The Hejnał: Polish Madonnas: Our Lady of Gietrzwald

Welcome to Our Inaugural Issue!

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"The Hejnał" is a new project of Our Lady of Częstochowa Church in Turners Falls, Mass.

Each month, you can expect inspiring articles that will enrich your faith. Quotes from the saints and Church Fathers will deepen your prayer life.

Each issue will have a particular focus on devotions for that month, or on items of interest to Catholics.

You can expect solid Catholic teaching, fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church, and respect for the Holy Father.

The Catholic Church has been in the news a great deal lately, and the reports are often written by the Church’s enemies. Imagine how refreshing it will be to read articles written by those who love the Bride of Christ and who defend her traditions and faith!

We hope you will look forward to this free publication in your mailboxes each month, and here on the website. We encourage you to share "The Hejnał" with your friends and families.

We welcome comments and requests for articles. Please email us at thehejnal@gmail.com or use the comment form at the end of each post.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Polish Madonnas: Our Lady of Gietrzwald

Our Lady of Gietrzwald

In Gietrzwald, Poland, between June 27, 1877, and September 16, 1877, the Virgin appeared to two children, Justyna Szafrynska and Barbara Samulowska. On June 27, Justyna and her mother had just left the church when they heard the bell ringing the Angelus. Justyna began to pray, and then she saw a bright light over a maple tree, and a beautiful lady who was seated on a throne surrounded by angels. The next day Justyna returned with her friend Barbara. They recited the rosary and the Virgin appeared to them. These apparitions continued daily at different times.

On June 30, 1877, the apparition said, in Polish: "I would like you to say the rosary every day."

On July 1st, she declared: "I am the Most Blessed Mary Immaculate."

Many people joined the girls in the following months. Some asked the Virgin questions about imprisoned priests, missing people, and the freedom of Poland. Others asked for healing, especially from alcoholism.

The Virgin Mary's answer was always:

"Pray and say the rosary, priests will be freed, the sick will recover, Poland will regain its independence thanks to your prayers."

Our Lady asked the faithful to build a chapel on the place of her apparition, with a statue of the Immaculate Conception. She promised to bless a spring at the edge of the forest and encouraged the people to drink the miraculous water.

A theological and medical committee examined the girls and the content of the message: everything was found to be normal. On September 10, 1967, on behalf of Pope Paul VI, the cardinals S. Wyszynski and C.Wojtyla solemnly crowned the sacred image. On September 11, 1977, one hundred years after the apparitions, the bishop declared the authenticity of the apparitions, with the permission of the Primate and the Holy See.

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What does "The Hejnał" mean?

The Hejnał is the trumpet hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary played every hour on the hour from the tower of St. Mary’s Church in old Krakow. The trumpeters make a vow to play this hymn to the honor and glory of Mary.

Legend has it that in the distant past the city was under attack by the Tartars. Everyone had fled the city to take refuge in Wawel castle. Everyone except a young trumpeter who had taken the vow to play that hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary. So great was his love for Our Lady he was determined to keep his vow to her even at the cost of his life. He hid in the tower of the Church and as the hour drew near he went to the window. Below he could see the savage Tartars destroying, burning and looting the city.

He began to play. The barbarians were outraged and began to shoot their arrows at him. The boy continued the hymn to the four corners of the globe praising Mary the Sinless and Ever Holy Virgin Mother of God, and proclaiming the true faith. The enemies of civilization raged and roared at this insult to their victory. Finally at the last note one of the arrows struck the boy in the throat and the last note of the hymn was extinguished.

To this day, as the hymn is played every day at every hour from the tower of St. Mary’s Church in Krakow that last note is interrupted in memory of that young martyr who gave his life to honor Mary, who gave his life rather than let the barbarians conquer his faith.

In addition to sounding this trumpet hymn to Mary every day, every hour on the hour from the tower of St. Mary’s Church in Krakow, it is broadcast at 12 noon by radio over all of Poland and from the tower of Our Lady of Częstochowa right here in
Turners Falls, Massachusetts, USA!!

That is what the name of our newsletter means. A glorious hymn to Mary the Ever Virgin Mother of God proclaiming our Catholic Faith to a savage world which is trying to extinguish all that is good and beautiful in civilization. The Hejnał proclaims that Mary is Our Queen and her Son, Jesus Christ, reigns!

Did you know....

+++Champagne was invented by a Benedictine monk, and today, the very best champagne still bears his name, Dom Perignon.

+++Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli was an Italian mathematician and Franciscan friar, collaborator with Leonardo da Vinci, and seminal contributor to the field now known as accounting, for which he is often regarded as the "Father of Accounting".

+++Author of Lord of The Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien was Catholic and many feel that his tales of Middle Earth were heavily inspired by his faith.

+++Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian priest, author of 'Principles of Heredity: A Defence' is considered the father of the study of genetics for his work on pea hybridization.

+++Monsignor Georges Lemaître was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest, honorary prelate, professor of physics, and astronomer at the Catholic University of Louvain, who proposed what became known as the Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe, which he called his 'hypothesis of the primeval atom'.

+++The Jesuits developed the pendulum clock, photographs, barometers, reflecting telescopes and microscopes. Their contributions to seismology (the study of earthquakes) have been so substantial that it is called "the Jesuit science."

+++Father Nicholaus Steno (1638-1686) set down most of the principles of modern geology and is called the Father of stratigraphy.

+++The Catholic Church was the first institution to condemn and outlaw slavery in the world and the first to put forward the concept of all men being equal under the law.

+ + + The Catholic Church founded the university system in Europe.

+ + + The system of laws in Western Civilization is derived from the rules and practices of the Catholic Church.

+ + + The Catholic Church is the single largest provider of charitable services in the entire world.

+ + + During the so-called Dark Ages in Europe while marauding tribes sacked Rome and threatened to destroy civilization, the Catholic Church kept the flame of learning alive in monasteries and preserved the treasures of antiquity for future generations.

+ + + The beginnings of modern international law are to be found in the Roman Catholic Church. Father Francisco de Vitoria is called “the father of international law.”

About the Parish

Our Lady of Częstochowa Church
84 K Street
Turners Falls, MA 01376
413-863-4748
thehejnal@gmail.com
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Mass Schedule
Saturday Vigil 4:00 pm
Sunday 8am and 10:30am
Monday 8am
Tuesday through Friday 5:30pm
Saturday 8:00am
Holy Days as Announced
St. Jude Novena: Weds, 5:30pm
Pro-Life Novena: Sat. 8am
Confessions:
Saturday 3:00-3:45pm
Daily 1/2 hour before Mass

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Ourladyofczestochowa.org
Chroniclesofczestochowa.org