BL. JOSEPH STANEK, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 26 SEPTEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 23rd of September

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

BL. JOSEPH STANEK, PRIEST AND MARTYR

A native of Poland, Joseph Stanek (Józef Stanek) entered the Pallottine congregation in 1935 at the age of eighteen. In the autumn of 1939, the Nazis invaded Poland, subjecting this largely Catholic country to the aggression of a regime that in pursuance of its evil agenda sought to destroy the Catholic Church.

It was during the Nazi occupation that Joseph was ordained to the priesthood at the age of twenty-four, courageously risking his life to receive the sacrament of holy orders at a time when priests were in grave danger from the Nazis.

Less than three and a half years later, Father Stanek was arrested by the Nazis, who hung him in Warsaw, Poland on September 23, 1944, at the age of twenty-seven.

In 1992, the cause for beatifying Father Stanek and one hundred and seven other martyrs of Poland who had suffered for their faith during World War II was introduced in response to their popular reputation for holiness and the many favours attributed to their intercession. They were beatified in June of 1999.

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that we who celebrate the anniversary of the death of your holy martyr Joseph may by his intercession be delivered from all evils that threaten us. 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.