Parafia p.w. Narodzenia Najświętszej Maryi Panny
ST. MARY’S POLISH PARISH
21 Wesley St., Sydney, NS, B1N 2M5
Tel.: 564-4847
www.StMarysPolishParish.ca
Witamy wszystkich! Welcome to all!
We are pleased to share our faith and rich traditions with the whole community.
Celebrating 100 years of faith and service (1913-2013)

PROBOSZCZ/PASTOR:  Father Paul Murphy 564-4355

MSZY/MASSES: Sunday at 9:30 a.m.
Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. preceded at 3 p.m. by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and at 3:30 by Stations of the Cross (post Wed. Mass Novena to Our Lady of Częstochowa resumes after Lent)

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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Niedziela Palmowa / Palm Sunday

TODAY’S MASS INTENTION is for Hughie McMullin offered by Jancia & Bernie LaRusic. Eternal rest grant onto him O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him. Wieczny odpoczynek racz Mu dać Panie, a swiatłość wiekuista niechaj Mu świeci na wieki wieków. Amen.

The Vigil Candle this week is for Michael Ardelli offered by Shirley & family.

Ushers for collection today: Toni LaRusic, Robert Melski Jr.

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NASTĘPNY TYDZIEŃ / THE WEEK AHEAD:

Wednesday, March 27, 4:00 p.m. Holy Wednesday: preceded at 3 p.m. by the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, 3:30 p.m. by the Stations of the Cross. The Mass intention will be for John Paruch  offered by Nellie Tynski.

Friday, March 29, 3:00 p.m. Good Friday: A holy day of obligation and of fasting/abstinence from meat.
Lectors: Stephanie Black, Tom Urbaniak
Ushers: Steve Melnick, Robert Melski Sr

Saturday, March 30, 2:00 p.m. Holy Saturday:  Blessing of Easter foods (if you have traditional attire, please wear it for this occasion)

Sunday, March 31, 9:30 a.m. Easter Sunday: The Mass intention will be for Michael Ardelli offered by Shirley and family.  (if you have traditional attire, please wear it to Mass)
Lectors: Jola Cebula, Paul Tynski 
Eucharistic Minister: Suzanne Campbell
Altar Servers: Nikolas, Noah, Christopher 
Ushers:  Toni LaRusic, Michael Melski

Collection receipts for Sunday, March 17:  $937.00 (broken down as follows: $455.00 weekly contribution, $60.00 candles, $120.00 Share Lent, $210.00 Easter flowers, $85.00 Cemetery, $7.00 building fund. Thank you very much for your support of St. Mary’s Polish Parish. Serdecznie dziękujemy!

MASS CARDS/VIGIL CANDLE/MASS INTENTIONS: Please call Paul Tynski (562-1716)
Please Note: No individual Mass intentions will be taken for Sept. 8 (100 years to the day since our founding). The intention will be for all parishioners, living and deceased.

“IMIENINY” (NAME DAYS) FOR THE COMING WEEK. Help to maintain a longstanding Polish Catholic tradition by acknowledging relatives, friends, and colleagues who are celebrating their “name day,” corresponding with the feast day of a saint of the same name.  Where there is more than one saint of the same name who has been assigned a day, your “name day” is the one closest to your birthday. It is customary in the Polish tradition to acknowledge the name day of a relative or friend:
March 24: Gabriel, Marek, Szymon
March 25: Ireneusz, Łucja, Lucja, Lutomysł, Maria, Wieńczysław
March 26: Emanuel, Feliks, Manuela, Teodor
March 27: Benedykt, Ernest, Jan, Lidia, Rupert
March 28: Aniela, Antoni, Jan
March 29: Cyryl
March 30: Amelia, Aniela, Częstobor, Jan
March 31: Beniamin, Dobromira, Kornelia

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OGŁOSZENIA / ANNOUNCEMENTS

CHANGE IN WEDNESDAY MASS TIME FOR THE WINTER MONTHS: 4 p.m.: Our Wednesday evening Mass is at 4 p.m. Novena to Our Lady of Czestochowa follows as usual. Father Paul has effected this change out of consideration for people who may find it difficult to drive in the dark, especially in inclement winter conditions.

WEEKLY ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT every Wednesday at 3 p.m. (one hour before the Wednesday Mass) in our church. STATIONS OF THE CROSS take place at approximately 3:30 p.m. This is an important component of our 100th anniversary year, as we strengthen our life of prayer and spiritual devotion as a parish.

HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE FOR WHITNEY PIER PARISHES:
Holy Wednesday: 3 p.m. -- Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations of the Cross, followed by Mass (4 p.m.) – St. Mary’s Polish Church
Holy Thursday: 6:30pm – Holy Redeemer Church
Good Friday: 3pm – St. Mary’s Polish Church
                         3pm – Holy Redeemer Church
Holy Saturday: 2 p.m. -- Blessing of Easter Foods at St. Mary’s Polish Church
                         7 p.m. – Easter Vigil Mass – Holy Redeemer Church
Easter Sunday: 9:30am – St. Mary’s Polish Church
                         11am – Holy Redeemer Church

Please Note: Good Friday is an obligatory day of Fasting and Abstinence from meat.
If you have traditional Polish attire, please wear it to the Blessing of the Easter Baskets on Holy Saturday and to Mass on Easter Sunday. Dziękujemy!

The 100th ANNUAL BLESSING of EASTER FOOD (Święcenie Pokarmów Wielkanoncnych) will take place on Holy Saturday (March 30) at 2 p.m. If you have traditional Polish attire, please wear it for this blessing. Please invite friends from the broader community to bring their Easter baskets for blessing as well or just to be present with us – everyone is welcome. We will explain the rich traditions associated with this blessing and why the various foods are included. Also, as part of our Sto Darów Centenary Community Service Initiative, we will have a large special basket. We will invite you to place one item from your basket into this collective basket. The large basket will then be delivered to Loaves and Fishes.

CATECHISM AND POLISH CULTURAL CLASS, for school-age children, led by Krista Ann Starzomski, will take place after Mass today downstairs.

The St. Michael’s Polish Benefit Society will meet this evening at 7 p.m.

FEAST OF DIVINE MERCY: On Sunday, April 7th, at 3pm, Holy Redeemer Parish, Whitney Pier, will be hosting a Divine Mercy celebration.   There will be a special blessing of a new painting of the Divine Mercy.  The Novena to the Divine Mercy begins on Good Friday.  All are welcome to attend.

LECTORS’ SCHEDULE:
Good Friday: Stephanie Black, Tom Urbaniak
Easter Sunday: Jola Cebula, Paul Tynski
April 7: Anna Wesolkowska, Edmund Rudiuk
April 14: Elaine Tynski-Shipley, Anne Marie Campbell
April 21: Stephanie Black, Tony Melski

PRE-EASTER SALE OF TRADITIONAL/EUROPEAN MEATS: Andrzej Rachwalski from Halifax is holding the sale after Mass today in the Polish Village Hall.

RON AND JOE MELSKI MEMORIAL FAMILY SKATE:  Tuesday, March 26th, from 5 pm to 6 pm. Pier Rink. Hot dogs and pop will be for sale, with proceeds to the St Michael’s Polish Benefit Society. There will also be a donation bin for non-perishable food items as part of our parish’s Sto Darów Centenary Service Initiative. Thank you for participating!

ST. MARY’S POLISH PARISH EASTER BREAKFAST (ŚWIĘCONKA BREAKFAST) – Sun., April 7, after Mass. Everyone is welcome. Tickets available next week.

PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR ON-LINE “VIRTUAL TOUR” www.stmaryspolishparish.ca

SPECIAL ASPECTS OF PALM SUNDAY IN THE POLISH TRADITION: Palm Sunday is of course very important for the entire Universal Church. It commemorates Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem, an event retold by all four of the biblical Gospels. All solemn Church observances, including Palm Sunday, are major events in Poland. Palms have long been substituted by posies, willows, and by elaborately and colourfully decorated branches of spruce and boxwood. Sometimes, dried flowers from the previous season are attached to the branches. Tissues and ribbons are often used to decorate the palms, making for very impressive processions. Some of the “palms” are many feet high, and some parishes even organize competitions for the making of palms. “See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9

HABEMUS PAPAM FRANCISCUM: EXCERPT FROM POPE FRANCIS’S HOMILY AT HIS INAUGURATION MASS ON THE FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH (MARCH 19): To be “protectors”, we also have to keep watch over ourselves! Let us not forget that hatred, envy and pride defile our lives! Being protectors, then, also means keeping watch over our emotions, over our hearts, because they are the seat of good and evil intentions: intentions that build up and tear down! We must not be afraid of goodness or even tenderness …To protect Jesus with Mary, to protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves: this is a service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out, yet one to which all of us are called, so that the star of hope will shine brightly. Let us protect with love all that God has given us!

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TODAY’S HYMNS:
Entrance: Hosanna Witaj -- #362; and Wjezda krol -- #365 (both hymns in Spiewajmy Bogu hymnal)
Offertory: Jezu w hostii utajony (not in hymnal)
Communion: Ludu, Moj Ludu -- #75 in the coil-bound hymnal
Post-Communion: W Krzyzu Swiety -- #73
Closing Hymn Words:  Któryś za nas cierpiał rany, Jezu Chryste, zmiłuj się nad nami! [Translation: You who suffered, wounded, for us … Christ Jesus, have mercy on us.]