Parafia p.w. Narodzenia Najświętszej Maryi Panny
ST. MARY’S POLISH PARISH
21 Wesley St., Sydney, NS, B1N 2M5
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.
Celebrating 100 years of faith and service (1913-2013)

PROBOSZCZ/PASTOR:  Father Paul Murphy 564-4355

MSZY/MASSES: Sunday at 9:30 a.m.
Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. followed by Novena to Our Lady of Częstochowa. Praying of the Rosary begins prior to Mass at approximately 3:35 p.m.

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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Druga Niedziela Zwykła / Second Sunday of Ordinary Time

TODAY’S MASS INTENTION is for Nelgah MacDonald offered by Patsy and Raylene Kiley. Eternal rest grant onto her O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon her. Wieczny odpoczynek racz Jej dać Panie, a swiatłość wiekuista niechaj Jej świeci na wieki wieków. Amen

The Vigil Candle this week is for Pope Francis’s January prayer intention, which is "that all may promote authentic economic development that respects the dignity of all peoples." (This was also one of the themes of the Holy Father's recent apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium).

Eucharistic Minister for today: Suzanne Campbell

Ushers for collection today: Joe Gillis, Robert Melski Sr

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NASTĘPNY TYDZIEŃ / THE WEEK AHEAD

Wednesday, January 22, 4:00 p.m. Mass followed by Novena to Our Lady of Częstochowa. Praying of the Rosary prior to Mass beginning at approximately 3:35 p.m. The Mass intention is for A. Mikulas offered by Frances Mei.

Sunday, January 26, 9:30 a.m. The Mass intention will be for John Paruch offered by Mary Pierrynowski (Godmother).
Lectors: Anne Marie Campbell, Tom Urbaniak
Eucharistic Minister: Janet Hawthorne            
Altar Servers: Nicholas, Matthew                                          
Ushers: Steve Melnick, Toni LaRusic
Greeters: Marjorie Ardelli, Carolyn Ardelli
Altar Society volunteers for January:  Evelyn Cook, Janet Hawthorne, Anne Marie Campbell, Jimmie Campbell                   

Collection receipts for Sunday, January 12:  $1019.55 (broken down as follows: $675.00 weekly contribution, $55.00 monthly supplementary contribution, $51.55 candles, $33.00 loose, $23.00 initial offering, $10.00 building fund, $172.00 Micro-market (special fund). Thank you very much for your generous support of St. Mary’s Polish Parish. Dziękujemy serdecznie!

MASS CARDS/VIGIL CANDLE: Contact Tom Urbaniak (563-1226)

IN MEMORIAM DONATION: To make an In Memoriam donation, please pick up one of the IMO cards/St. Mary’s Polish Church envelopes at the back or speak with Shauna McKay. These will be acknowledged in the bulletin. We also welcome donations to the Building Fund, as we continue with improvements and repairs.

“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:
January 19: Andrzej, Bernard, Erwin, Henryk, Mariusz, Marta, Racimir, Sara
January 20: Dobiegniew, Fabian, Sebastian  
January 21: Agnieszka, Jarosław, Jarosława, Marcela
January 22: Anastazy, Dobromysł, Dorian, Marta, Wincenty
January 23: Jan, Maria
January 24: Felicja, Mirogniew, Rafaela, Rafał, Tymoteusz
January 25: Miłosz, Miłowan, Miłowit, Paweł, Tatiana, Maleszka
January 26: Paula, Paulina, Wanda

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OGŁOSZENIA / ANNOUNCEMENTS

CATECHISM AND POLISH CULTURAL CLASS FOR SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN: After Mass downstairs

THANK YOU, EVERYONE, FOR A MEMORABLE OPŁATEK SUPPER LAST SUNDAY! There were very positive comments about our gathering to close the Christmas season. The food was exceptional – many parishioners pitched in. The carolling was great, led by our choir. Of special note were the prayers, acknowledgments, and images from our 100th anniversary. The Centenary flag was given to Krista Ann to present to the youngest member of the Catechism class for safekeeping for many years to come and to be brought out for special parish occasions. Thank you so much to our Hospitality Committee.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED TAKE DOWN THE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS ON MONDAY. We had a very good turnout, and the work went quickly and pleasantly. Thank you to everyone who turned out – and to all who helped in every way during our eventful, holy Christmas season.

RECENT IMO (“in memory of”) contribution to the Building Fund:
IMO Anthony Niedzielski from Marilyn and Joe Gillis

LEARNING BASIC POLISH IN A FUN, RECREATIONAL SETTING: At last week’s Rada meeting, feedback was shared that had come from various parishioners and was also heard at recent events hosted by our parish. There appears to be some interest in Polish-language learning for both adults and youth. But we heard that rather than rote instruction, a lot of grammar, etc., people would like fun, recreational activities as a way to learn (or keep up) basic Polish – an outing, setting a table, role playing, cooking, crafts, etc. – as well as learning some of our Polish prayers and songs. Would this interest you? And if so, what format or kinds of activities? Please let any member of the Rada know. We will work to put some activities together for the spring.

NOMINATING COMMITTEE: The Rada By-laws state that a Nominating Committee should be appointed in January, in anticipation of the Annual General Meeting of the Parish. As per the By-laws, the AGM is to be held at some time between Easter Sunday and the third week of June. Members of the Nominating Committee cannot be candidates for the Rada. The Nominating Committee is to invite nominations and ensure that there are sufficient candidates, bringing various areas of experience. If you would be interested in serving on the Nominating Committee, please advise any member of the Rada.

ROOF REPAIR: Last week, despite the cold, contractors repaired several small breaches in the roof on the eastern side, where the weather had taken its toll and where there were some nailing issues from much earlier work. For greater certainty, a special sealant may be added as a way to avoid more costly repairs in the near future. We hope that this will now stop the watermarks and cracking in the ceiling. The situation will continue to be monitored closely. Thank you for your support of our Parish Building Fund, which is drawn upon when such issues arise.

VOTIVE CANDLES: There have been some incidents of plastic casings for the votive candle refills starting to burn. A meeting was held last week with a representative for Tradition Candles. Causes appear to be lighting sticks breaking off inside the candle during the lighting process and possibly also some wicks being too large. We have ordered glass-only candles – no plastic (which are a little more expensive, but appear to be safer). Once these are used, we will send them back to be refilled and get a partial credit.

POLISH CAPE BRETON TARTAN: Opinion from those who gave feedback was almost evenly divided between the two versions distributed on December 8. A number of parishioners wrote comments to the effect that the designer’s proposed modified version would be more compelling if it had the brightness (especially the bright red and more white) of the earlier version (the one that emerged as a front-runner from our event on May 4th). Designer Deana Lloy is now making changes to come closer to the first version but with the more-“tartan-like” qualities of the second. The idea is to keep working on this until we arrive at something distinctive that all of us (or almost all of us) really like. There will be something to show the parish for more feedback soon.

POLISH “MICRO MARKET”: Last Sunday, we started a periodic fund-raiser, to benefit various parish projects. It consisted of one table with popular Polish food products – which raised $172. The proceeds from this one will help launch a fund to support some of our youth to attend World Youth Day with Pope Francis in Kraków, Poland, in 2016.

Światowy Dzień Migranta i Uchodźcy/Today is World Day of Migrants and Refugees: Many members of our parish are related to migrants or refugees, or are immigrants themselves.    The following is excerpted from Pope Francis’s message: I think of how even the Holy Family of Nazareth experienced initial rejection: Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Lk 2:7). Jesus, Mary and Joseph knew what it meant to leave their own country and become migrants: threatened by Herod’s lust for power, they were forced to take flight and seek refuge in Egypt (cf. Mt 2:13-14). But the maternal heart of Mary and the compassionate heart of Joseph, the Protector of the Holy Family, never doubted that God would always be with them. Through their intercession, may that same firm certainty dwell in the heart of every migrant and refugee. Every human being is a child of God! He or she bears the image of Christ! We ourselves need to see, and then to enable others to see, that migrants and refugees do not only represent a problem to be solved, but are brothers and sisters to be welcomed, respected and loved. They are an occasion that Providence gives us to help build a more just society, a more perfect democracy, a more united country, a more fraternal world and a more open … Christian community. Dear migrants and refugees! Never lose the hope …

Modlitwa Jana Pawła II o jedność/Prayer of Blessed John Paul II for Christian Unity: In the following, the Holy Father prayed that the shepherds of all Christian churches may be more effective examples of Christ’s Gospel and may, through the intervention of the Holy Spirit and through a loving commitment to all humanity, achieve a long-desired unity: Drodzy Bracia i Siostry, zapraszam was do gorącej modlitwy o pełne zjednoczenie naszych Kościołów. Błagajmy Pana, aby usunął przeszkody, które opóźniają drogę ku pełnej jedności. Błagajmy Go, aby tym wszystkim, którzy współpracują dla osiągnięciazbliżenia, udzielił swego Ducha Świętego, który by ich doprowadził do całej prawdy, obdarzył ich miłością i uczynił cierpliwymi w dążeniu do jedności. Błagając Go, abyśmy my, pasterze siostrzanych Kościołów stali się lepszymi narzędziami Jego planu, my, których Opatrzność wybrała w tej godzinie historii, abyśmy kierowali tymi Kościołami, abyśmy służyli zgodnie z wolą Pana i w ten sposób służyli jednemu Kościołowi, który jest Jego Ciałem.

PARISH CENTENARY COOKBOOKS: Additional copies have been printed. Please speak with Shari McKay or Shauna McKay.

OUR BOOK PRZEZ POKOLENIA: Prayers and Customs of St. Mary’s Polish Church ($10 each). Please speak with Tom Urbaniak.

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

Wishing you a blessed week! Bóg zapłać!

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TODAY’S POST-COMMUNION HYMN:

Marii chwałę śpiewać będziem* Bo to Matka dobrotliwa, Przepotężnym swym orędziem, * Boże dary wyjednywa. Niech wychwala wsze stworzenie, * Marię, Wiernych Wspomożenie. Cały świat z Jej cudów słynie, * Wszędzie pieśni brzmią dziękczynne; Mnogie wznoszą Jej świątynie, * Za wstawienie dobroczynne. Niech wychwala ... Nam też rozmodlonej rzeszy, * Dziatwie swej, co cześć Jej głosi, Zjedna łaskę i pocieszy, * Zmiłowanie nam uprosi. Niech wychwala ...

We sing to the glory of Mary * Because she is our Good Mother, With her heartfelt proclamation, * she implores God's gifts. Let us praise all creation, * Mary, Help of Christians. The entire world benefits from her miracles, * Everywhere, songs sound of thanksgiving; Rising in many sanctuaries in her honour, * for her boundless charity. Let us praise ... We also multiply our prayers, * We do so paying honour to her With one grace and consolation, * that mercy may be obtained for us. Let us praise ...

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TODAY’S HYMNS:
Entrance: Kochajmy Pana [Love the Lord] -- #140 in the coil-bound hymnal
Offertory: Przyjmij od Nas (Accept from Us) – not in hymnal
Communion: Kłaniam się Tobie -- #115
Post-Communion: Marii chwałę śpiewać będziem [I Will Sing Mary’s Praises]
Closing Hymn: Zdrowaś Maryjo Bogarodzico [Hail Mary, Mother of God] -- #201