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!
St. Mary’s Polish Church is a heritage landmark designated by the Province of Nova Scotia
We are pleased to share our faith and rich traditions with the whole community.
Established in 1913. Church rebuilt in 2015-2016. Our second century of faith and service

PROBOSZCZ/PASTOR:  Father Dennis Lamey 902-564-4222; sttheresasydney@gmail.com

MSZY/MASSES: PLEASE NOTE COVID health and safety requirements, masks, distancing, and preregistration (578- 3697). Thanks for all your kindness and goodwill, God bless

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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Piąta Niedziela Wielkiego Postu/ Fifth Sunday of Lent

CZYTANIA / READINGS:
Pierwsze czytanie: Jr 31,31-34 
Psalm: 51
Drugie czytanie: Hbr 5,7-9
Ewangelia: J 12,20-33

First Reading: Jr 31:31-34
Psalm: 51
Second Reading: Hbr 5:7-9
Gospel: John 12:20-33

RESPONSORIAL PSALM: Stwórz, o mój Boże, we mnie serce czyste / Create in me a clean heart, O God

MASS INTENTION FOR TODAY is for Mary Wall offered by Gerry Baker
LECTOR THIS WEEKEND: Bernie Paruch
LECTOR NEXT WEEKEND - PALM SUNDAY: Anne Marie Campbell / Narrator for Passion: Bob Lewandowski; Parts S1 for Passion: Stephanie Black

MESSAGE FROM POPE FRANCIS ON THE FEAST DAY OF ST. JOSEPH (Mar. 19): “To be a good father means to offer everything, holding nothing back; to protect without suffocating; to pardon without asking anything in return; to wait patiently and trustingly. It means following the example of the "Good Father" who is in heaven. May God bless all fathers!”

Wednesday Masses and Novena to Our Lady of Czestochowa are not being held at this time.

ALTAR SOCIETY designated volunteers for March: Jean Annette White, Angela Doiron

PLEASE NOTE: Please see the end of the bulletin for the detailed public health protocols specific to our church. Please note that we are using a pre-registration system, where persons attending must receive a prior call. If you have not recently been called, please contact Stephanie Black (902-578-3697). Thanks very kindly.

AFTER-MASS PROTOCOL: We depart out the side entrance, row by row, starting with front rows and maintaining distancing. Singing of “Sto lat” for birthdays and anniversaries can happen outside with distancing, as indoor singing is not permitted at this time because of the health regulations. Many thanks. Dziekujemy bardzo!

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OGŁOSZENIA / ANNOUNCEMENTS

A NOTE FROM OUR DIOCESAN NETWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE: Share Lent/Share Love is upon us: We now have the opportunity to join Canadian Catholics from coast to coast to coast in the 50+-year-old tradition of Solidarity Sunday. Together with parishes across the country, our parishes will take up a collection to support Development and Peace’s work as the official Humanitarian Aid and International Development organization of the Catholic Church in Canada. Our partners’ stories in this year’s Share Lent Campaign show that, by supporting Development and Peace, you help create peace and justice in communities all over the world! We encourage you to continue to support this crucial ministry of the Church this week or on one of the next few weekend Liturgies by giving generously to this special donation. Last year due to COVID and our inability to gather as faith communities, our contributions to this important work in the Church, were much lower. Thank you for your help!

MID-WEEK LENTEN PRAYER AND SCRIPTURE STUDY: Wednesday at 8:00pm; Please use this link to join: https://zoom.us/j/9410521825; Meeting ID: 941 052 1825; Passcode: 227259; or dial 1-778-907-2071.

GOOD FRIDAY: On Good Friday, April 2, at 6:30pm, we will have Gorzkie Żale (the traditional Lenten Lamentations) and Stations of the Cross in our church. Following that, the St. Michael’s Polish Benefit Society will be preparing Easter food baskets for shut-ins (to be blessed on Holy Saturday) and food hampers. So grateful for any assistance!

EASTER FOOD BLESSING: On Holy Saturday, April 3, at 1:00pm, we will have the traditional blessing of Easter foods (Święcenie Pokarmόw Wielkanocnych). Physical distancing and other public health protocols will be in place.

BY NEXT SUNDAY, we are expecting an order in of Polish Easter cards, pisanki, pisanki sleeves, and baranki for the traditional easter baskets.

A REQUEST FOR NON-PERISHABLE ITEMS: If you are registered to attend Mass this Sunday (or in the following weeks), and if you can, we would be very grateful if you could bring a non-perishable food item or personal care item (eg. shampoo, soap, toilet paper). There will be a box at the entrance. These items will help to stock our Food Cupboard outside the Polish Village Hall and also assist Loaves and Fishes.

FOOD CUPBOARD AT THE POLISH VILLAGE HALL: Thank you for your help. The sign on the Cupboard says “Take what you need, leave what you don’t, give what you can. Thank you!”

WEEKDAY RADIO SPOTS ABOUT POLISH CULTURE AND LANGUAGE IN CAPE BRETON: The Coast Radio: Every weekday at 3:50pm and 7:50pm (FM 89.7). It’s called the “One Minute Polish Broadcast”. Learn a new Polish word, phrase, or cultural tradition. Presented by the St. Michael’s Polish Benefit Society. Would you consider sponsoring a whole week of our radio segments for $100? The Coast has kindly agreed to allow the St. Michael’s Polish Benefit Society to do this as a fund-raiser (they are not charging for air time). Sponsors will be acknowledged on air (IMOs are welcome, birthday tributes, etc). Dziekujemy!  And, we’re recruiting volunteers to go on air (pre-recorded). We’ll help you get ready. No previous experience required, and you do not have to be a Polish speaker. This is a great way for us to bring forward members of our community, as well as promote and share Polish language and culture in our region. Our radio theme for this coming week will be Polish customs for Palm Sunday. Thank you to Noelle MacLean for being our radio voice this week. Noelle co-manages Rise Communications in Sydney. Her Polish Cape Breton ancestors are Dobrowolskis. And thank you to Rita Dziubek MacDonald for sponsoring this week’s segment.

PRAYER CAPSULE: We still have until May 6 – because the final phase of kitchen construction (the cupboards) is behind schedule due to general supplier delays in the industry. As part of the current kitchen construction at the Polish Village Hall, a prayer capsule will be enclosed. We'd love to have you include a prayer intention in the capsule (eg. deceased family members, prayers for the community, prayers for peace, etc). We have some cards on which to write intentions. Or please contact tom_urbaniak@cbu.ca (902-563-1226), and we'll make sure your prayer intentions go into the capsule. This is also a way for the St. Michael's Polish Benefit Society to say thank you to St. Mary's Polish Parish for the support and close collaboration -- which has been ongoing for more than a century!

COLLECTION FOR OUR PARISH MARCH 14: $815.00, including $170.00 for the Building Fund. Thank you for your support and generosity. Bόg zapłaƈ!
If you are attending Mass, you will find a collection basket near the entrance and exit (since we are not passing around the basket due to the public health restrictions).

RECENT IMO (IN MEMORY OF) CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BUILDING FUND:
IMO Nellie Tynski from Anna Wesolkowska; Regina and Colleen Gillis; Terry Wojick; Breton Law Group
IMO Melbourne McKay from Francis Wall

DONATIONS TO OUR PARISH: Thanks very kindly for any help you can provide toward our ongoing expenses. Donations can be made securely on-line at Canada Helps (which will email you an instant tax receipt):   https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/st-marys-polish-parish/. (link to this site is provided on our parish website homepage). Or by regular mail to St. Mary’s Polish Parish, 21 Wesley St., Sydney, N.S. B1N 2M5. Thanks for your support!

PHOTOS OF PARISH ACTIVITIES FOR PARISH SCRAPBOOK: Vicky Aucoin has been doing an amazing job keeping the parish scrapbooks, and welcomes your photos (labelled, if possible) as activities happen

FACE MASKS: We have received an additional small order of face masks with the Cape Breton Polish tartan! Proceeds support the St. Michael’s Polish Benefit Society. They are $20.00 each

PASSING ALONG BEST WISHES: Janusz Tomczak, national president of the Canadian Polish Congress, asked to extend his best wishes to our parish. He has very positive reflections of his time visiting with us and mentioned that he follows our news closely.

NEXT WEEK IS PALM SUNDAY – A NOTE ON SOME POLISH CUSTOMS TO MARK THE ENTRY OF JESUS INTO JERUSALEM: In the Polish tradition, willow branches are often used on Palm Sunday instead of palms. The branches are decorated with beautiful ribbons and flowers. These branches are multi-coloured and often very tall! The branches are blessed, and there’s often a little procession. In many homes, the branches are brought home and placed behind family pictures as a symbol of safety from danger. The decorated branches often stay there well after Holy Week and Easter. Photo of Jancia MacCormack’s Palms from last year.

MYSTERY PHOTO: Polish Air Force veteran who settled in Canada. This week, Rosalie Starzomski received from her contacts a photo originating with the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), Krakow Division. They were trying to determine the identify of the person depicted in the photo. They thought she had come to Canada after the war via Halifax. It’s now known that the person in the photo is Maria Barr, who was deported to Siberia, and after a long odyssey ended up in the United Kingdom, where she connected with the Polish forces in exile. She is 22 years old in the photo. She married a British Air Force officer, who died in the war, and later settled in Canada. She died in 2018. But still not that much is known about her later years, so the information collecting continues!

A recent post on our parish Facebook page: THANK YOU TO THE ATLANTIC SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY A big thank you to the Atlantic School of Theology for hosting Wednesday morning's inspiring Zoom conversation with the morally courageous Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the citizens' movement for freedom and human rights in Belarus (where some of the ancestors of our parishioners lived). She observed that the dictatorship "is afraid of churches and afraid of faith, because religion can remind us of our moral values." She mentioned how churches have been giving support and sanctuary to oppressed people. And she appealed for our support, including letters to political prisoners to tell them they are not alone.

A POLISH FOLK SAYING FOR THE FEAST DAY OF ST. JOSEPH: Swiety Jozef kiwnie broda, idzie zima nadol z woda! / Saint Joseph shakes his beard, and see, winter has disappeared!

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PUBLIC HEALTH REQUIREMENTS FOR MASS, SPECIFIC TO OUR CHURCH – as of Sunday, July 12
Dear Fellow Parishioners and Friends:
Below are the public health requirements related to Mass attendance, as applied specifically to our church. These have also been posted on our parish website and Facebook page. Thank you so much for your patience, understanding, and goodwill as we collectively adjust. Please also see #3 and #4 below about the pre-registration / seat-designation system for Mass attendance.   Dziekujemy bardzo serdecznie! Z Bogiem.

CELEBRATION OF HOLY MASS AT ST. MARY’S POLISH CHURCH:

1. The COVID-19 virus is still a danger to our community, province, and country. As we have seen with our neighbours south of the border, it can re-spread very quickly. Please stay safe.

2. We as a parish must abide by all applicable guidelines to ensure the safety of all, while being able to worship in a safe way. This requires patience as we adapt to a new form of attending Holy Mass.

3. For the first week (Sunday, July 5), parishioners were being randomly called until our smaller capacity is reached to maintain social distancing. If you are not sure if the parish has your telephone number, or if you wish to ensure that the parish has a current telephone number for you, please call Stephanie Black at 902-578-3697 to leave your telephone number. In subsequent weeks, persons who could not attend the previous week were being called first.

4. At this time, attendance can only be through the pre-registration process outlined in #3. The parish will maintain a record of everyone who is present and their contact information (for contact-tracing should the need arise).

5. Please ensure that you are completely free of any of the potential COVID symptoms. If you are registered to attend, but feel at all ill (eg. fever, colds), or feel poorly for any reason, please do not attend. There is a dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass.

6. Masks are now mandatory. (All attendees have been wearing masks in church – and masks were available at the entrance. Thank you!) Please remember that this is also for the safety of others.

7. Physical distance of two metres (six feet) will be required inside and outside the church (if not in family bubbles). Everyone is requested to avoid handshakes, hugs and other close contact.

8.  Every second pew will be signed as “not in use,” as well as the entire side aisles of the church. Those pews that are being used will have the required spacing indicated.

9. Entry will be through Wesley St. doors. Staged (gradual) exit will take place through side (parking lot) doors.

10. There will be hand sanitization at the entrance.

11. There will be no choir for the time being, as per the public health requirements.

12. There will be one lector and no altar servers.

13. The church will be sanitized (pews, knobs, etc) after use in order to be fully clean for each Mass.

14. Ushers will assist with seating, from a distance.

15. There will be no Holy Water in the hand fonts.

16. Fr. Dennis will explain protocols for Communion, which will necessitate social distancing and extreme prudence.

17. Communion will be distributed only in the hand. The Priest will wear a mask, and he will sanitize his hands before and following Holy Communion. It is not permitted at this time to take Holy Communion to anyone outside the church.

18. Confession remains on an as-requested basis, maintaining social-distancing guidelines.

19. Other church in-person gatherings remain suspended for the time being.

20. There will be no paper bulletins in the church. Bulletins will continue to be provided electronically (on Saturday) or by regular mail (Canada Post). Please do not hesitate to e-mail or call (tom_urbaniak@cbu.ca; 902-563-1226) if there is anyone who is not currently receiving a bulletin who would like to receive a bulletin. 

21. Hymnals, brochures, and other items in the pews have been removed for the time being.

22. Collection baskets will be placed at the entrance and exit. (Collection will not be conducted in the usual way.) Thank you kindly for your support.

Życzymy błogosławionego tygodnia / Wishing you a blessed week!