St. Mary’s Parish
Polish National Catholic Church
365 Burrows Ave. Winnipeg, MB R2W 1Z9 • Tel. (204) 586-3825
Rev. Bob Kay – Administrator
Website: www.stmarypncc.ca
St Mary’s Parish, Polish National Catholic Church has been an integral part of the Winnipeg Community for the past 118 years. We hope to continue our growth in service to God and community. This commitment manifests itself in a regular devotional and prayer life and a greater participation in both ecumenical and community activities. At St. Mary’s Parish, our primary emphasis is on the Parish family.
All who belong sense this family spirit, expressed in a real love and concern for one another. Our pastor makes a point to know each family on a one-to one basis.
Thus the spiritual health and vitality of all parishioners and all our friends is supported by both pastor and laity. We invite you to join our Parish family! If you are looking for a Parish and are considering St. Mary’s, feel free to talk with any parishioner about it. We will introduce you to our family in all its wonderful aspects – a family whose real strength lies in our personal and real relationship to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. We express this faith in our Church through our liturgy which is Catholic and traditional, shared between priest and laity.
We demonstrate this faith in the prayerful material and emotional support we give one another. We share this faith in a Church rooted in democratic principles and a Church constitution giving laity full rights and due process in matters financial, administrative and material.
OUR PARISH…firm in faith, Catholic, democratic, and open to the growth that comes as more join our family.
MAKE YOURSELF RIGHT AT HOME!
XXIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME,
September 4, 2022
10:00AM – † Władysław, Józef Julia
BROTHERLY LOVE, September 11, 2022
10:00AM – † Marianna, Stanisław, Anna
XXV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME,
September 18, 2022
10:00AM – † Janina, Jan, Kukuła
XXVI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME,
September 25, 2022
10:00AM – † Zofia, Wojciech
SIGNIFICANCE CAMPAIGN
GIVING TO YOUR PARISH – SIGNIFICANCE CAMPAIGN
Earlier this year all parishioners received letter from Parish Chairman Ted Maciurzynski regarding 2022 Significance Campaign. This year we’ll focus on funding ongoing expenses – utilities, insurance, and taxes. Only these expenses cost us over $16,000 last year. Please help us! We are asking for financial help, because without these necessary expenses, the parish cannot exist. We cannot pay taxes, gas, hydro, water, or insurance. These expenses must be paid to keep the church open. As always, all donations to the Significance campaign stay in your church and all donations are fully tax deductible. Thank you to all who have donated to this campaign in past years. I know you will see the Significance of this campaign. This year, I encourage you to be generous and continue to demonstrate how Significant this church is for you.
SEPTEMBER 2021
September 8 – Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated at least by the sixth century, when St. Romanos the Melodist, an Eastern Christian who composed many of the hymns used in the Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies composed a hymn for the feast. The feast spread to Rome in the seventh century, but it was a couple more centuries before it was celebrated throughout the West.
The source for the story of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Protoevangelium of James, an apocryphal gospel written about A.D. 150. From it, we learn the names of Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anna, as well as the tradition that the couple was childless until an angel appeared to Anna and told her that she would
conceive. (Many of the same details appear also in the later apocryphal Gospel of the Nativity of Mary.)
The traditional date of the feast, September 8, falls exactly nine months after the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Perhaps because of its close proximity to the feast of the Assumption of Mary, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not celebrated today with the same solemnity as the Immaculate Conception. It is, nonetheless, a very important feast, because it prepares the way for the birth of Christ.
September 9 – Brotherly Love
The Solemnity of Brotherly Love is observed by the PNCC on the second Sunday of September. On this day members of the PNCC strive to increase their faith and spirituality, and their love for all God’s people, they express a desire to live daily the Two Commandments of Love.
This Solemnity was set aside by the Synod of our Church in Chicago in 1914. The General Synod established this day for the faithful of the Church in order to remember the great commandment of God that is to love your neighbor as you love yourself.
During the Holy Sacrifice of Mass on This solemnity, we read the Gospel except from Luke 10:25-37, the parable of the Good Samaritan. That parable begins when a 
lawyer stood up and began to test Jesus by asking Him – what must I do to inherit eternal life?
Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”
He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with your entire mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
And Jesus said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
And the lawyer then wanted to justify himself by asking,” Who is my neighbor?”
And we all know the rest of the story about the Samaritan man who had pity and assisted the man who was robbed and beaten and left by the roadside. The Samaritan was truly the neighbor of the victim who was robbed.
It is not every day that we have the opportunity to help someone who encountered such a situation as the man who was robbed. But, each and every one of us has numerous opportunities every day to show compassion and love toward others.
We can help people who are in need by praying for them and also by giving some material help.
Lots of people around us, members of our families, friends, and people who lost everything need our material and spiritual help. We have to remember them. We cannot leave them alone.
The Solemnity of Brotherly Love gives as hints and direction what we have to do and what is our Christian responsibility for each other.
We must remember what Jesus said in today’s Gospel – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus once said, “do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12). We call it the Golden Rule, and like everything that is golden, we seldom use it in life. Yes. We would love to act like the Good Samaritan, but it is too demanding and time consuming. We have to get out of the crowd, risk unexpected consequences, and spend our resources. Yes. It is risky; it is demanding. But, is there an alternative? Rushing to our business, experiencing the compassion fatigue or even feeling hopeless at the amount of pain and suffering around us are poor excuses from getting involved to help others. A Chinese proverb says that “a single spark can start a bush fire.” We may not be able to change the world, but we surely can save somebody’s life. Besides, let us not forget this simple truth. One day it will be us who will cry for help, and we would love to see others getting involved.
September 14 – Exaltation of the Holy Cross
On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (or Triumph of the Cross) we honor the Holy Cross by which Christ redeemed the world. The public veneration of the Cross of Christ originated in the fourth century, according to early accounts. The miraculous discovery of the cross on September 14, 326, by Saint Helen, mother of Constantine, while she was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, is the origin of the tradition of celebrating the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on this date. Constantine later built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the site of her discovery of the cross. On this same pilgrimage she ordered two other churches built: one in Bethlehem near the Grotto of the Nativity, the other on the Mount of the Ascension, near Jerusalem.
In the Western Church the feast came into prominence in the seventh century — after 629, when the Byzantine emperor Heraclitus restored the Holy Cross to Jerusalem, after defeating the Persians who had stolen it.
Christians “exalt” (raise on high) the Cross of Christ as the instrument of our salvation. Adoration of the Cross is, thus, adoration of Jesus Christ, the God Man, who suffered and died on this Roman instrument of torture for our redemption from sin and death. The cross represents the One Sacrifice by which Jesus, obedient even unto death, accomplished our salvation. The cross is a symbolic summary of the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ — all in one image.
The Cross — because of what it represents — is the most potent and universal symbol of the Christian faith. It has inspired both liturgical and private devotions: for example, the Sign of the Cross, which is an invocation of the Holy Trinity; the “little” Sign of the Cross on head, lips and heart at the reading of the Gospel; praying the Stations (or Way) of the Cross; and the Veneration of the Cross by the faithful on Good Friday by kissing the feet of the image of Our Savior crucified.
Placing a crucifix (the cross with an image of Christ’s body upon it) in churches and homes, in classrooms of Catholic schools and in other Catholic institutions, or 
wearing this image on our persons, is a constant reminder — and witness — of Christ’s ultimate triumph, His victory over sin and death through His suffering and dying on the Cross.
We remember Our Lord’s words, “He who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake shall find it” (Mt 10:38,39). Meditating on these words we unite ourselves — our souls and bodies — with His obedience and His sacrifice; and we rejoice in this inestimable gift through which we have the hope of salvation and the glory of everlasting life.
September 21 – Matthew, Apostle/Evangelist
St. Matthew was born at Capernaum. He was working as a tax collector when Jesus called him to be one of the twelve apostles. He wrote his gospel in Hebrew. His gospel, with its familiar references to the messianic prophecies, throws light on the continuity between the covenants. Moreover, his vocation is one of the most popular episodes in the life of Jesus, because of the personality of the one called the tax collector and the revelation of redeeming love that concludes and crowns the story. Matthew’s position as tax collector equated with collaboration with the enemy by those from whom he collected taxes. Jesus’ contemporaries were surprised to see Christ with a traitor, but Jesus explained that he had come “not to call the just, but sinners.”
“Mark and Luke call Matthew by his Jewish name Levi and Mark says that he was “the son of Alphaeus” (Mark 2:14). He may have been the brother of James, who is also called the “the son of Alphaeus” (Mark 3:18). The name Matthew means “gift of Yahweh” and it is possible that he was given this name when he followed Jesus.
Because of his profession, Jews of strict observance would have nothing to do with him, for he fell under a religious ban. He was despised by the Pharisees who hated all publicans (tax collectors for the Romans). Therefore, his response to the call of Jesus to follow him is all the more remarkable, as he stood up at once, “leaving everything behind” (Luke 5: 28).
Matthew’s Gospel is given pride of place in the canon of the New Testament, and was written to convince Jewish readers that their anticipated Messiah had come in the person of Jesus. He preached among the Jews for 15 years; his audiences may have included the Jewish enclave in Ethiopia, and places in the East.
In art, St. Matthew is represented by an angel holding a pen or an inkwell.
Saint Matthew is the patron of: accountants, bankers, bookkeepers, customs officers, financial officers, guards, money managers, Salerno, Italy, security forces, security guards, stockbrokers, tax collectors, the diocese of Trier, Germany.
September 29 – Michael, Archangel
St. Michael, who ranks among the seven archangels, is also one of the three angels mentioned by name in the Scriptures, the others being St. Raphael and St. Gabriel. St. Michael is spoken of twice in the Old Testament, and twice in the New. The first reference occurs in the Book of Daniel, where Michael comes to comfort Daniel after he has had a vision, and promises to be his helper in all things. In chapter 12 Michael is called “the great prince, who protects your people”. In these references Michael is represented as Israel’s great support during the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity. Daniel, wise and holy leader that he was, wanted his people to understand that God had not forgotten them, and that, even though enslaved, they had a royal champion. In the New Testament (Jude 9), we are told that Michael disputed with the devil over the body of Moses; this episode is not mentioned elsewhere in the Bible.
In the Apocalypse (chapter 12) we find the most dramatic reference to St. Michael. 
Here John recounts the great battle in Heaven, when the wicked angels under Lucifer revolt against God, and how Michael, leading the faithful angels, defeats the hosts of evil and drives them out. Because of this victory, St. Michael is revered in Catholic tradition and liturgy as the protector of the Church, as once he was regarded as the protector of the Israelites. In the Eastern Church, as well as among many theologians in the West, St Michael is placed over all the angels, as prince of the Seraphim. He is the special patron of sick people, mariners, and grocers; in Asia Minor many curative springs were dedicated to him. His cult has also been popular in Egypt, Rome, France, and Germany. His emblems are a banner, a sword, a dragon, and scales. The name Michael is a variation of Micah, meaning in Hebrew, “Who is like God?”
COMMEMORATING THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED IN THE ST. MARY`S CEMETERY (PERPETUAL CARE)
We have been asked to keep the following people in our prayers: Michael Prach, Helena & Mikołaj Benczarski, Christina Walton, Helen Chmielowiec, Walter & Stella Maciurzynski, Konstanty Jackiewicz, Very Rev. Waclaw Cwieka, Christine Maciurzynski, Marianna Janiszewska, Anne & Marion Tylipski, Jessie Chorniuk, Walter Fedon, Frank Favoni, Frank Payonk, Veronica Sosnowski, Eleanore Dutkevich, Rev. Tadeusz Czelen, Josephine Bahry, Lorraine Mocarski
BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES
September Birthdays: Dzwonek Zygmunt /06/, Gatiwan Ivy /11/, Fedon Donna /14/, Mischuk Myron /19/, Janecki Piotr /20/, Madayag Imelda /25/, Runez Bianca /26/, Peltier Randy /29/, Janecki Zofia /30/, Peltier Logan /30/
September Wedding Anniversary: Mischuk Myron & Katie /01/, Peltier Randy & Cheryl /05/, Cabanlong Mark & Sharon /27/, Runez Jasper & Bianca /28/
DAILY INTERCESSION FOR OUR SICK AND HOMEBOUND
The following are our brothers and sisters of St. Mary`s who are currently homebound, suffering from chronic illness, in recovery or in need of special prayers. Especially:
Sofia Wolejszo, Chantalle Witon, Helena Wolejszo, Lloyd Mazur, Myron Mischuk, Bernice Payonk, Rose Budzinski, Sofia Gryz, Halina and Edward Mandat, Janina Dzwonek, Mary Skrypetz, Patricia and Claude Caya, Lorraine Fedon, Helen Krokosh, Josie Jackiewicz, Mary Golembioski, Larry Golembioski, Brenda Owsianyk, Emily Wasney, Martin Mikolajczyk, Donna Fedon, Gail Grywinski, Lena Skrzenta, Grażyna Markiewicz, Zofia Janecki, Epitacia Nyoluk
Dear God. Hear our prayers for the sick members of our community and for all who are in special need at this time. Amid mental and physical suffering, may they find consolation in Your healing presence. Show Your mercy as You close wounds, cure illness, make broken bodies whole and free downcast spirits. May these special people find lasting health and deliverance, and with them, may we thank You for all Your gifts. We ask this through the Lord Jesus who healed those who believed. Amen.
MEMBERSHIP IN THE POLISH NATIONAL CATHOLIC CHURCH
I have been receiving quite a few questions lately regarding the benefits of paid membership in the Polish National Catholic Church. According to the Constitution of the PNCC, there are 2 levels of membership: what is commonly referred to as Membership of the Baptized and Full Membership. Membership of the Baptized consists of attendance and support of the local PNCC parish. This includes participation in the Sacraments, activities and so forth. Full membership includes the paying of dues to the General Church and Diocese. With this comes the ability to participate fully in the life and governance of the Parish and General Church. One is allowed to vote at the Parish Annual meeting, run for Parish Committee, Diocesan and General Church offices and join fully in building the Polish National Catholic Church.
Also, as a matter of justice, we who fully believe in the mission and existence of the PNCC have an obligation to support it at all levels. As a Democratic Church, all levels of the Church are supported solely by the members. Not only the bills of the parish, which should be taken care of by each family’s tithe each week, but the Diocese, who oversees the parishes of each region, and the General Church, need to be funded by the dues that are paid by the members of each parish. I would encourage each person who hasn’t already done so to either pay their dues or arrange a payment plan with Maria Germinario, whom you can talk to confidentially about this. As a Democratic Church, we have both rights and obligations. The dues are an obligation that we have to insure our continued existence. If you have not yet done so, please see me for information on becoming a member. There are many benefits for both you and the parish, so plan on talking to Fr. Czelen soon!
MEMBERSHIP
If you have not paid you 2022 Parish Membership Dues, please do so by the end of the year. Dues are $100.00 Per year for adult members. Until now only 15 people have paid memberships.
FALL DINNER
Our Fall Dinner will be held on Sunday, October 30th, 2022. Tickets cost $20.00 each. Please advertise our dinner within family and friends.
OUR PARISH CEMETERY
St. Mary’s Cemetery
Thank you to all the individuals who have helped us to continue what has been an incredibly challenging task of maintaining our Parish Cemetery. None of it would have been possible without your encouragement, your advocacy for us, and your practical and financial support.
However, we need your continued support in order to preserve this beautiful site.
The cemetery is an irreplaceable part of our cultural heritage, but many of the historic and artistic grave markers are endangered as a result of serious vandalism and neglect. Although Cemetery is owned and managed by St. Mary’s Parish, grave markers are private property, and owners are accountable for repair and maintenance.
Some family members have faithfully overseen the upkeep of their loved ones’ graves for many years. However, as families have moved away and descendants have passed on, a number of graves have been neglected. A great deal of professional and volunteer conservation work has been performed on damaged headstones, but every year additional grave markers are affected by problems associated with age, ground settling, and vandalism.
Parish Cemetery has come a long way, but there is still much work to be done. Your tax-deductible contribution will help us to preserve this cultural treasure by providing funds to help pay for much-needed conservation work on the grave markers, as well as provide necessary tools, equipment and other improvements in the historic cemetery.
Please include your name and address with your donation so that we can send an acknowledgment letter and tax deduction information.
Your gifts are very important to the operation of the cemetery. Each donation, no matter how large or small, makes a difference. We work to keep expenses down, and with your help we’ll continue to have a beautiful historic cemetery. One of the nicest things you can do to honor those buried in the cemetery is to make a donation to St. Mary’s Cemetery for the maintenance and upkeep of their final resting place.
Thank you for your concern and support.
“I encourage you to choose the Catholic cemetery of St. Mary’s as your final resting place. Here you will find the church praying for and remembering our beloved dead surrounded by beauty and symbols of our faith. Here you will find hope knowing death is not the end but a means to eternal life”.
LEST WE FAIL TO REMEMBER:
SEPTEMBER 1, 1939
On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany launched an invasion of Poland. Two days later, Polish allies Britain and France declared war on Germany, marking the start of World War II.
In the early morning hours, 1.5 million German troops invaded Poland by air and by land, unleashing the first “blitzkrieg,” a strategy meaning “lightning war.” Planes, tank and air forces were deployed with stunning speed, and troops destroyed railroads and communications stations, infiltrated strongholds by posing as Polish military officers, and killed enemies with explosives, guns and even sabers.
Hours after the attack, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler went before the Reichstag and claimed that Germany had launched an attack in response to Polish 
aggressiveness. “For the first time Polish regular soldiers fired on our own territory,” he said. “Since 5:45 a.m. we have been returning the fire, and from now on bombs will be met with bombs.”
France and England declared war against Germany on September 3, but their support was nominal at best. Neither country deployed significant military forces until the next year, leaving Poland alone in its defense.
Although it had an army of more than 700,000, Poland was unprepared for the blitzkrieg tactics. Its army was built around the tactics of World War I and it could not deploy its troops quickly enough to defend against the more powerful German forces.
Any hopes of repelling the invasion were dashed on September 17, when the Soviet Red Army invaded from east. Many Polish soldiers fled to Romania and formed resistance forces. By the end of September, Germany and the Soviet Union had control of the country. The last organized Polish resistance was defeated on October 6.
A song of the soldiers of Westerplatte
by Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński (1905-1953)
-translated by Walter Whipple
When their days had been filled
and it was time to die in the summer,
They went straight to heaven in a coach-and-four,
the soldiers of Westerplatte.
(Summer was beautiful that year.)
They sang: “Ah, ‘tis nothing
that our wounds were so painful,
for now it is sweet to walk
the heavenly fields.”
(On earth that year there was plenty of heather for bouquets.)
In Gdansk we stood like a wall
in defiance of the German offensive,
now we soar among the clouds,
we soldiers of Westerplatte.
Those with keen sense of sight
and sound are said to have heard
in the clouds the measured step
of the Maritime Batallion.
This was the song they heard: “We’ll
take advantage of the sunshine
and bask in the warm days
in the heather fields of paradise.
But when the cold wind blows
and sorrow courses the earth,
We’ll float down to the center of Warsaw,
The soldiers of Westerplatte.”
