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Christian Witness, Current Events,

The blood of martyrs

From various news sources: Priest and three children burnt alive

A RUSSIAN Orthodox priest and his three children were burnt alive in their home in what could be a case of arson to stop his efforts to combat alcohol abuse.

Police have opened an investigation into the death of Andrei Nikolayev and his children at his home on Saturday in a village outside Moscow.

“At the time of the fire, presumably, Andrei Nikolayev himself, his wife Oksana and three young children were in the house,” prosecutors were quoted as saying.

Police found the remains of the priest and his children but the fate of his wife remained unknown.

Village residents and church representatives were quoted as saying Mr Nikolayev may have been killed for trying to stop alcohol abuse in the village.

Some said alcoholics have stolen icons and other religious objects from Mr Nikolayev’s church and then sold them to buy drink.

Eternal rest grant onto them O Lord, and may the perpetual light shine upon them.

May the blood of martyrs be the seed of the Church. May the Lord have mercy on us.

PNCC

Blessed be God!

I am off to Scranton, Pennsylvania today, to the Mother Church of the Polish National Catholic Church, St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Cathedral, for the consecration of our four Bishops-elect.

How fitting that by tradition bishops are consecrated on the Feast of an Apostle. Today, being the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, how fitting that we reflect on the words for the day’s first reading from Romans.

And how can they hear without someone to preach?
And how can people preach unless they are sent?

St. Andrew intercede for them, Our Lady of Częstochowa, pray for them, Holy Spirit, enlighten and guide them.

Christian Witness, Perspective,

Signpost – the desert experience

desert ahead

In the spiritual life, the desert experience is a time of preparation, a time where the Spirit works within us, tearing out the old man and building up the new.

During those times of darkness and abandonment in our lives, especially when we get the sense that we have been abandoned by God, our prayers become just words and time spent in contemplation seems to be an empty torture. Sometimes it seems quite difficult to stick with God.

I often reflect on the times I felt this way. When I saw the sign on Huw’s site it was the first thing that came to mind. I offer up my prayers this evening for all who are experiencing this time of darkness.

If you want to make a custom sign thingy – check out Custom Road Sign.

Current Events,

Pray for unity, peace, healing, and God’s protection

Metropolitan Nicholas of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese has directed all priests of the Diocese to include the following special petition in the —Triple Litany— after the Gospel in the Divine Liturgy:

O Holy Father from Whom all blessings flow, we come before You in meekness and bow down: humbly we beseech You to look kindly upon the meeting of Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, and Pope Benedict, Pontiff of Rome. For too long, there has been division and alienation in the Church, when there should have been the unity of the Body of Christ. We beg Your mercy and wisdom, O Lord, to provide for the welfare of the holy churches of God and for their union. Let this occasion of fellowship be for the healing of old disputes. In Your infinite power, protect these Shepherds of the Great and Holy Pasture of Christ. Shield them, and all who attend, from the peril of harm. And in Your matchless grace, establish a bright new work in these latter days, so that the world might see the Face of Christ; so that men and women might repent, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved in the Apostolic Church of God. For these supplications, we humbly beseech You, Holy Father, hear us and have mercy.

Let us join in this prayer.

Many thanks to Huw Raphael, Ben Johnson, and Subdeacon Benjamin for pointing to this.

Everything Else

As we close this Thanksgiving Day

We give Thee our most humble and hearty thanks, O God, for blessings without number which we have received from Thee, for all Thy goodness and loving kindness, for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life. And, we beseech Thee, give us that due sense of all Thy mercies, that our hearts may be truly thankful for all things, and that we show forth Thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to Thy service and by walking before Thee in holiness and righteousness all our days. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A General Thanksgiving – from A Book of Devotions and Prayers According to the Use of the Polish National Catholic Church, Published by the Mission Fund of the PNCC, 7th edition, May 1, 1984.

Poland - Polish - Polonia

Prayers please

From the AP via ABC News: 8 Die, 15 Trapped in Poland Mine Blast

8 Miners Killed, 15 Trapped Underground After Suspected Gas Explosion in Poland

RUDA SLASKA, Poland Nov 21, 2006 (AP)—” Eight coal miners were killed Tuesday in a suspected gas explosion in a southern Poland mine, and fears were growing as rescuers tried to reach 15 others trapped more than 3,000 feet underground, officials said.

The accident occurred as the men were demolishing a wall in an underground corridor at the Halemba coal mine in the city of Ruda Slaska, said Southern Mining Co., which operates the mine.

Grzegorz Pawlaszek, head of the state-owned Coal Co., said rescue teams had recovered seven bodies from the scene. Another body had been located but couldn’t be reached because the high concentration of methane gas had prompted fears of another explosion.
He said the fate of the other 15 was “not known.”

The men were among a group of 31 miners who had been removing equipment from a shaft that had been closed because it was deemed too dangerous, said Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who flew to the mine and met with rescuers. He said eight miners had managed to escape.

“This is a tragedy. People have died here,” Kaczynski said.

Officials and priests were counseling distraught relatives who gathered at the mine complex. Eight white candles were burning on a low wall outside the main gate…

St. Barbara and St. Kinga, pray for them.

Current Events, Perspective,

We didn’t get you the first time around

From The Guardian: Obstetricians call for debate on ethics of euthanasia for very sick babies

Doctors involved in childbirth are calling for an open discussion about the ethics of euthanasia for the sickest of newborn babies. The option to end the suffering of a severely damaged newborn baby – who might have been aborted if the parents had known earlier the extent of its disabilities and potential suffering – should be discussed, says the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists…

The factors they site —“ cost (oh, and we missed you while you were in the womb). In addition, they wish to be consistent —“ you know like the Church is but only in reverse —“ no life is sacred. To wit:

The college ethics committee tells the inquiry it feels euthanasia “has to be covered and debated for completion and consistency’s sake …

Stupid parents —“ you should have checked this out before, but we have all the answers. Let me get rid of this little problem for you.

May God have mercy on us! Come Lord Jesus, come!

Current Events, Perspective, Political,

Voting for streets paved in blood

I have voted in every election, even the most mundane ones such as school board and library board elections, ever since I gained the right to vote.

Regardless of the hopelessness, regardless of the fact that my one vote will not achieve any kind of change, or make any difference in the predefined outcome, I will not refrain from voting.

This year’s vote is particularly important.

Voting is my statement —“ saying I believe in the United States that propagates this right. You remember —“ the nation of ideals —“ democracy, freedom, rugged individualism, family, true conservatism. When I vote I will be saying that I remember and believe in the country that didn’t torture its prisoners, that didn’t strike first, that didn’t spy on its citizens, and that didn’t call political opponents traitors.

This year is tough. I get to chose between Democrats who will pave the streets in the blood of aborted and murdered children (abortion and ESCR) and Republicans who will pave the streets in the blood of our serviceman and women, of prisoners (death penalty), and of so many innocents around the world.

The alternate lines offer a means of protest. Whether Conservative, Libertarian, Reform, or Green, a vote on those lines will say, at least in part, I do not agree.

In any event, I encourage you to get out and vote. Make your vote a moment of prayer, asking for God’s mercy on us just before you pull the level, punch the card, write the name, or press the button. Make your one small voice heard. We may never take back our state or country, but at least we can maintain our personal dignity (as long as they let us).

Everything Else, ,

Of holy memory

Please remember during the month of November:

Andrzej and Emilia, Józef and Rozalia, Louis A. and Bernice, Walenty and Maria, Jan and Marianna, Marcin and Marianna, Louis T. and Rita, Sister Mary Agnese, Agnes and Joseph, Angeline, John, Walenty, Walerka, Francis and Mary, Ludwis, Anthony and Laura, Mary Grace, Joseph, and Chester

Wieczny odpoczynek racz im dać Panie, a światłość wiekuista niechaj im świeci. Amen.

Niech odpoczywają w pokoju. Amen.

Witaj, Królowo Nieba (Hail, Thou Queen of the Heavens)

[audio:https://www.konicki.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/Witaj_Krolowo_Nieba.MP3]
PNCC

Bishops to be consecrated

All four Bishops-elect of the Polish National Catholic Church are to be consecrated on the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, November 30, 2006, 3pm, at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Cathedral in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Upon consecration the Bishops-elect will be assigned as follows:

  • Bishop-elect Sylvester Bigaj —“ Diocesan Bishop of the Canadian Diocese
  • Bishop-elect Anthony Mikovsky – Diocesan Bishop of the Central Diocese
  • Bishop-elect Anthony Kopka —“ Auxiliary Bishop of the Eastern Diocese
  • Bishop-elect John Mack —“ Auxiliary Bishop of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese

Official Notice of the consecrations and assignment appears in the October 24, 2006 issue of God’s Field (Vol. 84, Number 21), the official organ of the Polish National Catholic Church.

I look forward to serving under Bishop-elect Mikovsky.

A Bishop’s role, in the fullness of his office, builds up the Church. I know Bishop-elect Mikovsky will fulfill this work well, seeing that the members of the Church work together, guided by the Holy Spirit, in bringing Christ to all, and in building up our Holy Church.

I am overjoyed by the Church’s selection of Bishops. Indeed, the Holy Spirit is in our midst. Let us pray:

O God, the pastor and ruler of all the faithful, mercifully look upon Thy servants whom Thou has been pleased to set as Bishops in Thy Church; grant them, we beseech Thee, to be in word and conversation a wholesome example to the people committed to their charge, that they with them may attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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