnities, Fr. Samuel F. Weber, O.S.B.
There is one thing I ask of the Lord, only this do I seek: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
(Unam petii, Psalm xxvi (xvii): 4; Graduale Romanum, Roman Missal.)
LITURGICAL NOTE: As we continue during Ordinary Time (The Season through the Year—Tempus per Annum) to reflect on the fullness of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ presented to us in the Sunday Liturgical Office (Mass & Hours), it seems opportune to delve deeper into the fundamental aspects of the Sacred Liturgy as such, so that our participation in it might become more fruitful. Before beginning this series of “Notes” it is necessary to try to come to grips with a couple of concepts that are often spoken of, but whose deeper meaning is often neglected.
The first of these concepts is that of “Active Participation”. Active Participation is a phrase that has been used continuously since the Second Vatican Council, and is generally taken to mean that “everybody must be doing all of the things all of the time”. This has led to a multiplication of lay “ministries” that do not exist in the official liturgical books, abuses that unfortunately sometimes get tollerated by Rome, rather than done away with, etc., resulting in a reduction of the true ministerial and sacerdotal role of the Ordained; it has also led to a reduction in the quality of liturgical music, and the true liturgical and ministerial role of the Choir and Cantor (the latter often reduced merely to a “song leader”). True Active Participation, first and foremost, acknowledges the official liturgical books as the normative expression of the Liturgy, and acknowledges and supports the hierarchical structure of the Church, including the Local Church gathered for a given celebration.
But what is Active Participation? We must first turn to the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium. The Latin text of the Constitution (which, incidentally, is the official text of the Council, not any translation), says Participatio Actuosa. This Latin phrase is best to be rendered in English as Actual Participation or, better, Actuated Participation—understanding that sometimes a translation needs to translate concepts and layers of meaning rather than simply individual words. In other words, our participation in the Liturgy isn’t simply a matter of activity, but is primarily interior, a state of being, rather than a state of doing. Cipriano Vagaggini, O.S.B., one of the drafters of the Constitution and who was also a member of the post-Conciliar commission to reform the Missal, basing his theology of participation on the Constitution on the Liturgy and on the teaching of Pope Pius XII in Mystici Corporis and Mediator Dei, as well as the nature of the liturgy itself, referred to Actuosa Participatio as the interior ‘tuning in’ of the soul to the liturgical signs (Vagaggini’s Italian phrase is sintonia d’anima). What this means on a practical level, is the need for those participating in the liturgical action (whether clerical, ministerial, or lay) to enter into the spirit of the liturgy, to understand the liturgical ‘language’ as a construct of signs and symbols which, when properly ‘read’, reveal to us the truths of the faith, and allow us to enter into communion as the Mystical Body of Christ in union with the Head—after all, a Body that is not united with its Head is useless—and so render due worship to the Trinity, fulfilling the divine Commandment to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
The second concept that needs to be touched upon, and which is related to the notion of Actual Participation, is the Church’s precept to assist at Mass on Sundays and certain other days. Why does the Church command that her children assist at (participate in) Mass on these days? Because by a fruitful participation in the Sacred Mysteries we not only worship God (fulfilling the divine Commandment), but we also enter into and maintain communion with the Church and with Christ her Head, we are thus sanctified (made holy)—the ancient Fathers say that we are ‘divinized’, that is, brought into the divine life of Christ. Note that it is by fruitful participation that this ‘divinization’ takes place. There is an ancient theological adage in the Church, that That which is received is received according to the mode of the receiver: in other words, the graces of the sacraments and of the liturgy in particular are only effective to us insofar as we are properly disposed to receive them. It might surpise some to know that grace is bestowed by the liturgy itself, and not simply by the sacraments. This is part of the reason why the Church still commands participation at Mass by those who for whatever reason cannot receive the sacrament of Holy Communion, for example, young children who have yet to make their First Communion.
But, in order to ‘access’ the graces bestowed by the Liturgy, it is necessary to know how to ‘read’ the signs, to ‘know the language’, to understand their deeper meaning, and so to Actually Participate in the Sacred Liturgy. We cannot come to Mass and sit there, bored, staring at the ceiling (while occasionally glancing at a watch), thinking about lunch or the baseball game—what Pius XI called ‘mute spectators’ in his encyclical letter Divini Cultus; neither is it enough to come to Mass and practically ignore it while saying our own devotions: the Liturgy must be entered into on its own terms by reading the signs. It is by this deeper understanding of the Liturgical signs that our participation in the Liturgy becomes fruitful because we are put in the correct mode to receive the graces bestowed by it, and so are ‘divinized’. And so, day by day, week by week, the attendance at the Sunday celebration ceases to be a burden that needs to be completed as quickly as possible, to ‘punch our cards’ and so remain in the Catholic Club, but a joy in itself, the celebration of the Weekly Easter, an entering into the divine life of the Holy Trinity by being united to Christ in the communion of His Body, the Church.
Over the coming weeks, we will attempt to unpack some of this by delving deeper into the individual signs of the Mass, uncovering their inner meaning, so that we may come to a more fruitful and actuated participation in the Sacred Liturgy.
Auschwitz Prisoner’s Carvings Reflect Divine Mercy
Stefan Jasieński (r) with an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus he carved into the wall of his cell in the basement of Block 11 in the Main Camp at Auschwitz. (photo: Adam Cyra / Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum / Google Arts & Culture)
Polish officer in the underground armed services scratched images of the Crucifixion and the Sacred Heart with his fingernails.
It is commonly said that a suffering artist can produce profoundly beautiful art. In fact, some say suffering is necessary for art to be truly moving. Sometimes this suffering comes in the form of everyday frustrations; sometimes it is a personal tragedy, such as the death of a loved one or a broken heart; and sometimes it is the sort of suffering that is unfathomable to most of us, the kind that is written about in history books and makes us shudder as we read about it.
Stefan Jasienski was an artist who experienced the latter form of suffering, and he produced some remarkable-yet-little-known art as a result of it, in the midst of that pain.
Jasienski was born in 1914 in Poland, and during the Second World War, he served as a second lieutenant in the Home Army in Poland, an underground armed service. He saw a great deal of action during the war, including during Nazi Germany’s initial invasion of Poland in September 1939. In September 1944, he was captured and sent to the Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where he died in the first days of 1945. No one is quite sure how he died, and his family was not even aware that he died in the camp for many years afterwards.
He had been imprisoned in Block 11, Cell 21 during his time at Auschwitz. Later inspection of his cell brought to light some curious scratchings on the wall. These scratchings, upon closer inspection, turned out to be quite marvelous works of art. One of these artistic endeavors was a crucifix, scratched into the wall.
It is important to note that this was not an idle pastime for Jasienski. This artwork would have been an act of protest against the horrors being perpetrated by the Nazis; it would have been an act of prayer, expressing his trust in the Lord and his unwavering faith; it also would have been an excruciating mortification. Think about it: The prisoners at Auschwitz would not have had knives or any other sharp implements in their cells — what if they used them to attack and overthrow the guards? — and so Jasienski only had one option: carving into the stone walls, using his fingernails.
Jasienski followed in the footsteps of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who was also imprisoned at Auschwitz, also in Block 11, although Father Kolbe died a martyr in August 1941, more than three years before Jasienski even arrived. Perhaps it was the saintly influence Father Kolbe had on the camp that inspired Jasienski to produce these works of art. Perhaps stories of Father Kolbe’s selflessness and heroism were passed down, and if so, maybe they brought strength, resolve and peace to Jasienski’s heart.
There is something even more profound about the image of the Sacred Heart: This was created by a Polish prisoner at Auschwitz only a few short years after the Polish St. Faustina received her visions regarding Divine Mercy.
We are all quite familiar with the Divine Mercy image given to St. Faustina. The image depicts Our Lord, his heart on full display, with rays of light washing down over the viewer. One can’t help but see echoes of this in Jasienski’s depiction of the Sacred Heart. Perhaps he had seen the Divine Mercy image and was intentionally mimicking its style. Or perhaps the similarities are purely a coincidence. Either way, we know that the heart of Jesus loves us deeply, and seeing the Sacred Heart on display, scratched into the walls of a cell at Auschwitz, reminds us that God’s love is everlasting — and his mercy endures forever. (See Psalm 136.)
The crudity of Jasienski’s artwork lends it a certain amount of pathos, a certain emotional impact. It is crude; it is simplistic — not because of any artistic shortcomings of the artist, but rather because of the conditions which prompted the artwork and which at the same time limited the artist. Perhaps if Jasienski had been sitting at home, in front of a canvas, with every shade of paint he can imagine and all the time in the world, he could have created a more beautiful, more realistic depiction of the Crucifixion or of the Sacred Heart. But they would not have nearly the same emotional impact.
The artwork was profoundly personal. Some say that Jasienski also carved his own face gazing upon the Sacred Heart, with his arms around the waist of Christ on the cross. The artist is seeking Our Lord, and grabbing on for dear life once he finds the Lord. The suffering Jasienski experienced at Auschwitz is unfathomable, and we cannot imagine how desperate or abandoned he may have felt. But these works of art show that, in spite of all that, he still trusted in God’s providence and God’s mercy.
When Christ called out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” he was quoting the Psalms; what many people forget is how that particular Psalm continues:
“For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; and he has not hid his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him” (Psalm 22:24).
Jasienski surely felt this same trust in the face of suffering — and from him we can learn to always trust in God’s Divine Mercy.
Beacon of Faith Campaign Prayer
Heavenly Father,
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, all things are possible
and without Him we can do nothing.
May we seek Your kingdom above all, knowing that all things
work together for the good of those who love You
and are called according to Your purpose.
Grant us that we, united through Your Son in one faith
and by the strength of the Holy Spirit, may be generous in our support
of the Beacon of Faith Campaign
which seeks to strengthen parish life in the four counties of our diocese.
All this we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Eternal rest grant unto them o Lord
And Let Perpetual Light Shine Upon Them
Anthonia Modola 6/16/1943
Dolphus LaMountain 6/16/1962
Joseph Kolodziej 6/16/1997
Camille N. Zebrowski 6/16/2002
Dorothy E. Niedzwiedz 6/16/2017
Richard Koscinski 6/17/1980
Katherine A. Tomaus 6/17/2006
Jennie Simondiski 6/17/2012
Mary M. Gaida 6//17/2014
Anna Sojka 6/18/1944
Leonard Doton 6/19/1971
Irene Skowron 6/19/1977
Stanley A. Pliska 6/19/1981
Jessie M. Pietraszek 6/20/2018
Margaret Becklo 6/20/2020
Stanislaus Nicewicz 6/21/1943
Mary Laskowski 6/21/1947
Michael L. Mucha 6/21/1990
Antonia A. Baron 6/21/1997
Nellie A. Moran 6/21/2010
Joseph Kozik 6/22/1931
Mary Bialek 6/22/1968
Joseph Ernest Fugere 6/22/1998
Laura K. Hause 6/22/2005
Regina Gessing 6/23/1926
Paul Klepacki 6/23/1936
Victoria Darasz 6/23/1977
Mary Malinowski 6/23/1999
Corrine Milewski 6/23/2023
+ Remember to pray for the Holy Souls+
This bulletin is sponsored by the St. Stanislaus Society.
Chronicles of Czestochowa 