On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Bl. Jerzy Matulewicz - Restorer of the Congregation of Marian Fathers - during the Holy Mass. prayers for the swift canonization of the Vilnius bishop
The Southern Eucharist in the basilica was presided over by Fr. Adam Stankiewicz, MIC, vice-curator of the sanctuary. In his homily, the Marian spoke about the extremely rich and at the same time turbulent life of Bl. Jerzy Matulewicz: - "today Bl. Jerzy stands before us as an example for which we want to thank God, who we want to bravely follow, caring for grace to grow in it, to be close to Jesus and His Immaculate Mother ”. Fr. Stankiewicz emphasized that Bl. Jerzy tried his whole life to live in friendship with Jesus. This presupposes a concern for the state of sanctifying grace that we have all received in the sacrament of Baptism. We lose it every time we compromise with sin: - “We come to God for it once again, when we stand at the bars of the confessional,” said the priest.
In the homily, we could hear that God, by giving us the gift of His grace, encourages us to guard it and to care for it:
- “To remain in sanctifying grace is to keep God's commandments. They contain the teaching of God and signposts thanks to which we learn how to walk, how to live, so as not to stray from the path leading to heaven. Today, as we look at Bl. Jerzy, maybe it is worth asking yourself, how much care is there in our lives for being faithful to God's commandments? "
In his homily, the priest noted that today we experience God's love as well. - “The fact that we can love and smile results from God's grace. In this way, he shows us how much he loves us. In turn, on our part, it only expects love, which is manifested, among others, by in keeping and faithful to his commandments and teaching. Therefore, Bl. Discovering this love, Jerzy Matulewicz invites us today to give our thanks to God for His presence in our lives; for lifting us from our fall every time; for the fact that he, God, always sees in us his child whom he loves ”- concluded the Marian.
Today is also the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Katyn Massacre. It was established by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland on November 14, 2007 "as a tribute to the victims of the Katyn Massacre for those murdered by the NKVD under the decision of the supreme authorities of the Soviet Union on March 5, 1940".
On April 13, 1943, the German Radio Berlin announced the discovery of mass graves in Katyn. In the spring of 1940, during March and April, the NKVD murdered around 15,000 Polish army officers, policemen, Border Defense Corps officers, reserve officers, as well as university professors, teachers, doctors, lawyers, judges and journalists in the Katyn forests - the elite of the Polish nation. Most of the prisoners were held in camps in Kozielsk, Starobielsk and Ostashkov. The crime that is today referred to as a communist crime against humanity was planned and carried out with extreme precision. Poles were murdered by NKVD officers with a single shot at the base of the skull with an 8 mm caliber pistol.
Lichen Stary, April 13, 2021
