ROSARY FOR HOMELAND – A NEW INITIATIVE OF ‘NIEDZIELA’
Fr. IRENEUSZ SKUBIŚ
I am glad that I can announce that ‘Niedziela’ will join a great pastoral and patriotic program in its own media way, which is a Rosary for Homeland – starting with this edition, we are going to publish a supplement entitled so. For a long time, many Poles have been following the idea of spreading the rosary prayer all over Poland, capable of asking for graces needed for our country and grace of a good transformation in the Polish soul. For the question sounds dramatically every day: Poland, what happened with you?! Aren’t you the Homeland of John Paul II and so many Poles? A country of a beautiful history, rich with heroism and greatness of heart of its children? A Messiah of the nations – as you were called so for a reason?
Yes, we have been an exceptional nation in many cases – an elected nation. God gave us an important voice in the humankind history. These were, among the others, statements of great Poles, quoted all over the world, but, unfortunately, quickly forgotten, and even deliberately pushed away onto a margin so that it would not have been given any significance of Polishness. There was even a phenomenon which we note even in the media world, called anti-Polonism, that is, a kind of a strange fight with Polishness, with Polish achievements, culture, nation. Somebody wants us to stop existing. This is the fact which can explain various types of accusations made against Poles, among the others, accusations of anti-Semitism, although as survey of the last time shows, these are Poles who were saving Jews’ life, by exposing their own lives and life of their families – because only in our country, in Poland there was a death penalty for it. These were Poles who in their biggest number gave their life in defense of the Jews. Love to others and nobility of Poles were great, including the Polish clergy, whose Martyrology is still waiting for a more precise elaboration. So, we have a reason to be proud that we are Poles and that we can rise to the challenge. We must only strengthen what is morally the best in us, that is, inner honesty, which is equivalent to social and political honesty. It was always emphasized by the Holy Father John Paul II who will be among the saints of the universal Church soon, and who is the most beautiful modern example of Poles’ beauty and Polishness.
Hence there is our great intention to rescue what can still be rescued in Poland. God’s great servant cardinal Stefan Wyszyński used to say: ‘I love Poland more than my heart. I love it the most beside God’. Every Pole should treat Homeland in this way.
Unfortunately, we did not manage to create a good, economically and morally strong country in Europe after the great spurt of ‘Solidarity’ movement. Today we are witnesses of ruins of our big industry and the human potential. Where are Polish mines, steelworks, shipyards, textile factories, cement plants, the whole big machine industry? Polish cities were full of factories and various institutions which were functioning well, bringing benefit and help to people. Even in difficult times of communism we felt as inhabitants of economically strong Poland, maybe the strongest among the countries of the so-called Warsaw Pact.
Where is money gained from selling Poland? Who has taken possession of our economy? - we cannot receive an answer. Many structures which might serve to the nation, today undergo foreign owners and this ownership does not bring good to our Homeland, does not give any perspectives for our life. Polish cooperatives movement has been destroyed, instead of undertaking solidarity actions. Now there are attempts to destroy its last sign which are Credit Union and which, being subjected to the structures coming from government spheres, begin to have difficulties now.
Moreover, our agriculture did not resist privatization-modernization problems. Today – under various pretexts – our regained land is being sold to foreign owners, and recently the government wants to deprive even Polish State Forests of money, and in this way, destroy the last beachhead of Polishness. We cannot cope with this all, we are shocked by what is being done in Poland. We cannot understand why people have to look for bread abroad, although various politicians inform us about our economic successes.
In Poland there is unemployment – it is said that there are 13 per cent of it, but when we add the other such an amount of people who emigrated from the country, it is about 25 per cent of Poles, who are unemployed. This is an incredible defeat. Moreover, there is a demographic problem - much less Poles are born and much more of them die, which means that we are in a situation of crisis. It includes crisis of culture and morality, but instead of supporting institutions bringing up people with so much difficulty today, they are destroyed – we see: a fight with the Church and clergy, mocking at it in the society, questioning its authority, introducing new ideologies into education which lead people astray.
We have only one answer to the question: What to do? – This is Lady and Queen of Poland from Jasna Góra! As she defended the nation in the Swedish attack, as she helped us fight the Bolshevik attack in 1920 near Warsaw, she will not leave us on our own now, either. Therefore we must ask Our Lady for a new miracle at the Vistula, and our request should be supported by the Holy Rosary. So, in ‘Niedziela’ we start a special edition of the supplement entitled: ‘Rosary for Homeland’, calling all Poles to take the Rosary and pray in the intention of Homeland. Let the great call to God through the intercession of Our Lady be in our hearts, so that Poles would convert themselves and Poland would be re-born. We are not the first who are asking Mary for it. The great rosary prayer freed Philippines, made the Soviets retreat from Austria, and it has recently helped Hungary. These are signs that Our Lady is merciful when people pray with the rosary.
So, today we call everybody for a common rosary prayer for Homeland. Let every family have the rosary, let every Polish heart be full of the rosary prayer. As Poles we should take the rosary and pray in the intention of our beloved Homeland and its image will really change!
(AA)
"Niedziela" 5/2014