Archives for July 16, 2021

July 24, 2021 – Polish Ethnic Novena at Ste. Anne’s Church

July 16, 2021 by

Dear Friends,

We hope this letter finds you well and in good health. As we slowly return to what we know as normal, once again, we will be celebrating the Annual Novena to St. Anne at Detroit’s historic church, 1000 St. Anne Street, from July 17- 26, 2020.

Ste. Anne Novena has been celebrated annually for over 100 years in this beautiful church, now designated a Basilica by Archbishop Vigneron in 2019. We gather to pray for all our own intentions, the intentions of our families, our community, our Archdiocese, and continue to pray for the world affected by the pandemic.

The Novena encompasses nine days of prayer and masses, each day’s mass designating an ethnic group associated with Metropolitan Detroit. It culminates with mass, July 26, the Feast Day of St. Anne, celebrated by Archbishop Allen Vigneron.

On Saturday, July 24th at 7:00 pm, we will be honoring Eastern European cultures, however Msgr. Kosanke, Ste. Anne’s Pastor, again extended a special invitation to Polish American Congress Michigan Division to be the principal patron for that day, with His Excellency Bishop Robert Fisher as main celebrant and Fr. Roman Pasieczny as homilist at this mass.

The Polish American Congress Michigan Division serves as coordinator of the Polish Novena Mass and we are focused, once again, on making this a successful Polonian event.  We encourage representatives and members of your organization to join us in celebrating the Polish American community in Michigan.

As in the past we will feature a procession into the church with flags, organizational banners, uniforms and colorful costumes, proudly exhibiting our heritage. We especially encourage organizational representation in this procession. Please note, we will gather in front of the church at 6:30 pm.

Please accept our warm invitation to come pray to St. Anne for all our intentions and to show our Polish Pride!

 

Sincerely,

Ann Bankowski, President

Polish American Congress-Michigan Division

Filed Under: News

A REALLY BIG BIRTHDAY CARD – A 4th of July lecture by Zbigniew Kantorosinski

July 16, 2021 by

Last weekend as America celebrated the anniversary of this country’s founding and independence, the Kosciuszko Foundation made available a lecture online by Zbigniew Kantorosinski, who served as Chief of the Germanic and Slavic Division, Library of Congress. The lecture was about an unusual proof of friendship between Poland and the US. We were invited to hear about an earlier American birthday, 95 years ago, in 1926. That year a newly independent Poland celebrated along with Americans in very special way. To mark the 150th Independence Day, a congratulatory message signed by an estimated 5.5 million Poles on over 31,000 pages was presented to President Calvin Coolidge on October 14, 1926. It was a unique testimonial exhibiting gratitude and friendship of the Polish people for the United States.

The Library of Congress website, entitled “Emblem of Good Will: A Polish Declaration of Admiration and Friendship for the United States of America”, honors the 111 volumes gifted by Poland to the United States. Over a sixth of Poland’s population signed the declaration, thus expressing their esteem for American democracy. The books are sectioned into volumes of signatures, including those of municipal, societal, religious officials, university faculty and students, members of Polish organizations, as well as teachers and pupils of secondary schools. The Library of Congress website provides rich illustrations from the book and an excellent history of this gesture.

Because a presidential library system was not created until after Coolidge’s administration, all the volumes were transferred that same year to the Library of Congress and forgotten for 70 years, only to be discovered in the 1990’s.
Zbigniew Kantorosinski was involved in the meticulous effort to process and publicize this collection in the United States as well as in Poland. The collection has gained popularity not only among visitors to the Library of Congress, but with historians, genealogists, art lovers and anyone interested in Poland and Polish American relations as well.

This interesting lecture highlights a unique and enormous expression of friendship between 2 nations and provides a snapshot of life and spirit of the Polish nation at a time soon after regaining her independence. Their gesture joyfully pays tribute to freedom and democracy.

I encourage you to listen about this inspiring act of friendship by linking to the Kosciuszko Foundation website: www.thekf.org or the link below and hear this fascinating lecture. You will be impressed.

Thank you!

The Library of Congress website is entitled ‘Emblem of Good Will’: A Polish Declaration of Admiration and Friendship for the United States of America

http://www.loc.gov/rr/european/egw/polishex.html/

Filed Under: Featured, Videos