Parafia p.w. Narodzenia Najświętszej Maryi Panny
ST. MARY’S POLISH PARISH
21 Wesley St., Sydney, NS, B1N 2M5
(meeting until our rebuilding at Holy Redeemer Church
with thanks to our friends of Holy Redeemer Parish)
Tel.: (902) 564-4847
www.stmaryspolishparish.ca
Witamy wszystkich! Welcome to all!
We are pleased to share our faith and rich traditions with the whole community.
Established in 1913. Our second century of faith and service … WE WILL RISE AGAIN

PROBOSZCZ/PASTOR:  Father Paul Murphy 564-4355

MSZY/MASSES: Sunday at 9:00 a.m. (temporarily at Holy Redeemer Church)
Wednesday Masses on hold until we rebuild our church.
Novena to Our Lady of Częstochowa will now be said before Sunday Masses.

SPOWIEDŹ:  Godzina do uzgodnienia z księdzem.
SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION: Anytime upon request to the priest.

SAKRAMENT CHRZTU ŚWIĘTEGO:  Prosimy o kontakt z księdzem conajmniej na 1 miesiąc przed planowaną datę.
SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM: Please contact the priest at least one month in advance.

SAKRAMENT MAŁZEŃSTWA:   Zapowiedzi powinny być ogłoszone conajmniej na 6 miesięcy przed planowaną datę.
SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY: Intentions must be announced at least six months in advance.

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Niedziela Palmowa / Palm Sunday

TODAY’S MASS INTENTION is for Antonina Ryba offered by Frania & family. Wieczny odpoczynek racz Jej dać Panie, a swiatłość wiekuista niechaj Jej świeci na wieki wieków. Amen

Eucharistic Minister for today: Janet Hawthorne

Ushers for collection today: Tony Gniewek, Robert Melski Jr.

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NASTĘPNY TYDZIEŃ / THE WEEK AHEAD

WEDNESDAY MASSES are on hold while we rebuild. Please note that Father Paul leads the Novena to Our Lady of Czestochowa every Sunday before Mass (starting at about 8:40 a.m.), except during Lent. Copies of the Novena are at the back of the church.

Wielki Piątek / Good Friday: 12 noon
Lectors:  Robert Lewandowski, Edyta Bączyk, Tom Urbaniak                                                                  
Eucharistic Minister: Marilyn Gillis, Suzanne Campbell
Altar Servers: Brianna, James Clarke, and Caleigh
Ushers: Larry Gniewek, Toni LaRusic
Greeters: Teresa Fagan, Mary [Micka] DiPenta

Wielka Sobota / Holy Saturday : Blessing of Easter Foods & Easter Baskets: 1 p.m.
Lectors:  Krista Ann Starzomski, Tony Melski
Altar Servers: Nicholas, Anthony, Rudy
Greeters: Toni LaRusic, Janina MacCormack

Sunday, March 27, 9:00 a.m. (PLEASE NOTE NEW TIME) Niedziela Wielkanocna / Easter Sunday:
Lectors:  Anne Marie Campbell, Andrzej Cebula                                                                   
Eucharistic Minister: Janet Hawthorne
Altar Servers: Rudy, James Campbell, Lucah
Ushers: Bernie LaRusic, Joe Gillis
Greeters: Joan Mosher, Peggy Ryba

Collection receipts for Sunday, March 13: $3886.40 (broken down as follows: $1246.40 general collection, $2640.00 rebuilding fund). Thank you very much for your generous support of St. Mary's Polish Parish. Dziekujemy bardzo.

MASS CARDS: To reserve Mass Intentions please call Carolyn Ardelli-Kiley 902-539-1725.

IN MEMORIAM DONATION: To make an In Memoriam donation, please speak with Shauna MacKay. These will be acknowledged in the bulletin. Building Fund contributions will go toward the new church. To contribute to the Rebuilding Fund, if you do not have an envelope, you can write on your regular envelope or cheque “Designated to the Rebuilding of St. Mary’s Polish Church.”

“IMIENINY” (NAME DAYS) FOR THE COMING WEEK. Help to maintain a longstanding Polish Catholic tradition by acknowledging relatives, friends, and colleagues who are celebrating their “name day,” corresponding with the feast day of a saint of the same name.  Where there is more than one saint of the same name who has been assigned a day, your “name day” is the one closest to your birthday. It is customary in the Polish tradition to acknowledge the name day of a relative or friend:
March 21: Benedykt, Lubomira, Mikołaj
March 22: Katarzyna, Kazimierz, Paweł
March 23: Feliks, Katarzyna, Piotr
March 24: Gabriel, Marek, Szymon
March 25: Ireneusz, Łucja, Lucja, Maria
March 26: Emanuel, Feliks, Manuela, Teodor
March 27: Benedykt, Ernest, Jan, Lidia, Rupert

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OGŁOSZENIA / ANNOUNCEMENTS

CHANGE TO SUNDAY MASS TIME AS OF EASTER SUNDAY: Beginning Easter Sunday, the regular Sunday Mass for St. Mary’s Polish Parish will be held at 9am. This change will give me a little more breathing time in between the two Sunday morning masses. Most parishes in the area that still have two Sunday morning masses have the same time frame. – Father Paul

NIEDZIELA PALMOWA: SPECIAL FEATURES OF PALM SUNDAY IN THE POLISH TRADITION:  Palm Sunday is very important for the entire Universal Church. It commemorates Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem, an event retold by all four of the biblical Gospels. All solemn Church observances, including Palm Sunday, are major events in Poland. In Poland, palms have long been substituted by posies, willows, and by beautifully and colourfully decorated branches of spruce and boxwood. Sometimes, dried flowers from the previous season are attached to the branches. Tissues and ribbons are often used to decorate the palms, making for very impressive processions. Some of the “palms” are many feet high, and some parishes even organize competitions for the making of palms. “See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9

HOLY WEEK & EASTER WEEK TIMES FOR ST. MARY'S POLISH PARISH:
Wielki Piatek/Good Friday – March 25: 12 noon
Blessing of Easter Foods (Swięcenie Pokarmów Wielkanocnych) --- Holy Saturday, March 26 – 1 p.m.
Niedziela Wielkanocna/Easter Sunday – 9 a.m.
Niedziela Miłosierdzia Bożego/Feast of Divine Mercy (April 3) – 9 a.m., followed by Parish Easter Breakfast. Everyone is welcome.

HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE FOR HOLY REDEEMER PARISH:
Holy Thursday: 6:30 p.m.
Good Friday: 3 p.m.
Easter Vigil: 4 p.m.
Easter Sunday: 11 a.m.

BLESSING OF EASTER FOOD & EASTER BASKETS: Holy Saturday (March 26th) at 1 p.m. at Holy Redeemer. All are welcome. You can include whatever items you wish in a basket. A basket often has painted or decorated eggs representing rebirth, horseradish representing the suffering of Christ, salt representing our call to spread the Good News, butter sometimes in the shape of a lamb representing the lamb of God, and a white linen, representing the shroud of Christ. This is an old and beautiful Polish tradition. Everyone will be invited to contribute an item from your basket for a collective basket for Loaves and Fishes. If you have traditional Polish attire or a St. Michael's jacket please wear it to the blessing.     

BLESSED EASTER BASKETS FOR HOME-BOUND FELLOW PARISHIONERS: If you would like to put together a small Easter basket for a parishioner who is homebound, please call Catherine Tucker (Care Committee) at 902-567-0146. And please bring the basket to the blessing of Easter baskets on Holy Saturday (March 26) at 1 p.m. The basket can be delivered for you. Also, if you know of parishioners or friends of the parish who are home-bound and might like to receive a blessed Easter basket, please let Catherine know. Sincere thanks!

PRE-EASTER SALE OF TRADITIONAL MEATS AND OTHER POLISH FOODS: Today after Mass at the Polish Village Hall. Andrzej Rafalski from Halifax is donating part of the proceeds to our rebuilding.

ŚWIĘCONKA BREAKFAST: Our parish's Polish Easter breakfast will be Sunday, April 3rd (second Sunday of Easter) immediately after our 9 a.m. Mass in the Polish Village Hall. Everyone is welcome. Tickets are $10, except $5 for age 12 and under. Proceeds to our rebuilding. Please see Shauna McKay for tickets

RECENT IMO ("IN MEMORY OF") CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE (RE)BUILDING FUND:
IMO Brian F. Marusiak & Brian P. Marusiak from Linda MacIsaac
IMO John Youden from Joan Mosher
IMO John K. Paruch and Katarzyna & Jozef Mroz from Stella Paruch
IMO Emily Pierrynowski from Aggie Stephenson

PARISH CARE : If you know about a parishioner who is homebound or might appreciate a call or a helping hand for any reason, and for us to pray for them, please advise Catherine Tucker (902-567-0146).

PASTA DINNER TO SUPPORT OUR REBUILDING: This is being very kindly organized for us by Frank DiVito at Our Lady of Fatima Hall on Friday, April 1, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets should be purchased in advance for $15. Please let Shauna McKay know if you would like to reserve a ticket.

PARISH DINNER THEATRE – FUND-RAISER: Fellow parishioner Brittany Fagan-Steele, who has a background in theatre arts, has developed a very interesting and totally “do-able” proposal for a pre-Christmas parish dinner theatre – as a fund-raiser for our rebuilding (we’ll still be fund-raising to finish the hall/reading room/kitchen section!) Brittany will say more about this at our Easter breakfast on April 3rd, but in the meantime we’d like to invite everyone to think about playing an acting role, big or small. No previous experience is required!

THE NEXT MEETING OF THE ST. MICHAEL’S POLISH BENEFIT SOCIETY is moved from Easter Sunday to Sunday, April 3, at 7 p.m.

POLISH CLASSES, PISANKI and SEEDS FOR OUR FOOD GARDEN: Alina Stahevitch, a student in our Tuesday Polish classes, has kindly offered to give a decorated pisanki egg at this Tuesday’s session to anyone who donates seeds for our parish food garden, which we hope to plant again in June.

RE-BUILDING -- AN APPEAL FOR SPONSORSHIPS: Do you know anyone (including families or groups of families, or businesses) who might wish to sponsor the following essential items for our new church? A permanent plaque will be placed on or close to the item (visible location). Thank you so much for your consideration. This means a lot! To discuss further, please call 902-563-1226 or email tom_urbaniak@cbu.ca
Front entry doors -  $10,000
Doors from vestry/vestibule to Nave (main church) - $ 4,500
Doors on the Altar- $1,800 each, there are 2 of these.
Doors at Nave- $1500, there are 3 of these.
Flooring for Nave- $15,000
Flooring for Reconciliation room, Carpet- $400
Flooring for Vestry, Carpet- $400
Flooring for Sacristy, Carpet- $720
Flooring for Office, Carpet- $400
Flooring for Sanctuary (where altar is) -  $1,550
Exterior sound system (sound of chimes, hymns) -- $2,300
Moving and installation of “Christ Light of the World” stained-glass window -- $4,000

TO CONTRIBUTE ON-LINE TO OUR REBUILDING, PLEASE GO TO OUR PARISH WEB HOME PAGE (www.stmaryspolishparish.ca) and please click the link to our Canada Helps donation page. It’s a secure system and you’ll receive your charitable tax receipt promptly. Thanks for your support! Please spread the word.

REBUILDING FUND ENVELOPES are at the back of the church. Thank you for your support.

REBUILDING FUND CONTRIBUTIONS: Building Fund contributions will go toward the new church. To contribute to the rebuilding if you do not have an envelope, you can also write on your regular envelope or cheque “Designated to the Rebuilding of St. Mary’s Polish Church.”. Donations can also be made by regular mail: St. Mary's Polish Parish 21 Wesley St. , Sydney, N.S. B1N 2M5. We still need to raise about $150,000 to complete Phase 2. Thank you so much for your support.

THE RENOVATED AND REFURBISHED POLISH VILLAGE HALL is a comfortable, well appointed, modernized venue for events large and small. Please consider renting the hall for your events. Please call 564-8494.

PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR ON-LINE “VIRTUAL TOUR” AND AN 8.5 MINUTE PARISH WELCOME VIDEO ON OUR WEBSITE:  www.stmaryspolishparish.ca

Życzenia na miłego nowego tygodnia / Wishing you a blessed week! Bóg zapłać!

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TODAY’S HYMNS: Please see bulletin insert for the words.
Entrance: Hosanna Synowi Dawidowi [Hosanna, Son of David]
Offertory: Pozwól mi Twe męki śpiewać  [Permit Me to Sing of Your Suffering]
Communion: Daj Mi Jezusa  [Grant Me Jesus]
Post-Communion: --
Closing: Jużem dość pracował  [My Work is Complete]