We arrived at Our Lady of Czestochowa parish in Sterling Heights on-time and the Black Madonna was processed into the church. The celebration started with a rosary followed by a prolife presentation presented in Polish and contemplation of the Way of the Cross.
The 7:00pm mass was celebrated by the pastor of Our Lady of Czestochowa Fr. Sławomir Murawka TChr. Particularly beautiful were the many Polish men and women and youth who honored the Black Madonna by wearing their traditional celebratory dress.
Chaplet of Divine Mercy was at 8:45 pm and was followed by the :9:00 “Apel Jasnogorski”, rosary and an all night prayer vigil.
In the morning at 8:00 the “Godzinki” to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary were sung.
During breakfast with Frs. Sławomir Murawka TChr, Tomasz Ludwicki TChr, and Bishop Stanislaw Stefanek TChr from Poland the conversation turned to how the church dealt with the German and Soviet occupations. We also discussed how governments, particularly the Soviet Union, manipulated news media to suppress the influence of Bl. Pope John Paul II visit to Poland.
We discovered that Bishop Stanislaw Stefanek knows about the work of HLI in Russia, Ukraine and Eastern Europe. He is former chairman of the Council for the Family of the Polish Episcopate and longtime member of the Pontifical Council for the Family.
Bishop Stefanek celebrated the morning mass and blessed the icon and the Ocean to Ocean Peregrination. The entire congregation processed behind the icon and sang Marian hymns while the icon was placed in her vehicle.
