Poland, Licheń: Diocesan Celebrations of the Day of Consecrated Life

On Feb. 2, 2013, priests, religious brothers and sisters, along with the faithful attended Holy Mass on the Day of Consecrated Life, which was presided over by Bishop Wiesław Alojzy Mering. Upon the decision of the Ordinary of Diocese of Włosławek, this year solemnity was held at the Marian Shrine in Licheń Stary.

The 2013 Day of Consecrated Life was celebrated by the Catholic Church for the 17th time. Its motto this year was “To the Fullness of Life in Christ.”

Consecrated persons from around the Diocese of Włosławek arrived at the Shrine of Our Lady of Licheń to give thanks – together with their Bishop – for the gift of religious vocation and to pray for future holy vocations to their religious communities. In Bishop Mering’s opinion, the rank of this year solemnity is irrefutable: It shows the wide diversity and multithreading of the Church tradition. Nearly everyone of these old religious orders and congregations has its individuality and specificity, which are extremely important for the Church. This is at a premium that there are many opportunities for fulfilling one’s vocation in the Church through affiliation with a specific congregation.

In the Bishop Ordinary’s opinion, all of Europe’s history is based on personalities of great creators of the religious life. Saint Francis, St. Dominic, St. Benedict are the persons without whom Europe in its current form would not exist.

The Bishop spoke with regret about attempts to negate the contribution of Christianity to the shape of today’s world. We see emerging some lame tendencies to eliminate Christianity’s threads from the history of Europe, which will always lead to depletion of its spiritual life.

Forty six priests, who came to Licheń for the Diocesan celebrations of the Day of Consecrated Life, concelebrated in Holy Mass before the Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Licheń. Among them was also Fr. Waldemar Murach from the Congregation of Missionary Fathers of the Holy Family with headquarters in Kazimierz Biskupy; he has been a religious for 30 years and a priest for 26. Father Murach regards his religious vocation as a service for the Church wherever Lord God sends him. He thinks necessary to emphasize the rank, role, and place of consecrated life of the people who dedicate themselves to serve to God exclusively. The one who believes understands the role played by the consecrated life. He also added that the institution of the Day of Consecrated Life by John Paul II was one of his many important initiatives, fundamentals of which he derived from his native land and then passed on to the entire Church.

The following participated in the celebrations of the Day of Consecrated Life: Franciscans from Włocławek and Konin; Brothers Consolers of Gethsemane from Włocławek; Pauline Fathers from Brdów; Orionine Fathers from Zduńska Wola; Conventual Franciscans from Radziejów; Missionaries of the Holy Family from Kazimierz Biskupi; and the Marian Fathers serving at the Licheń Shrine.

The female religious communities from the Diocese of Włocławek were represented by Sisters of St. Ursula from Sieradz; Missionary Sisters of St. Bernard from Konin; Sisters of Communal Work of the B.V.M. from Włocławek; Sisters of St. Elizabeth from Włocławek and Breść Kujawski; Sisters of the Mother of Mercy from Świnice Warskie; Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth from Konin; Sisters of Divine Providence from Turka, Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary and Sisters of Vestments of Jesus from Włocławek; and Sisters of the Most Holy Name of Jesus from Licheń.

Robert Adamczyk