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XIII Arnold Family Prayer Vigil with keynote “150 years at the service of mission” at the Marian National Shrine in Częstochowa
Andrzej Miotk, SVD
The vigil staged biennially since 1994 turned this time into thanksgiving to the Triune God for the 150 Anniversary of the Society’s foundation. The meeting of over 200 participants was localized in two different places of the XIV century monastery of Jasna Góra. It started in the large hall of the St. Barbara’s Bastion (from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.) and after a longer break was continued in the chapel of the Miraculous Image of Our Lady until the morning next day.
The Vigil facilitated Fr. Wiesław Dudar – Director of the Mission Office in Pieniężno accompanied with prayer the late Pope Francis on the eve of his funeral. After the official addresses and musical performance of the Indonesian young SVDs two shorts missionary documentaries were shown “For the Life of the World” about the vocational stories of the Adoration Sisters and “The History of the Polish Province SVD”. Then followed the first conference And the Word became Flesh… by Fr. Dr. Andrzej Miotk, SVD historian in Founder’s Archive in Rome. He outlined the origins, difficult beginnings, and historical thriving of Arnold’s work through the three established congregations of Arnoldus Family and emphasized the historical uniqueness of Fr. Arnold Janssen’s work. A high point of the meeting was the awarding the prize of Fr. Marian Żelazek to three lay mission helpers: two full sisters Małgorzata Strugała and Anna Żerdzińska-Pszczółka for enthusiastic mission animation among of children and young people, and Irena Kaczmarzyk who despite her blindness, strongly committed to spiritual and material support of missionary work by financing the construction of a well in Africa within the “Water for Africa” campaign run by the mission office in Pieniężno. Finally, the Provincial Mission Secretary Fr. Andrzej Danilewicz presented the jubilee initiative “15 rosaries for the 150th anniversary of SVD”.
The second part of the Vigil began with the Jana Gora Appeal at 9:00 p.m. before the Miraculous Image of the Queen of Poland and concluded with the dispatching of all participants at 4:15 a.m. In his mediation during the appeal, Bp. Jerzy Mazur of Ełk recalled the Marian dimension of Fr. Arnold missionary foundations through her docility to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and Her protection as the Mother of the Divine Word. At midnight, Bp. Mazur presided over the thanksgiving Mass and delivered a moving homily. The Eucharist ended with a solemn Te Deum and the Act of Entrustment of the Arnold Family to the Mother of God by the Provincial, Fr. Sylvester Grabowski, SVD. Another two conferences delivered Fr. Prof. Jacek Pawlik, SVD Missionary – a Pilgrim of Hope and Fr. Dr. Mirosław Piątkowski SVD, diocesan director of the Pontifical Missionary Works, Pope Francis. A Man of Simplicity, Prayer and Mission. The rosary, liturgical and private prayers expressed the thanksgiving for the good received from God and the work performed by all missionaries and lay collaborators of Arnoldus Family. Particularly moving to the audience were the personal testimonies of novice Joseph Nguyen Duy Tung, SVD from Vietnam and the that of awarded Irena Kaczmarzyk.
In his homily the deeply missionary Bishop Mazur spoke with admiration about the Founder Fr. Arnold Janssen and called the arrived members of the Arnoldus Family as the “Pilgrims of Hope”. The Jubilee invites them to look to the past with gratitude, to the present with passion and to the future with hope. Fr. Arnold was God’s wonderful madman who, through his life and actions, desired only to fulfil the desires of the Divine Heart of Jesus that all men be saved. His idea surpassed his human capabilities, but did not limit the work of God’s grace in him. He was a holy man who took a risk, trusted God completely, and therefore accomplished great things sending his missionaries with the cry: “May the Triune God live in our hearts and in the hearts of all people.”
