Polish Parish Holds Service for Divine Mercy Sunday

By Marie Elena Giossi

Vicki Szydlowski didn’t allow a powerful Nor’easter to keep her from observing the Feast of Divine Mercy, April 15, at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Church, Ozone Park.

Torrential rains and gale-force winds whipped outside while white Easter lilies, yellow forsythia, pink azaleas and green topiaries created a tranquil garden scene around the main altar at St. Stanislaus.

Szydlowski and dozens of Polish and English speakers attended the parish’s bi-lingual celebration, which began with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament following 12:30 p.m. Mass.

Red and white flowers, the colors of the Polish flag, were presented by the Sea League of America, above, at the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday, April 15, at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr, Ozone Park. The Image of Divine Mercy and a relic of St. Faustina are featured in the parish’s

Divine Mercy Chapel.

Singing of the Divine Mercy Chaplet began at 3 p.m. and the celebration closed with Benediction and veneration of the relic of St. Faustina. An outdoor procession was canceled due to the inclement weather.

The Feast of Divine Mercy, or Divine Mercy Sunday, was granted to the Universal Church by Pope John Paul II in April 2000 when he canonized Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska, the first saint of the new millennium.

Sister Faustina, who was born in Glogowiec, Poland, entered the Sisters of Mercy at age 20, after experiencing a vision of Christ. In her diary, this nun and mystic recounted extraordinary graces, revelations and gifts she experienced through God’s mercy until her death in 1938.

She wrote that Christ asked her to spread His message of mercy to all mankind. Among other requests, He expressed His desire for the solemnization of the Feast of Divine Mercy on the Second Sunday of the Easter season, in honor of the merciful love of God revealed in the Paschal Mystery.

According to St. Faustina’s diary, Christ promised that anyone who received the sacraments of confession and Holy Communion on this feast day and take part in the prayers and devotions in honor of Divine Mercy in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament shall be granted forgiveness of sins and punishment. Prayers and devotions include the public veneration of the Image of the Divine Mercy and praying the Chaplet to the Divine Mercy for the Hour of Mercy, 3 p.m.

These devotional acts, Christ said, must be supplemented with “deeds of mercy,” according to St. Faustina’s diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul, the handbook for devotion to the Divine Mercy.

Five years after instituting the feast and canonizing fellow Pole Sister Faustina, Pope John Paul II died on the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday.

Warmly welcoming the windswept faithful at the doors of St. Stanislaus last Sunday was Catholic recording artist Michael Zabrocki, who provided music for the observance. Now director of music at Our Lady of Grace, Howard Beach, this feast brought Zabrocki back to the parish where he grew up and served as music director for 28 years.

Inside, a meditative calm prevailed over the worship space, where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed and all knelt in prayer.

Just before 3 p.m., Zabrocki explained the order of the afternoon for neighbors and newcomers, who stood out from the traditional Polish crowd.

He explained that the service would be in both English and Polish but “is kept more Polish because St. Faustina was Polish and she was beatified by Pope John Paul II. We want to keep the Koronka do Milosierdzia Bozego (Chaplet to the Divine Mercy) authentic.”

Carrying American and Polish flags, as well as their own banners, over two dozen members of the Liga Morska w Ameryce (Sea League of America) then processed down the main aisle in full uniform. They stood guard on either side of the altar, facing the Blessed Sacrament, for the service.

Father Jan Soliwoda, pastoral associate, presided. Father James Meszaros, pastor, was praying the Chaplet as he made his way to the 2007 National Polish American Priests Association convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Chaplet of Mercy is recited using Rosary beads of five decades. It is begun with the Our Father, Hail Mary and Apostle’s Creed and then phrases from St. Faustina’s diary are recited on each bead. The concluding phrase, said three times, is “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”

Standing in the quaint church, listening to men, women and children sweetly intoning prayers in their native tongue, a visitor felt as though she could have been standing in a church in Poland, experiencing the same profession of faith.

This year’s Divine Mercy Feast fell on the observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day, annually set aside to recall the horrors of the Holocaust.

Millions of Poles perished during that era of hatred, and though only a couple of attendees at St. Stanislaus looked mature enough to recall the atrocities first-hand, all were aware of the depths humankind can sink to when humans fail to show mercy to each other.

Following Benediction, Father Soliwoda blessed a new banner for the Liga Morska. Several attendees then entered the parish’s Divine Mercy Chapel to venerate a first-class relic of St. Faustina and Image of the Divine Mercy.

The original Image of Divine Mercy was created based upon one of Christ’s appearances to Sister Faustina in 1931. Christ revealed Himself in a white garment with two rays – one red to represent blood, one white to symbolize water – streaming from His heart. He instructed her to paint this image according to what she saw and inscribe it with the words, “Jesus, I Trust in You.”

Although the focus of the feast is on Christ, Mercy Incarnate, the parish community couldn’t help but feel proud of the Polish connection to this feast.
“Sister Faustina is from Poland, only 60 kilometers (about 37 miles) from where I came from 30 years ago,” said Vicki Szydowski after the service ended.

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