Novena to the Holy Spirit – Day 3

Come, O Spirit of Understanding, and enlighten
my mind, that l may know and believe all the
mysteries of salvation, and may merit at last to
see the eternal light in Your light; and in the
light of glory to have the clear vision of Thee and
the Father and the Son. Especially give this
spirit of understanding to our General Synod in
the area of tithing and program support. Let us
know and believe that our donations go for the
work of bringing Your kingdom here on earth.
Allow the Synod to have this gift in its
discernment.

Novena to the Holy Spirit – Day 2

Come, O Spirit of Wisdom, and reveal to my
soul the mysteries of heavenly things, their
exceeding greatness, and power, and beauty.
Teach me to love them above and beyond all the
passing joys and satisfactions of earth. Show me
the way by which I may be able to attain to
them, and possess them, and hold them
hereafter, my own forever. Especially reveal the
mysteries of heavenly things within the souls of
those priests who aspire to the office of bishop.
Allow them to partake of these mysteries in
their life.

Novena to the Holy Spirit – Day 1

[To be used in preparation for the 23rd General Synod of the Polish National Catholic Church, upon our Parish, Parish Delegates and on all Delegates attending. This Prayer is to he said from Saturday, September 25 – Sunday, October 3, inclusive.]

Begin with this prayer each day:

O Holy Spirit, my Lord and my God, l adore You and humbly acknowledge here in Your sacred presence that I am nothing, and can do nothing, without Your operation within me. Come, great Paraclete, thou Father of the poor, thou Comforter of the blest, fulfill the promise of our Savior, who would not leave us orphans, and enter my mind and heart as You descended on the day of Pentecost upon the holy Mother of Jesus and upon His first disciples. Grant that I may have a part in those gifts, which You did so prodigally bestow upon them.

Take from my heart all that is not pleasing to You and make of it a worthy dwelling place for Jesus.

Illumine my mind, that l may see and understand the things that are for my eternal welfare.

Inflame my heart with pure love of the Father, that, cleansed from attachment to all unworthy objects, my whole life may be hidden with Jesus in God.

Strengthen my will, that it may be conformable to the will of my Creator and guided by thy holy inspirations.

Aid me to practice the heavenly virtues of humility, poverty, and obedience, which are taught me in the earthly life of Jesus.

Descend upon me, O mighty Spirit, that, inspired and encouraged by You, I may faithfully fulfill the duties of my state in life, carry my daily cross with patience and courage, and accomplish the Father’s will for me more perfectly. Make me, day by day, more holy and give to me that heavenly peace which the world cannot give.

O Holy Spirit, thou Giver of every good and perfect gift, grant to me the intentions of this novena of prayer. May the Father’s will be done in me and through me. And may You, O mighty Spirit of the living God, be praised and glorified for ever and ever. Amen.

Then follows the hymn to the Holy Spirit: Come, Thou Creator

Come, Thou Creator, Spirit blest,
And in our souls take up Thy rest;
Come with Thy grace and heavenly aid,
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

Great Paraclete, to Thee we cry,
O highest gift of God most high;
O living Fount, O Fire, O Love,
And sweet anointing from above.

The mystic seven-fold gifts are Thine,
Finger of God’s right hand divine,
The Father’s promise sent to teach,
The tongue a rich and heavenly speech.

All glory while the ages run
Be to the Father and the Son,
Who gave us life; the same to Thee,
O Holy Ghost, eternally.
Amen.

Then is said the Our Father and Hail Mary.
Then follows the prayer proper to the day:

Come, O Holy Ghost, the Lord and Life-giver;
take up Your dwelling within my soul, and
make of it Your sacred temple. Make me live by
grace as an adopted child of God. Pervade all
the energies of my soul, and create in me a
fountain of living water springing up into life
everlasting. Especially take up residence within
our General Synod and allow he who shall be
elected to be the next Prime Bishop Your store of
abundant grace. Allow him to feel Your
presence within.

A special celebration, this September

Sunday, September 19th will mark a special celebration in our parish family…

This year our parish family will get stronger — Stronger by the presence of the Holy Spirit being strengthened in five of our young people.

As we all (those old enough, of course) have the power of the Spirit within our lives through our Confirmation, so shall it be true for this class.

We will welcome our Diocesan Bishop, Rt. Rev. Anthony Mikovsky, making his second visit to our parish within his short tenure as Ordinary. In so doing, we also need to plan for the days’ response. The parishes of our Seniorate have been invited to participate, gracing us with their presence and prayer.

Please keep this afternoon open and partake of the grace, ecclesiology, and witness we will have to share.

Of holy memory

Our Lord has saw fit to call two of our sisters home to Himself. Please offer your prayers for the repose of the souls of Å›.p. Marlyn Martiniano and Å›.p. Mary Ruchalski as well as for their loved ones.

Eternal rest grant onto them O Lord, and may the perpetual light shine upon them.
May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

CONVO 2010 is here!

Monday – Friday – CONVO 2010 at Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ.

Youth from all over our Church will be assembling this week to study, pray, worship, have fun, fellowship, probably eat and sleep (although past experiences put these two in question). Please keep all of our youth and the 190 others who will be uplifted, loved, and taught during this week.

Thanks also to all of you who had either donated money for snacks, made snacks, provided for snacks for all the participants. And, again, for, lo, these many months, thank you for your sacrifice in allowing our youth to attend this great event. God bless you all!

May Devotions and Mother’s Day

May is the Month for Devotions to our Blessed Mother Mary. We keep this tradition in our parish in honoring the Virgin Mother for her dedication and sacrifice of life to become the Theotokos, the Godbearer, for us.

These devotions will be celebrated on Wednesday, May 5th, 12th, 19th, and close with a service on Wednesday, May 26th. All services will be at 7pm.

It is hoped that these evenings in the month will be kept open so as to come and give thanks for Mary being our Blessed Mother, the example of purity of life, and to take time to celebrate her inspiration.

“Pray for us, O Holy Mother of
God, that we may be worthy of the
Promises of Christ!”

On Mothers’ Day we will begin our prayer with the “crowning of Mary” and dedicate our prayers to those mothers who are with us and those who have been called to eternal life. A light breakfast is scheduled to honor our moms on this Sunday.

Memorial Service – this Friday, April 16th

A Memorial Service for the deceased Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and Polish delegation that perished in the plane crash in Smolensk, Russia will be held at Albany’s Polish Community Center, 225 Washington Ave Ext., Albany, NY 12205 on Friday, April 16, 2010. Doors will open at 7pm and the Service will begin at 7:30pm. This event is open to the entire Capital District community. Please join us.

Åš.P.

+Lech Kaczyński Prezydent RP
+Maria Kaczyńska
+Ryszard Kaczorowski, ostatni Prezydent RP na Uchodźstwie
+Krzysztof Putra, wicemarszałek Sejmu RP
+Krystyna Bochenek, wicemarszałek Senatu RP
+Jerzy Szmajdziński, wicemarszałek Sejmu RP
+Władysław Stasiak, szef Kancelarii Prezydenta RP
+Aleksander Szczygło, szef Biura Bezpieczeństwa Narodowego
+Paweł Wypych, sekretarz stanu w Kancelarii Prezydenta RP
+Stanisław Jerzy Komorowski, podsekretarz stanu w MON
+Tomasz Merta, podsekretarz stanu w Ministerstwie Kultury
+Maciej Płażyński, szef Stowarzyszenia Wspólna Polska
+Mariusz Kazana, dyrektor protokołu dyplomatycznego MSZ
+Gen. Franciszek GÄ…gor, szef sztabu generalnego WP
+Mariusz Handzlik, podsekretarz stanu w Kancelarii Prezydenta
+Andrzej Kremer (trzeci od lewej)- podsekretarz stanu w MSZ
+Andrzej Przewoźnik, sekretarz generalny Rady Ochrony Pamięci Walk i Męczeństwa
+Piotr Nurowski, prezes Polskiego Komitetu Olimpijskiego
+Janusz Kochanowski, rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich
+Prezes NBP SÅ‚awomir Skrzypek
+Janusz Kurtyka, prezes IPN
+Janusz Krupski, kierownik Urzędu ds. Kombatantów i Osób Represjonowanych
+Grzegorz Dolniak
+Leszek Deptuła
+Grażyna Gęsicka
+Przemysław Gosiewski
+Zbigniew Wassermann
+Sebastian Karpiniuk
+Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka
+Aleksandra Natali-Åšwiat
+Arkadiusz Rybicki
+Jolanta Szymanek-Deresz
+Wiesław Woda
+Edward Wojtas
+Janina Fetlińska
+Stanisław Zając
+Ks. bp gen. dywizji Tadeusz Płoski – ordynariusz polowy WP
+Miron Chodakowski – prawosławny ordynariusz WP
+Ks. płk. Adam Pilch – ewangelickie duszpasterstwo polowe
+Ks. ppłk. Jan Osiński, ordynariat polowy WP
+Ks. Prałat Bronisław Gostomski
+Ks. Józef Joniec
+Ks. Zdzisław Król
+Ks. Andrzej Kwaśnik
+Kapelan prezydenta ks. Roman Indrzejczyk
+Gen. broni Bronisław Kwiatkowski – dowódca Sił Operacyjnych
+Gen. Andrzej Błasik – dowódca Polskich Sił Powietrznych
+Gen. Tadeusz Buk – dowódca Polskich Sił Lądowych
+Gen. Włodzimierz Potasiński – dowódca Sił Specjalnych
+Wiceadmirał Andrzej Karweta – dowódca Marynarki Wojennej
+Gen. Kazimierz Gilarski – dowódca Garnizonu Warszawa
+Tadeusz Lutoborski
+Stefan Melak
+Stanisław Mikke
+Bronisława Orawiec -Loffler
+Katarzyna Piskorska
+Andrzej Sarjusz -SkÄ…pski
+Wojciech Seweryn
+Leszek Solski
+Teresa Walewska-Przyjałkowska
+Gabriela Zych
+Ewa BÄ…kowska
+Anna Maria Borowska
+Bartosz Borowski
+Edward Duchnowski
+Zenona Mamontowicz -Łojek
+Joanna Agacka Indecka
+Czesław Cywiński
+Ppłk. Zbigniew Dębski
+Katarzyna Doraczyńska
+Dariusz Jankowski
+Gen. bryg. Stanisław Komornicki
+Janusz Krupski
+Wojciech Lubiński
+Barbara Mamińska
+Janina Natusiewicz – Miller
+Ks. Ryszard Rumianek
+Izabela Tomaszewska
+Anna Walentynowicz
+Janusz Zakrzeński
+Jarosław Florczak
+Artur Francuz
+Paweł Janeczek
+Paweł Krajewski
+Piotr Nosek
+Jacek Surówka
+Marek Uleryk
+Dariusz Michałowski
+kpt. Arkadiusz Protasiuk,
+mjr Robert Grzywna
+Artur Ziętek
+Andrzej Michalak
+Barbara Maciejczyk
+Natalia Januszko
+Justyna Moniuszko.

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and may the perpetual light shine upon them.
May their soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Wieczne odpoczynek racz im dać Panie, a światłość wiekuista niechaj im świeci.
Niech odpoczywajÄ… w pokoju, Amen.

Åš + P Helen Jakubiak

It has pleased the Lord to call our sister, Åš.P. Helen Jakubiak, home to eternal life … Following a valiant health struggle, our sister Åš.P. Helen answered the call of her Lord and passed on to eternity on Monday of this past week.

A Funeral Holy Mass was celebrated at Lasak & Gigliotti Funeral Home in Albany. Internment was at Albany Rural Cemetery.

Eternal rest grant unto her O Lord and may the perpetual light shine upon her.
May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Wieczne odpoczynek racz jej dać Panie, a światłość wiekuista niechaj jej świeci.
Niech odpoczywajÄ… w pokoju, Amen.

Great Lent/Wielki Post – Devotion, prayer, sacrifice

This season of intimate reflection and time alone with the Lord comes each year in our faith walk. Within the forty days of this journey, the Church allows for communal prayer time.

The “Stations of the Cross” will be celebrated on Fridays, at 7 pm, to allow those who wish to meditate and reflect upon the sacrifice of our Lord to do so, again with respect to personal schedules.

Please consider adding your devotion to these weekly reflections.

It is the tradition of the Church that Wednesdays and Fridays are days of fasting and abstinence.

May We choose to walk with Jesus these forty days, and may His sacrifice lead us to greater glory with Him.