Our Lady of Czestochowa
Let me begin by saying I am delighted to be your associate pastor. I have been warmly welcomed and certainly invited to join many of you for dinner and great conversation. I am learning about the history and the people of St. Anthony on the Lake Parish. This parish has a rich heritage which has formed the community. Each of you speak about St. Anthony with pride and enthusiasm. All of you pray well thus it is a joy to lead you in prayer. Speaking of prayer, many of you have asked, “Why your devotion to Our Lady of Czestochowa?” I am going to tell you the story.
In June of 2003, I was asked by the Vicar of Clergy to consider going to a southside parish called St. Veronica. It was a parish of 800 families with a school. I had been the administrator of St. Teresa in Eagle, Wisconsin and enjoyed that assignment very much. I accepted my new assignment to St. Veronica Parish and began a new journey of my priesthood. St. Veronica was my first pastorate at age 39. At that time, I had dark hair filled with more energy than you could imagine and very naïve of what it meant to be a pastor. When I arrived to the parish my desk was piled high with “stuff” that needed attention. In fact, the secretary handed me a letter stated that I was being summoned to the Archdiocesan Offices because my school of 350 children was being merged with five other schools. This presented some challenges for me. My school was selected to be the place to house the school, and the other pastors and parishes struggled as their schools closed and mine was the one left open.
The parish financially was struggling. I had to manage a deficit budget and strengthen relationships with parishioners to create a new direction for the parish. I was completely overwhelmed. My prayer became, “Why have you brought me to this parish and why do I have to go through this situation?” Feeling quite abandoned by God and very wearied, I was down and out. Well friends, God never abandoned me, he heard my plea and quite miraculously his mother was about to step in and assist one of her son’s priests.
It was right around this time of the year. It was a Sunday Mass. I had finished communion standing at the altar combining the Body of Christ into one ciborium and moving to the tabernacle, I genuflected, placed the ciborium in the tabernacle and there was a flash of light. I looked up and Our Lady of Czestochowa appeared to me. I didn’t know who she was at that time. Yes, she spoke to me, she said, “Take care, everything will be alright, I want you to dedicate this church in my name.” I didn’t say anything, I was awe struck. I walked to my chair and the server sitting next to me said, “Are you alright?” I said, “Yes, why?” He said, “It looks like you saw a ghost.” I simply didn’t know what to say. I finished Mass but knew something happened.
A week had past, I finally had the courage to tell a priest friend of mine about the incident. We both agreed that it was the blessed Mother. He told me to follow her instructions. My question to him was, “Who is she?” All I remember to describe her were the scars on her face. My priest friend told me to contact the Rosary Evangelization Apostolate. I contacted Dick and Terry Boldin who are the leaders of the group. I shared my experience, and they said, “Father you need to follow our Blessed Mother’s instructions and dedicate St. Veronica Parish to our Lady.” I told them I will but who is she? Dick said, “I know of only one image with the Blessed Mothers cheeks bearing scars, Our Lady of Czestochowa.” I immediately began to research who she is and her history. I knew being on the south side of Milwaukee and having a great number of Polish families that people will know who she is and why we are dedicating this church to her. This led to the next step, how does one dedicate a church to our Lady?
In June 2004, I spoke to Dick and Terry again and I asked them what I should do to dedicate the parish to our Lady. Dick suggested that a beautiful icon be painted of our Lady. He knew an artist from Poland that could paint this icon. Remember, we were financially in bad shape. I could not ask the parish to buy an icon of our Lady amid a financial crisis and everything else that was happening in the parish. I turned to our Lady and said, “You have asked me to do this, and I am afraid, help me.” Dick called me several days later and told me that he had a donor who wants to remain anonymous. The icon was painted and arrived at the parish in October of 2004. I needed to decide when to dedicate the parish to our Lady. The staff and I agreed to do it on Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The staff and I agreed to take one of the side altars and prominently display the icon. We hung the icon a week before the dedication, I had it covered hiding the image until Dec. 8.
Dec. 8 arrived, we celebrated the Feast Day and following Mass I spoke of the icon and the revelation that had occurred. I had the beautiful icon uncovered and we all prayed the Hail Mary together as a community. Friends, the community began to grow and flourish. Financially, the parish began to thrive, and I embraced a joy and enthusiasm that I had never had before. The Blessed Mother’s promise was fulfilled, and I feel her presence to this very day. I am a man of great hope knowing that when I’ve dedicated my parishes to our Lady of Czestochowa they thrive and grow and experience joy and enthusiasm because “everything will be alright.” I am an eternal optimist. The projects of the parish will be accomplished and people who visit St. Anthony on the Lake will experience joy. Our Lady bestows love and joy upon our parish. All it takes is a small mustard seed of faith to see that all will be accomplished.
Prayer to Our Lady of Czestochowa (This prayer should be said each day upon arising)
Holy Mother of Czestochowa, thou art full of grace, goodness, and mercy. I consecrate to thee all my thoughts, words, and actions—my soul and body. I beseech thy blessings and especially prayers for my salvation.
Today, I consecrate myself to Thee, Good Mother, totally—with body and soul amid joy and sufferings to obtain for myself and others thy blessings on this earth and eternal life in Heaven. Amen.
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