ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN OCTOBER
Saints celebrated on the 19th of October
BLESSED JERZY POPIELUSZKO, PRIEST AND MARTYR
Blessed Jerzy was born in 1947 in the village of Okopy in Eastern Poland. He was from a strong Roman Catholic family. After finishing at his secondary school Blessed Jerzy entered the seminary at Warsaw. His studies for the priesthood were interrupted for two years for military service, during which he was often beaten for living out his Catholic faith.
After ordination to the priesthood Blessed Jerzy was given several appointments before his final appointment to the parish of St Stanislas Kostka in Warsaw, where he also worked with medical personnel. Blessed Jerzy was asked to organise the medical teams during the visit of Pope John Paul II to Poland and Warsaw.
August 1980 saw the beginning of the Solidarity trade union in Poland. Workers from the Warsaw steel plant, who were on strike in support of the shipyards on the Baltic Sea, requested a priest to say a Mass for them. Blessed Jerzy responded to this call and stayed with the workers day and night. Solidarity represented for him a vision of spiritual freedom amidst physical enslavement. It was this vision of the truth about the vocation of every man and woman which Blessed Jerzy promoted amongst the workers by his presence.
On 13th December 1981, the communist authorities imposed martial law, arresting many Solidarity activists and launching a programme of harassment and retaliation against others. Many who had been on strike lost their jobs. Blessed Jerzy became an important focus in a welfare programme to support families affected by martial law. He regularly attended trials of Solidarity activists, sitting with their families, so that the prisoners knew they were not forgotten.
It was in the courtroom that Blessed Jerzy had the idea of celebrating a monthly Mass for the Country and those imprisoned. These Masses were not to be political demonstrations, but peaceful occasions with no banners or slogans. Blessed Jerzy was neither a social or political activist, but a Catholic priest faithful to the Gospel of Jesus. The communists saw Blessed Jerzy as an enemy because he freed people from their fear of their totalitarian system based on terror and intimidation. He exposed the hypocrisy of the communist regime.
On 19th October 1984, Blessed Jerzy was kidnapped by security agents on his way back to Warsaw. He was savagely beaten, and his body was tied in such a way that he would strangle himself by moving. His weighted body was then thrown into a deep reservoir. His killers carried out their task in such a brutal way, showing their hatred for the priest and the Catholic faith. On 30th October Blessed Jerzy’s body was found in the freezing waters of a reservoir near Wloclawek. Blessed Jerzy’s Funeral Mass was attended by over 400.000 people and became a massive demonstration against communism. Solidarity members turned out from around Poland despite the martial law. Blessed Jerzy was buried in the front yard of his parish church and since that day over 17 million people have visited his tomb.
Pope Benedict said at his Beatification Mass in June 2010 that Blessed Jerzy’s “zealous service and his martyrdom are a special sign of the victory of good over evil. May his example and his intercession nourish the zeal of priests and enkindle the faithful with love”. The Beatification Mass was celebrated before 150.000 people by 120 bishops and over 1.500 priests.
From: Spiritual Thought From Fr Chris
PRAYER:
May the intercession of Blessed Jerzy commend us to you, so that through his merits we may obtain that which we cannot accomplish by our own. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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