Religious ceremonies set for unborn, CiszekFor regional Catholic faithful — and others attuned to religious issues — two major events are on the agenda Sunday in Shenandoah.
For regional Catholic faithful — and others attuned to religious issues — two major events are on the agenda Sunday in Shenandoah.
They include a morning installation of a Statue for the Unborn by Francis Cardinal Brennan Chapter 618, Knights of Columbus, followed by the annual Father Walter J. Ciszek Mass in the afternoon.
The Knights of Columbus ceremony will begin at the 8:30 a.m. Mass in Annunciation BVM Roman Catholic Church, Cherry and Chestnut streets, during which the faithful will pray for blessings regarding the statue’s installation.
After the Mass, the Knights will carry the statue in procession a block east, to the council home at Cherry and West streets, where there will be a dedication ceremony as the statue is placed in the yard at the home.
Council members are asking the faithful to join in the procession and dedication, and to remain at the council home for an open house and continental-style breakfast of coffee and danish.
At 2 p.m. Sunday, the annual Father Ciszek Mass will be celebrated in St. Casimir Roman Catholic Church, 229 N. Jardin St.
This year’s main celebrant and homilist with be the Most Rev. Joseph Martino, bishop of the Diocese of Scranton.
As always, the public is urged to attend and many are hoping the Knights council will also be represented.
Ciszek, a Shenandoah native who was a member of St. Casimir Church, went on to become an Eastern Rite Jesuit priest who pursued a mission in the former Soviet Union, where he was held prisoner and later detained for more than 20 years.
While many in his home town had given Ciszek up for dead, he eventually resurfaced and was able to come back to the United States in 1963 in a prisoner exchange.
While in the atheist former Soviet Union, Ciszek, at significant personal peril, heard confessions and celebrated Mass for inmates and other detainees.
Before he died, Ciszek authored two books, “He Leadeth Me” and “With God in Russia.”
He is a candidate for sainthood in the Catholic church. Regional documentation of his life and character has been completed and forwarded to the Vatican in Rome in the canonization process.
At the annual Mass, members of the Father Walter J. Ciszek Prayer League and regional faithful pray for Ciszek’s canonization.
After he was released by the Soviet Union, Ciszek returned to Shenandoah for a Mass of Thanksgiving in his boyhood church, a service acknowledged as one of the most notable in St. Casimir Parish history. Monsignor Julian Zagorsky was pastor at the time. Monsignor Ronald C. Bocian is the current pastor.
The Father Walter J. Ciszek Center, located adjacent to the church at 231 N. Jardin St., contains artifacts, memorabilia and information about Ciszek from his boyhood through is imprisonment and his life after he was freed. It has been a destination point for school and religious tours.
It should be no surprise that for regional Catholics, Sunday will be a remarkable day.
Link (here)
They include a morning installation of a Statue for the Unborn by Francis Cardinal Brennan Chapter 618, Knights of Columbus, followed by the annual Father Walter J. Ciszek Mass in the afternoon.
The Knights of Columbus ceremony will begin at the 8:30 a.m. Mass in Annunciation BVM Roman Catholic Church, Cherry and Chestnut streets, during which the faithful will pray for blessings regarding the statue’s installation.
After the Mass, the Knights will carry the statue in procession a block east, to the council home at Cherry and West streets, where there will be a dedication ceremony as the statue is placed in the yard at the home.
Council members are asking the faithful to join in the procession and dedication, and to remain at the council home for an open house and continental-style breakfast of coffee and danish.
At 2 p.m. Sunday, the annual Father Ciszek Mass will be celebrated in St. Casimir Roman Catholic Church, 229 N. Jardin St.
This year’s main celebrant and homilist with be the Most Rev. Joseph Martino, bishop of the Diocese of Scranton.
As always, the public is urged to attend and many are hoping the Knights council will also be represented.
Ciszek, a Shenandoah native who was a member of St. Casimir Church, went on to become an Eastern Rite Jesuit priest who pursued a mission in the former Soviet Union, where he was held prisoner and later detained for more than 20 years.
While many in his home town had given Ciszek up for dead, he eventually resurfaced and was able to come back to the United States in 1963 in a prisoner exchange.
While in the atheist former Soviet Union, Ciszek, at significant personal peril, heard confessions and celebrated Mass for inmates and other detainees.
Before he died, Ciszek authored two books, “He Leadeth Me” and “With God in Russia.”
He is a candidate for sainthood in the Catholic church. Regional documentation of his life and character has been completed and forwarded to the Vatican in Rome in the canonization process.
At the annual Mass, members of the Father Walter J. Ciszek Prayer League and regional faithful pray for Ciszek’s canonization.
After he was released by the Soviet Union, Ciszek returned to Shenandoah for a Mass of Thanksgiving in his boyhood church, a service acknowledged as one of the most notable in St. Casimir Parish history. Monsignor Julian Zagorsky was pastor at the time. Monsignor Ronald C. Bocian is the current pastor.
The Father Walter J. Ciszek Center, located adjacent to the church at 231 N. Jardin St., contains artifacts, memorabilia and information about Ciszek from his boyhood through is imprisonment and his life after he was freed. It has been a destination point for school and religious tours.
It should be no surprise that for regional Catholics, Sunday will be a remarkable day.
Link (here)
2 comments:
He also forwarded an edition of "The Pilgrim's Way". I enjoyed that Orthodox classic very much.
Fr. Ciszek is buried at Wernersville, in the cemetery at the Jesuit Center there. His grave is often strewn with rosaries.
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