Novena to the Holy Spirit – Day 1

[To be used in preparation for the descent of the Holy Spirit upon our Confirmands and within our parish. This Prayer is to he said from Friday, September 10 – Saturday, September 18, 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 son 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
confirmation candidates: Celena, Hannah,
Jenna, Mark, Sebesany. Allow them to feel Your
presence within them.

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.

June Is Sacred Vocations Month

Each year during the month of June, the PNCC observes Sacred Vocations month. During this month, the Church reminds all of her faithful of the urgent need to pray for the gift of vocations to the Holy Orders. The Church asks all of us to offer special prayers to bless our Church with new vocations.

The purpose of this month of Sacred Vocations is to petition God, the Author of every vocation, to bless our Church with new priests and deacons who are blessed with strong faith, broad vision and solid academic background. PLEASE, PRAY FOR AN INCREASE VOCATIONS TO THE HOLY PRIESTHOOD of the Polish National Catholic Church.

Those interested should contact Fr. Stan.

On the faithful reception of the Holy Communion by Thomas à Kempis

When the faithful considers his numerous weaknesses and the grievous temptations which assail him, and recalls that Jesus invites and commands him to receive Holy Communion, he is filled with a holy confidence because he knows that he will receive the necessary help from this Celestial Food.

The frequent and daily reception of Holy Communion withdraws one from evil and comforts one in good, lt is food not only for the strong, but also the weak. It is food necessary to recuperate, conserve, increase and fortify the sanctity of our soul.

Knowing the necessity of preparing ourselves well to receive Holy Communion, let us ask Jesus to give us a lively faith, simplicity of heart, peace, zeal, fervor, confidence and especially humility and love of God. If we receive Holy Communion with these dispositions, our mind will be refreshed and illuminated, and our souls will be enriched with many graces and celestial favors.

Every day Jesus descends upon the altar at the words of the priest. All the faithful are, in a certain sense, priest, because they are members of the mystical Body of Christ and they are participators in offering, in union with the priest, with Jesus Christ and the Church,
the Holy Sacrifice of Mass. Let us unite ourselves to this offering and meditate on the necessity to bear our cross as Christ did.

The best preparation for Holy Communion is to elect Jesus as King of our heart. That is, make Him absolute ruler of us and make ourselves obedient to Him in all and never refuse Him anything.

First Communion Sunday plus Video

Welcome Loryn DonVito, Seth Garrison, Victoria Konicki, and Nylyse Rios into our Eucharistic family.

http://www.youtube.com/v/36PsiJZi3E8&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01

We gave a warm and joyful welcome to all the families and friends of our First Communion Class who came to join in this festive day. We acknowledged the many miles that have been traveled to our humble parish for all of those who joined in this celebration. We also affirmed your place in the hearts of our young people, as they knew you were present to celebrate this special day with them.

We continued in our fellowship as we assembled in the parish hall following the Mass to partake of some refreshment.

We, as a parish family, also celebrated this day, for we received into our Eucharistic family four of our younger sisters and brother who witnessed with us to the faith of Jesus as we approached the Sacrament of the Altar together.

Please know that you have the love and appreciation of the faith community here at Holy Name.

First Communion Sunday — Niedziela Pierwszego Komunia

Don’t forget to come and witness younger members of our parish family receive the Holy Eucharist for the first time in their young lives this coming Sunday, May 30th, during our regular Mass time.

What an exciting time for them, and for us, as we remember that holy time in our life when we first received Jesus. Let us celebrate as a family with our younger brethren.

Preparing the next generation of soldiers for Christ

ConfirmationTo prepare the next generation of soldiers for Christ, we need to begin our next formation program for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Therefore, on the eve of June 18th, at 7pm, we invite those that had been previously contacted, as well as all our youth who have completed 8th grade, to meet in preparation for this important sacrament.

During this kick-off meeting schedules will be discussed, we will introduce the scope of the program, and answer any questions you may have.

Our congregation is asked to add those of this group to its prayer list. It shall be our responsibility to provide good models of Catholic Christian lifestyles that we would want these young people to emulate.

Note: As always, those adults who have not as yet received this sacrament shall be summoned in a separate meeting and the procedure for their instruction will be addressed at that time.