"I+YOU=WE" in Gietrzwald, Poland

March 29, 2015 7:23 pm

I am so happy when the Programs are held under the special care of Our Lady. The story behind Our Lady of Gietrzwald reminds me of that connected with Our Lady of Guadalupe where the Mother of God spoke to St. Juan Diego in nahuatl–the native language of the Indians. Warmia and Gietrzwald were conquered by Prussia, and Bismarck decided that the “two eternal enemies of German-protestant Prussia,” the Roman Catholic Church and the Poles, were to be eliminated. Our Lady revealed herself in the time of “Kulturkampf” when both the pastoral activities of the Church and the Polish language were banned; every evening between June 27 and September 16, 1887, during the rosary prayers, she spoke in the local dialect of Polish. Since she appeared to two little girls (and blessed a spring whose waters later healed the ill), the shrine is called “the Polish Lourdes,” and the same as at Lourdes and Fatima, she encouraged people to pray the rosary.

St. John Paul II, when he announced the Year of the Rosary, also recommended this prayer as a rescue for families and the way to experience peace in the world.
We’re happy to take this frequently repeated invitation of Our Lady to heart, and we surround the Program and the families who are taking part in it with a devoted rosary prayer. The Holy Family wants to invite every family to their home in Nazareth, so that the couples may renew the grace of the Sacrament of Marriage.
We’re happy to host so many young couples here. It is a great joy that the young people are willing to nurture their marriages and devote a significant amount of time to discover again their depth.

Thank you for all the signs of prayer support for us.

Praying with my heart for you at Our Lady’s place
Fr. Jay

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Categorised in: Fr Jarosław Szymczak