Reverend Marek Bozek

During the month of February 1940, approximately 1.5 million Poles from Eastern Poland were deported to Siberia by the communist Russian government. To commemorate this tragedy and the heroic fate of many, we will hold a special event on Sunday, February 28th at 12:15 p.m. Our Parishioner, Mr. Henryk Marganski, who survived those deportations, will share his stories in the Polish Heritage Center.

Every year on March 19th we celebrate the Feast Day of St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Guardian of Jesus. During all Masses on the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of March, we will pray through the intercession of St. Joseph and offer a special blessing to all fathers present.

We encourage all Parishioners to prepare themselves spiritually for Easter by celebrating the Sacrament of Penance. Every Saturday there is an opportunity for  confession from 3:00 p.m. until 3:45 p.m. Additionally on Friday, March 26th there will be several priests listening to confessions from 6:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. At 7:00 p.m. a Communal Penance Service will be celebrated during which, as an alternative to individual confession, General Absolution will be offered.

On Holy Saturday, April 3rd, at three different times: 11:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. the Blessing of Easter Food will be offered in our church. This tradition called Swieconka is one of the most enduring and beloved Polish traditions. Baskets containing a sampling of Easter foods are brought to church to be blessed. The basket is traditionally lined with a white linen or lace napkin and decorated with sprigs of boxwood, the typical Easter evergreen.

Catholic reform organization “Call to Action” has once again invited our Pastor to be one of the speakers at their West Coast Conference in Santa Rosa, California. He will be giving a presentation on those, who dare to dream of a better church and society, based on the story of Patriarch Joseph from the book of Genesis. For more info on this exciting event and for registration, please visit: www.cta-redwood.org. Father Les and Father Bob will be presiding over English Masses on that weekend.

This year we invite all our Parishioners and Friends for a wonderful Parish Picnic and Polish-American Festival on the first weekend of May. For two days (Saturday and Sunday) we will joyfully celebrate the 219th Anniversary of May 3rd Polish Constitution, the second democratic constitution in the world! Our famous Polka Mass will be  offered on Sunday, May 2nd at 10:00 a.m. Live music will be provided by Squeeze Box on Saturday (May 1st) from 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. and Sunday (May 2nd) from4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. On Saturday we will serve Family Style Chicken Dinner from 2:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. On Sunday  Family Style Polish Dinner will be served from 12:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. Polish Beer Garden, Brats, Hotdogs, Burgers, Games, Polish Arts & Crafts, Polish Bakery,  Silent Auction and lots of fun will be waiting for all of us!

Our parish is offering an adult Bible Study for anybody interested in deepening their knowledge of the sacred scriptures and thus growing in faith. We meet every Saturday after the 4:00 p.m. Mass, usually about 5:15 p.m. at the rectory. Meetings last no longer than one hour and anybody can join at any given week. At this time we are reflecting on the Parables of Jesus.

In response to a request made by a group of Parishioners we are establishing Polish Conversation Club. We invite all who would like to improve their Polish vocabulary and conversational skills to join us every Thursday in the rectory at 12:15p.m. Bring your lunch and we will read together an article in Polish from a Catholic weekly magazine “Tygodnik Powszechny” and discuss together its content while having lunch with a group of friends and Parishioners. This group will be especially helpful to all who used to speak Polish when they were younger but by now have a difficult time holding a conversation in this language. No grades and no pressure to perform!