The [Very] Rev. Walter Madej has carved out quite a legacy in Lancaster.
It began with a statue of Saul, struck blind on his way to Damascus, and includes the Stations of the Cross, an ornate main altar, a lectern, a 26-foot-long balustered railing and an ambry for holy oils, among other furnishings.
Now, after 15 years of sculpting a stunning array of ecclesiastical art inside Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral on Broadway in Lancaster, Madej has completed his final and most complex installment —” a shrine depicting the 20 mysteries of the rosary.
—The cathedral is complete now,— said Madej, a priest commissioned by Holy Mother of the Rosary parish to fill the cathedral with original art.
The collection of Madej’s work is unlike anything else in Western New York.
While many of the area’s glorious older churches boast plenty of beautiful ecclesiastical art, newly built sanctuaries rarely contain commissioned pieces.
Bishop Thaddeus Peplowski of the Polish National Catholic Church admires the latest sculpture by the Rev. Walter Madej, the last piece of a 15-year project at Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral in Lancaster.
In that respect, Holy Mother of the Rosary, constructed in 1996, is an anomaly. The congregation and the Polish National Catholic Church have focused heavily on adorning the space in a manner befitting a cathedral.
—I know you don’t find many new churches with this kind of elaborate artwork,— said Bishop Thaddeus Peplowski, leader of the parish and of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church. —We said, ‘Let’s do something unique.’—
The congregation also chose to decorate primarily in wood, as a reflection of its Polish heritage.
Churches throughout Poland typically are built with beautiful woodwork, as opposed to stone or marble, said Peplowski, and the faces depicted in Madej’s work have Slavic features.
The parish soon will begin promoting the cathedral as a pilgrimage site, and it is producing a book explaining all of the artwork.
The congregation is grateful that Madej, who lives in New York Mills, near Utica, was able to devote so much time to their church.
Parishioner Christina Giczkowski, of South Buffalo, said Madej’s art was something the church would be able to show to future generations.
—Anybody can go out and buy statues that are manufactured, and those are beautiful, too,— she said.
But with a sculpture by Madej, she added, —we know it’s an original, and it’s ours.—
Madej, a native of Poland who has been carving for more than 40 years, was equally thankful for the opportunity to be a Michelangelo of sorts for the cathedral.
—They were blessed years. I’m really grateful I was able to accomplish that. I was grateful to the Lord that he chose me to do it,— said Madej, 67.
Madej crafted the carvings out of various species of wood: oak, cherry, basswood, white sugar pine, maple and walnut to name a few.
He uses hundreds of chisels and a variety of power tools, including chain saws, in a studio in Sauquoit, outside Utica.
The carvings were done during his free time. Madej also is full-time pastor of two Polish National Catholic parishes, one in New York Mills and another in Syracuse.
Madej spent four years on the final installment, a moving portrayal of the 20 mysteries of the rosary that includes biblical scenes such as the Nativity and Jesus dying on the cross.
It is a fitting last piece, considering the cathedral’s name.
—I wanted to express the profoundness of the mystery of the rosary,— Madej said. —I would say it’s like a finale for that church. If we want to understand Jesus and his message and his Gospel, the best understanding is to go through his mother, Mary.—
The shrine is 20 feet across and 10 feet tall and is set off from other pieces by its colorfulness.
Normally, Madej prefers to let the color of the wood speak for itself, but in this instance, —It’s almost like I heard a voice saying I need to express in color.—
The hues are used to highlight the range of emotions associated with the four kinds of mysteries: joyful, luminous, sorrowful and glorious.
Madej, who has created sculptures for other churches in New York and Poland, said he would get up in the middle of the night at times to jot down ideas and drawings for the cathedral sculptings.
And always, the work was accompanied by prayer.
I saw this work on my last visit to the cathedral in Lancaster, and it truly is beautiful. It brought tears to my eyes. For more examples of Fr. Senior Madej’s work see the Holy Cross Parish is Syracuse’s site.
Rev. Jody Baran, associate pastor of St. Michael Byzantine Catholic Cathedral in Passaic will be the homilist at the 28th annual ecumenical Thanksgiving prayer service in Passaic that will be held Sunday, Nov. 22 at 3 p.m. at SS. Peter and Paul Polish National Catholic Church, 126 River Dr., Passaic, NJ.
Refreshments will be served at a social to be held after the service. For more information, call 973-772-5918.
Bishop Thaddeus Peplowski, bishop of Buffalo/Pittsburgh Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church marked a sign of the cross on the door as part of the blessing ceremony at the new Holy Trinity Church in Woodlawn. The bishop then handed the parish documents and keys to Edward Puchalski, the chairman of the parish committee, and to Fr. Gary Spencer, pastor of the parish. Bishop Peplowski also blessed and anointed the walls of the church, the altar and tabernacle with holy chrism, holy water and incense…
…on what it is to be Catholic. A well written, very short, synopsis that packs a lot in. I like the mention of the PNCC of course, but beyond that, the references to Catholicism’s influence on the world and its central role in the evolution of Christianity. See: Catholicism: The Widespread Belief In Jesus Christ by Susan Esterbill:
Catholicism is a general term referring to various things depending on the context to which the word is used. Despite the myriad of meanings associated with it, Catholicism is known to be that which encompasses the Catholic faith, its believers and its followers.
Variety
A number of diverse groups are under this faith, although there are also variations in their ways and beliefs. Included in this list would be major groups, under apostolic succession who consider themselves Catholic. These are the Roman Catholic Church (Western and Eastern churches), Orthodox Churches (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran, and Anglican), the Evangelicals (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran Church in Canada, etc.). …
Unity
Among these sects, it is the Roman Catholic Church that is considered the largest. In fact, it is estimated to have 1.1 billion members, all of whom believe in Jesus Christ and consider the Roman Pope as their highest Church leader, the one who serves as the church’s successor after the apostle Peter. Moreover, in the Roman Catholic hierarchy, the bishops take the place of the other apostles. …
Dissonance
On the other hand, the Catholic groups who don’t pledge allegiance to the Pope include those who follow Anglican ways like the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Organization. Moreover, there are also much smaller sects like the Philippine Independent Church and the Polish National Catholic Church. The history involving the evolution of Catholicism that brought about all these divisions and other differences in beliefs is a long and detailed account of centuries of religious conflict and spiritual growth. A number of other religions have also resulted from this faith and is said to be continuously growing in numbers. The influence of Catholicism is incomparable in size and magnitude, and its growth and development continue to affect billions of people all over the world. …
Influence
Catholicism and its role in shaping the history of mankind can be seen in the various cultures and nations that exist today. The learning of its key concepts and beliefs are essential to the comprehension of its complexity. Catholicism wasn’t built in a day, nor can it be fully learned and explored in a single day.
…of St. John the Baptist Parish in Frackville, Pennsylvania. I was privileged to attend this event and take part in the celebration. The formal installation was conducted by Very Rev. Thaddeus Dymkowski. Following the installation Vespers was held with a homily by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Anthony Mikovsky. The Parish held a lovely dinner in their hall — with just the kind of great food you find in PNCC parishes.
A battle between two churches had divided families for generations in tiny Dupont borough.
Marriages and friendships with members of the opposing parish were frowned upon and even banned by parents and grandparents.
Some children were forbidden to walk near the rival church.
And so it went for nearly a century.
But a few years ago, parishioners from Sacred Heart of Jesus Church and Holy Mother of Sorrows Polish National Catholic Church started questioning the sense of carrying on this legacy of hostility.
Ever so gingerly, they began reaching out to each other.
Their efforts will culminate with the first joint service —“ a community Thanksgiving celebration —“ on Saturday night at Holy Mother of Sorrows.
—This is a very historical event for this community,— said Holy Mother of Sorrows’ Rev. Zbigniew Dawid.
Sacred Heart’s Rev. Joseph D. Verespy said the dismantling of the invisible wall between the parishes has created a sense of openness.
—I think this is wonderful because we are neighbors,— he said.
There was only one church —“ Sacred Heart of Jesus —“ when a dispute over a pastoral appointment that eventually proved deadly erupted toward the end of 1915.
Some parishioners who wanted to have the assistant pastor fill the opening blocked the priest sent by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton. According to news articles from the time, over the course of a month they formed angry mobs that repeatedly blockaded the church, attacked supporters of the appointed priest and assaulted a subsequent diocesan appointee.
The turmoil came to a head on Jan. 16, 1916 when a crowd that numbered more than 1,000 fought with police. One man was killed by gunfire and both rioters and officers were injured by blows from rocks, clubs and other weapons. Seventy-one male rioters were arrested, many of them unable to speak English.
The dissident parishioners went on to form Holy Mother of Sorrows and affiliate with the Polish National Church that was organized in Scranton in 1871. The sect broke from the Vatican in part because parishioners wanted Polish clergy and Masses in their native tongue.
The Rev. Francis Kurkowski, the appointed priest who was beaten, remained at Sacred Heart until 1938, according to a church publication.
Reaching out to each other
The idea to reach out came from the parish council at Sacred Heart about three years ago, and Holy Mother’s council embraced the suggestion.
The priests and councils visited each other’s churches, learning about the structure and history. The two parish councils started getting together to brainstorm ideas.
As a result, events held by each parish were posted in the other’s church bulletin and tickets for church dinners were sold before Mass at both parishes.
Senior citizens from Holy Mother were invited to bingo at Sacred Heart.
Sacred Heart parish council member Dee Lacomis said she was touched when several accepted the invitation. She recalled a game when the Sacred Heart bingo caller had a family emergency, and a parishioner from Holy Mother chipped in to perform the task.
More cooperation is planned.
The parishes are in the midst of a joint food drive for the Greater Pittston Food Pantry, and there are plans to go Christmas caroling together next month.
—We’re all excited about this. We truly are,— Lacomis said. —There’s a much greater understanding about each other.—
Carol Bondurich, 67, of Holy Mother, said she was never prohibited from friendships with Sacred Heart parishioners, but she is glad that the pressure is now lifted for others who were.
—I thought it was about time,— she said.
She has many friends from Sacred Heart and was comforted when some attended a family member’s recent funeral at Holy Mother. One of her Sacred Heart friends commented that she had never been inside Holy Mother and thought the church was beautiful.
Bondurich speaks of her church with pride. She has been a member of Holy Mother her entire life, and her parents and grandparents also belonged. She grew up listening to her grandparents speak Polish.
The two churches have similar Masses for the most part. The main difference is that Holy Mother does not fully accept Vatican teaching and incorporates Polish language in its music and services, Bondurich said.
Some parishioners still are reluctant to publicly discuss their family stories about the church conflict because they view that information as too personal.
Others aren’t exactly sure how the tension started in the first place, such as 47-year-old Holy Mother parish council member Carl Cwikla.
—There’s been a rocky road between the parishes, but I think it’s wonderful that we’re working together and trying to form lines of communication,— Cwikla said.
Sacred Heart parish council member Elaine Starinski said she is thankful to be part of the blossoming relationship.
—We’re trying really hard to build that community spirit so people aren’t afraid to go back and forth,— she said.
The general public is also invited to Saturday’s celebration, which starts at 7 p.m. in Holy Mother.
Pastors and parishioners from both churches will participate in the service, and the choirs will unite in song.
The service is proof that it’s never too late to overcome conflicts, members say.
—We’re trying to do little steps. I think these are important steps,— Rev. Dawid said.
WASHINGTON—”The challenges of clergy transfers between churches stood as a key topic at the annual Polish National Catholic-Roman Catholic dialogue, this year at the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania, September 28-29. Bishop Edward U. Kmiec of Buffalo and Bishop Anthony Mikovsky of the Central diocese of the PNCC co-chaired the meeting.
Members held a lengthy discussion on proposed recommendations about difficulties that arise when a clergyman transfers from one church to the other. A proposed text was refined and a process of consultation with appropriate bodies in the two churches will now be undertaken. Further revisions resulting from these consultations will be considered at the next meeting.
Msgr. John Strynkowski, Rector of the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Brooklyn, New York, spoke on the development of doctrine using principles from Cardinal Newman’s Essay on the Development of Doctrine. He applied these to the Christological controversies of the early Church and the Eucharistic controversies at the time of the Reformation.
Members also considered two Roman Catholic Marian dogmas, the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption. The PNCC members distributed a text on the Mother of God taken from —The Road to Unity,— a collection of agreed statements of the joint Old Catholic-Orthodox Theological Commission that was adopted by a PNCC General Synod in 1990. Both churches have devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and seek her intercession, but differ over the Pope’s authority to raise these Marian teachings to the level of dogma.
Members of the dialogue also prayed together in the chapel of the Polish National Catholic Church Center, where Bishop Mikovsky presided over an exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction.
The next meeting of the dialogue is slated to take place in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 11 and 12, 2010.
Take a look at my last post on this dialog. Anyone see almost the same statement regurgitated? Of course R.C. priests know a good thing when they see it, thus the consternation on the R.C. side, and no, we don’t just take each and every one that steps forward (or anyone else seeking admission into the clerical state in the PNCC). We protect our vocations.
Homemade Angel wings (Chrusciki)—¨ and baked goods for sale
Great homemade Polish food!!!!! Food served beginning at 10am—¨
Christmas crafts
Tin can raffle
Handmade quilt
—¨32″ LCD HD television
Grandfather clock
Hand-crafted gemstone jewelry
Warm & fuzzy – scarfs & baby blankets
Games
Sunday, November 15, 2009 – 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM
—¨—¨Spaghetti dinner served 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Our Savior Parish is located on the east side of North Beech Daly Rd. at 610 N. Beech Daly Road, south of Ford Road and north of Cherry Hill Road, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan.
All are welcome!!! Stop out and have a great time!!!
What: After Four Supper Club
Where: 13109 S. Wicker Ave., Cedar Lake, IN
Hours: Open for dinner from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays and seats nearly 350.
Information: (219) 374-8000
Open to the public but once a week, worth the trip
Northwest Indiana offers a wide range of dining options, from four-star fine dining restaurants open daily for lunch and dinner to taverns, supper clubs and eateries offering quality food, but with limited menus and days and hours of operation. This is one in a series of reviews of nontraditional area restaurants worth sampling.
The menu isn’t big. In fact, it fits on a three-by-four sheet listing only five entrée choices, all of which are deep-fried, though baked chicken is available upon request in advance.
But on that Wednesday they pack them into Cedar Lake’s After Four Supper Club, a banquet hall and catering operation on the site of a former drive-in theater featuring pornographic films. Why?
Fried chicken.
The After Four Supper Club’s fried chicken is that good, the kind you usually must travel to the Deep South to find, with a crisp and crunchy golden-brown crust and steaming, tender meat inside… No less than Samuel Clemens opined about the deep relationship southerners feel for their fried chicken.
“The art cannot be learned north of the line of Mason and Dixon, nor anywhere in Europe,” Mark Twain wrote.
The After Four Supper Club defies that old axiom.
There is something humble, decent and deeply satisfying about good fried chicken, a plebian dish enjoyed by patricians and everyday people alike, although my cardiologist might recommend otherwise.
…
The dinners are served with a tasty coleslaw and french fries. Soft drinks and beer are available by the glass — actually plastic cup — or by the pitcher.
The After Four Supper Club, which is owned by veteran restaurateur Tom McAdams, purchases chicken from an Alabama farm that was pecking at grain on Monday and decorating my plate on Wednesday.
Meals are fried without using transfat oils and arrive on plates without the oily trail that often accompanies fried foods.
The After Four Supper Club is a family kind of place where nepotism abounds.
Our server Amber, who has worked there since she was 16, is joined by her mother, the hostess, and her aunt, the head cook.
…This is a niche restaurant that doesn’t offer a wide selection of beers and wines and only a limited dining menu.
But what it offers is really fine chicken at reasonable prices.
All-you-can-eat chicken dinners are $8.50 for adults and $5.50 for children under 10. The pollack dinner, chicken and fish combo and fantail shrimp dinners are $10.50 and the popcorn shrimp is $6.95. A pitcher of Miller Genuine Draft or Miller Lite is $7.50 and by the glass it’s $2.50. Cocktails are $5.50.
In this economy it’s hard to beat the After Four Supper Club for value, but it’s even harder to find fried chicken of this high quality.
Part of the fun at unconventional eateries like the After Four Supper Club is their approach. McAdams’ staff do not make desserts, rather they’re homemade by the church ladies of the Polish National Catholic Church and included slices of brownies, a tremendous apple walnut cake and carrot cake, all for $1.50 apiece and mighty fine.
The rest of the week this spacious facility operates as Great Oaks Banquets and serves as a rental and catering hall for weddings, receptions and other events.
Adjoining the dining room is a theater, where for $30 ($27 for seniors), diners can see a live show performed by the L’arc en Ciel Theatre Group right after eating dinner. Through Nov. 22 the 44-year-old theater ensemble is performing George S. Kaufman’s “You Can’t Take It With You,” a far cry from the steamy movies the long gone Great Oaks Drive-In Theater played at this same site decades ago.
As an alumni of Canisius I am able to obtain fee waived applications for new students who wish to apply.
To apply under fee waived provisions please complete this on-line application. In the alternative you may choose Canisius on the Common Application. Either way, you will save the $40 application fee.
If you prefer a paper application please contact me and I will obtain one from the Admissions Office for you.
For PNCC applicants, please contact me if you need a recommendation and don’t forget your PNUA (Spójnia) college stipend [pdf].
As an alumni of