From the Pastor

Wypominki – Remembrance of the Faithful Departed

Christian witness, From the Pastor, Parish Life, PNCC, Prayer /

Dear Parishoners and Friends,

May Jesus Christ Be Praised…both now and forever!
Niech bÄ™dzie pochwalony Jezus Chrystus….na wieki wieków…Amen.

This message comes to you after a very successful Harvest Festival Celebration (Dożynki), which was held Sunday, September 30th at our parish’s Pulaski Park which is found directly adjacent to our parish cemetery grounds. The park and cemetery as well has been brought back into excellent condition thanks to the efforts of the men of the parish. About 65 people attended the event which drew people from as far away as Washington D.C. Holy Mass at the cemetery altar preceded a Polish dinner. A procession with symbolic harvest produce then took place to the picnic area thus officially opening the dinner. A wonderful time was had by all and we look forward to next year’s celebration.

As the days of October pass and the days grow shorter and the colors of autumn take hold, our thoughts turn to the Commemoration of All Souls and to those who have preceded us in holy death. It is these souls whose memory we wish to remember during the month of November according to age old Catholic custom…a custom known as “wypominki.”

If you would like the souls of loved ones to be remembered during the Commemoration of All Souls and for the entire month of November, please send the names of these loved ones along with your offering to the parish. Aside from remembrance at the Holy Masses of November, these special intentions will be remembered at the annual procession and blessing of the cemetery to be held on November 11th at 2 P.M.

Of course the most precious gift to our faith community is you and your attendance at Holy Mass and planned events. But in the event you are unable to attend the Masses and events mentioned above, we ask that you remember the parish in your prayers and also with the financial support in the form of dues and contributions which are so necessary for the maintenance of our parish life.

God’s richest blessings on you all! Bóg zapłać!

Sincerely yours in Chirst,

Fr. Gregory Mikula
Fr. Andrew Bilinski
St. Valentine’s P.N.C.C. Parish Committee

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“My God, I know this place. I am home.” (Reflection for All Souls Day)

Christian witness, From the Pastor, Parish Life, Prayer /

Why do Catholic Christians commemorate the dead during the month of November? The feast of All Souls and the month of November is a source of consolation for each of us. If our hearts are broken and suffering about the loss of loved ones, or if we are dealing with unresolved issues about good-byes that were not said, peace that was not made, gratitude that was not expressed, let us ask the faithful departed to intercede for us and for our own peace. The consoling doctrine of the Communion of Saints allows us to feel ever close to those who have died and gives us much hope in moments of despair and sadness. I share with you two texts that have remained with me throughout my priestly life. In his little book Enounters with Silence, the great Jesuit theologian Fr. Karl Rahner, wrote about those who have died:

That’s why our heart is with them now, our loved ones who have taken leave of us. There is no substitute for them; there are no others who can fill the vacancy when one of those whom we really love suddenly and unexpectedly departs and is with us no longer. In true love no one can replace another, for true love loves the other person in that depth where he is uniquely and irreplaceably himself. And thus, as death has trodden roughly through our lives, every one of the departed has taken a piece of our hearts with them– and often enough– our whole heart. Many people have asked me to tell them about heaven and the afterlife. I sometimes smile at the request because I do not know any more than they do. Yet, when one young man asked if I looked forward to being united with God and all those who have gone before me, I made a connection to something I said earlier in this book.

In his book “The gift of peace: personal reflections,” Joseph Bernardin wrote about those who have died:

The first time I traveled with my mother and sister to my parents’ homeland of Tonadico di Primiero, in northern Italy, I felt as if I had been there before. After years of looking through my mother’s photo albums, I knew the mountains, the land, the houses, the people. As soon as we entered the valley, I said, “My God, I know this place. I am home.” Somehow I think crossing from this life into eternal life will be similar. I will be home.

May I suggest that each of you do the following during these days of November:

Spend some time reflecting on those who have been close to you, who have died, and are now with the Lord. Slowly read this scripture passage — Wisdom 3:1-3: “But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace.” Remember one person close to you who has died. Bring this person’s image into your mind’s eye. As you remember his or her life, imagine the Lord Jesus escorting the person into heaven at the time of death. Finally, imagine this loved one waiting for you. Know that when your time of passing comes, the Lord and your loved ones who have gone before you will escort you into the kingdom of heaven. End your short remembering with this prayer: Lord, you are the resurrection and the life. You promised that whoever believes in you will never die. Lord, through the power of your rising, help me believe in my own resurrection. Amen.

May we spend our earthly pilgrimage filling our minds with the thoughts of heaven, so that when we finally cross over into eternal life, the images we see may not be foreign or strange. Let us pray that we, too, may be able to say: “My God, I know this place. I am home.”

Anyone wishing to submit the names of departed family or friends “WYPOMINKI” to be read and prayed for at our All Saints and All Souls Day Services are asked to return the envelope with the names which has been sent to your homes or give a list of those you would like remembered in prayer to Father Krzysztof.

Schedule for the Holy Days:

Sunday – October 30, 2011

8:00 a.m. – Polish language Holy Mass/Msza ÅšwiÄ™ta & prayers for our deceased, “Wypominki”
9:30 a.m. – High Holy Mass & prayers for our deceased, “Wypominki”
2:00 p.m. – Prayers for our dearly deceased will be held at Parish Cemetery in Andalusia, PA.

“My God, I know this place. I am home.” (Reflection for All Souls Day) Read More »

Wedding Announcement and Invitation

From the Pastor, Parish Life, PNCC, Prayer /

Rev. and Mrs. Krzystof Mendelewski request the honour of your presence at the uniting of their daughter Ewelina to Mr. Maxim Filyushchenko in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony on Saturday, the tenth of September two thousand eleven at five o’clock in the afternoon. Reception to follow.

St. Valentine’s Polish National Catholic Church
2330 Margaret Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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St. Valentine’s Family Picnic/Piknik Rodzinny

From the Pastor, Parish Life, St. Valentine /

Everyone is invited to participate in our annual family picnic on Sunday, September 18th from 1pm till dusk. The picnic will be held at the St. Valentine’s Picnic Grounds in Andalusia (875 Mill Road, Bensalem, PA 19020).

We will have games, raffles, music, and plenty of family fun. A full menu of Homemade Polish Foods is available including pierogi, kapusta, kiełbasa, and gołąbki. We will have hotgogs, hamburgers and all your picnic favorites. You can even pre-order pierogi for your Wigilia table. Take out orders are available.

Requested donation of $5 per adult. Kids under 12 free. No donation for those requesting a take-out order only.

For more information please contact the parish office at 215-535-4978 or 215-632-1816. Thank you.

Serdecznie zapraszamy na Piknik Rodzinny, 18 wrzesieÅ„a 2011, godz. 13.00 – 19.00.

Piknik odbędzie się w Park św. Walentego w Andaluzji (875 Mill Road, Filadelfia, PA 19020).

Na pikniku czeka nas wiele atrakcji dla całych rodzin!!! Nie może zabraknąć Ciebie i Twojej Rodziny na tym wydarzeniu!!!

Po informacja prosimy dzwonic do plebania na 215-535-4978 lub 215-632-1816.


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Blessed Easter Food, the Święconka

Christian witness, From the Pastor, PNCC /

The blessing of the Easter food, or the “ÅšwiÄ™conka” is a tradition dear to the heart of every Pole. Being deeply religious, he is grateful to God for all His gifts of both nature and grace, and, as a token of this gratitude, has the food of his table sanctified with the hope that spring, the season of the Resurrection, will also be blessed by God’s goodness and mercy.

The usual fare on the Easter table includes ham and kielbasa, cakes of all kinds – particularly babka; eggs – some shelled or some decorated. There is usually a Paschal Lamb or “Baranek” made of butter, some cheese, horseradish, salt, vinegar and oil.

The food is brought to the church and blessed by the parish priest on Holy Saturday. The food can also be blessed in the home. After the blessing, the food is usually set aside until Easter morning when the head of the house shares the blessed egg, symbol of life, with family and friends. Having exchanged wishes, all continue to enjoy a hearty meal.

This centuries old custom is indeed richly symbolic and beautiful. It is one in which the whole family can participate and help prepare. May this tradition endure for many generations to come.

All of you can enjoy this beautiful Polish custom by participating at the blessing of the Easter food “Swieconka” at the Polish church nearest you. This is an excellent way to teach the younger members of your family about this treasured Polish tradition.

The Traditional “Easter Basket”

MasÅ‚o (Butter) – This dairy product is often shaped into a lamb (Baranek Wielkanocny) or a cross. This reminds us of the good will of Christ that we should have towards all things.

Babka (Easter Bread) – A round or long loaf topped with a cross or a fish, symbolic of Jesus, who is the Bread of Life.

Chrzan (Horseradish) – Symbolic of the Passion of Christ still in our minds.

Jajka (Eggs) and Pisanki (decorated with symbols of Easter, of life, of prosperity) – Indicates new life and Christ’s Resurrection from the tomb.

KieÅ‚basa (Sausage) – A sausage product, symbolic of God’s favor and generosity.

Szynka (Ham) – Symbolic of great joy and abundance. Some prefer lamb or veal. The lamb also reminds Christians that the Risen Christ is the “Lamb of God.”

SÅ‚onina (Smoked Bacon) – A symbol of the overabundance of God’s mercy and generosity.

Sol (Salt) – A necessary element in our physical life. Symbolic of prosperity and justice and to remind us that people are the flavor of the earth.

Ser (Cheese) – Symbolic of the moderation Christians should have at all times.

Candle – Represents Christ as the Light of the World.

Colorful Ribbons and Sprigs of Greenery – are attached to the basket as signs of joy and new life in the season of spring and in celebration of the Resurrection.

Linen Cover – drawn over the top of the basket which is ready for the priest’s visit to the home or the trip to church where it is joined with the baskets of others to await the blessing. The food is then set aside and enjoyed on Easter Sunday.

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Preparing for the Greatest Day

From the Pastor /

It is my prayer that our Parish and each of us will grow in our spiritual life during this season of Lent
May God bless us in our preparation to celebrate The Resurrection of the Lord

Easter is not just a day (Easter Sunday); no, in the Church Year, Easter is a season (commonly referred to as Eastertide), lasting 50 days, where the Church’s celebration focuses on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the words of the most recent edition of the Covenant Book of Worship, Eastertide is “the most festive of all seasons because Jesus is alive and death has been conquered. This is critical because the Christian hope of eternal life is contingent upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

One of the ways we Christians who follow the Church Year have gotten a bit off track is by how Advent / Christmas has supplanted the Easter season as the most important season in the year. I suspect this has as much to do with being barraged by our consumerist culture and overwhelmed by the amount and expectations that accrue to our family traditions, festivities, and the like, as it has to do with our theology. However, it is easier to make more palatable and appealing a miracle baby in a manger than it is an emaciated innocent martyr on a cross.

New Testament scholar and churchman N.T. Wright states “… Christmas itself has now far outstripped Easter in popular culture as the real celebratory center of the Christian year – a move that completely reverse the New Testament’s emphasis. We sometimes try, in hymns, prayers, and sermons, to build a whole theology on Christmas, but it can’t in fact sustain such a thing. We then keep Lent, Holy Week, and Good Friday so thoroughly that we have hardly any energy left for Easter except the first night and day. Easter, however, should be the center. Take that away and there is, almost literally, nothing left.” (from Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright, p. 23, 2008).

I agree. When N.T. Wright says without Easter there is nothing left, he means that without the bodily resurrection of Jesus, we have no hope. Wright is echoing Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:14, where the Apostle states that “… if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” Useless… without value… kaput!

BUT, because Jesus has been raised, gloriously resurrected, we should embrace and, dare I say, bask in the joy of the Easter season! Our worship should be particularly joyous. Our lives filled with wonder, awe and gratitude at the marvel of God’s salvation that Christ’s resurrection secures. Easter joy should permeate all the other seasons of the Church Year (therefore, the entirety of our lives) and give them their definition. And that’s true even of Lent.

For even Lent, the most penitential and reflective season of self-examination and self denial is 40 week days. Lent, technically, does not include the Sundays that occur during its season. Why? Because every Sunday in the year is the day we celebrate Christ’s resurrection. Resurrection joy always trumps even the deepest sorrow and sadness of sin.

So, don’t shortchange yourself this Easter season. Enter fully into all the joy and wonder and redeeming power and grace of Christ’s resurrection. Let that reality inform and shape the entirety of not only this year, but all your days!

Have a blessed and Happy Easter. Yours in the Love of Christ,

Fr. Krzysztof M. Mendelewski – Pastor of St. Valentine’s PNCC

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Lent

From the Pastor, Parish Life /

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ash Wednesday marks the start of our preparation period. The journey begins with contrition, owning up to our sin and brokenness, and evaluating the state of our relationship with God. Ash Wednesday, by its very name, reminds us of our mortality. We are created from dust, and to dust we shall return. Therefore, when we pass on to the other side and we stand before God, we may be asked to give an account of our lives.

Ash Wednesday, March 9th, Holy Mass with the blessing and distribution of ashes will take place at 12 (noon) and 7 p.m.

Fasting and abstinence – we have to eat only one full meal and 2 small ones. Of course meals have to be meatless. (on Ash Wednesday & Good Friday and all Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent).

Lent is a season of the Christian year whose name comes from the Latin for “lengthening of days.” Lent is for preparation, a journey of preparing our souls to encounter the amazing mystery of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. Easter can never mean quite as much without the journey through Lent.

Lent compels us to return to Christian discipline and to make time for genuine spiritual care for ourselves. Lent is a time to center our thoughts on God and to remember that we are spiritual people on a physical journey. What stands in your way of a closer walk with our Lord Jesus?

During these days of Lent, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus. Let us support each other in our joys and sorrows, and in the challenges we face. Remembering the words of Psalm 46, “God is our refuge and strength ….a very present help in times of trouble.”

Let us turn to the Lord, our refuge and strength. Let us walk together in peace and love.

We will be meeting at 7 p.m. on Friday nights during Lent for a special Lenten Devotion – The way of the Cross. (Droga Krzyzowa). All are invited, so please join us.

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New Parish Committee Elections

From the Pastor, Parish Life, PNCC /

On March 20th, this year we elect the New Parish Committee for 2011 following 9:30 Mass.

I hope that you are aware that your attendance on this meeting will testify to your maturity and responsibility. If you as the members of the PNCC, and as the parishioners of the Saint Valentine Church, you will live and work according to teachings of Jesus, and will propagate the democratic principles of Christ. You may then be assured of His presence, help and cooperation. If we gather for common prayer, tasks or efforts; if we will work and struggle for His Holy Cause; Jesus, our Master, Jesus our Leader and Jesus our Savior, will sustain us. For our work is His work; our toil, His toil. Jesus is with us. He wants to help us. We must work together the young parishioners and aged parishioners, Parish Committee members and the rest of parishioners. Because the Church is a Body of Christ, in the church is Jesus Christ, the Church is His, and He is ours. Let us pray together, let us work together. Come, and testify that You are responsible for St. Valentine’s Church.

As a Pastor of Parish I want you to know, that Parish is a Community of people who believe in One God in The Holy Trinity and worship God together as a Assembly minimum once a week on Sunday. This is the reason of existence of Parish.

In St. Valentine’s Parish are three categories of people:

  1. parishioners who use Church as a holy ground for prayer and worship; listening the Words of God and receive Holy Sacraments; and also they take care of material matters of parish, paying dues, offerings and support parish organizing and participating in many fundraiser events.
  2. parishioners who are shut-ins, or aged, and who support Parish according to their means and abilities. Also parishioners who only pay dues and offerings, but they never or very rarely attend church; probably keeping their membership for funerals or other events of life (weddings, Baptisms, First Holy Communions, etc.)
  3. people who don’t pay dues, who are like sympathizers of parish, and make offering in support.

According to the Constitution of Polish National Catholic Church, every year is called Parish Meeting to elect a Parish Committee. The Parish Committee together with Pastor has to manage and develop Parish, taking care of parish finance and properties.

Who is able to be elected as a parish committee member? Only parishioner who belong to the first category: true parishioner/members who use Church as a holy ground for prayer and worship; listening the Words of God and receive Holy Sacraments; and also they take care of materials matters of parish, paying dues, offerings and support parish organizing and participating in many fundraiser events.

The lot of St. Valentine’s Church, depends on you, your presence at the Parish Annual Meeting will be expected and is very necessary.

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Åš+P Rev. E. Owen Groman

From the Pastor, PNCC, Prayer /

Rev. Owen Groman passed away January 14th, 2011; Funeral Mass in his memory: January 29th (Saturday) at 11 a.m. at St. Valentine’s Church, following interment at St. Valentine’s Cemetery in Andalusia, 875 Mill Road, Bansalem, Pa.

Fr. Groman was very well known among Polonia, especially as musican director of the “Janosik” dance group. May Your servant and priest Owen rest in peace O Lord!

From The Burlington County Times:

The Rev. E. Owen Groman, of Wilmington, N.C., formerly of Riverton, died Friday, Jan. 14, 2011.

A graduate of Palmyra High School, Rutgers University, the Savonarola Theological Seminary in Scranton, Pa., and the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., the Rev. Groman served as pastor of several parishes and missions throughout the eastern United States for more than 30 years, in both the Polish National Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church.

He was preceded in death by his father, Edward. He is survived by his wife, Joanne, of Wilmington, N.C.; daughter, Marcyanna of Frostburg, Md.; mother, Wanda Groman of Riverton; father-in-law, Joe Samarra of North Carolina; sister, Victoria Kristian of Pennsauken; brother, Mark Groman of Delran, several cousins, nieces and nephews; and many close friends and professional associates who valued his capacity for compassion and understanding.

Relatives and friends are invited to gather at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Valentine Polish National Catholic Church, 2330 Margaret St., Philadelphia, where the funeral Mass will follow at 11 a.m. Interment will be in St. Valentine Cemetery, Andalusia.

Arrangements by the Slabinski Funeral Home, Philadelphia

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