| List Niedzielny - 01/27/02 | |||
Our Lady of Ostrabrama Church 696 North Main St. Brockton, MA 02301 ________________________________________________________________________________________Bernard Cardinal Law Archbishop of Boston 2121 Commonwealth Ave. Brighton, MA 02135
Date: January 27, 2002 Mathew 21, 12-13
Your Eminence, Today is the 4th Sunday of the year, and for the fourth time we, parishioners of Our Lady of Ostrabrama church in Brockton, gather together in front of the closed door of our temple to pray. Our hearts are full of pain. We pray to Jesus that our church will be reopen for us, and so Jesus wouldn’t let His House to be dismantled and destroyed. Your representative, his Excellency Bishop Malone, told us that our church would no longer be a church, rather anything else but the church. Also Father Manning informed us about the plans of liquidating of this God’s property and everything it consists. We parishioners love our church and want it to remain the house of prayer for us and for all the people. We pray to the Holy Spirit to change your heart and to reverse this cruel decision of closing and desecrating of our church. We believe in God’s Mercy and that He listens to our calls and crying. In the present time, when devil is infiltrating people’s minds and attacking the Church from inside, we need to have a strong faith and stand together against evil in all its forms to survive. We all realize the seriousness and danger of this situation. Parishioners of Our Lady of Ostrabrama have a strong faith inherited by the generations of Polish Catholics, those generations, which brought forth the greatest Pope of all times, John Paul II. He entrusted the whole world to Mary, the Mother of God and the Queen of Peace. We also believe in Her powerful protection and intercession. We ask our Mother of Mercy from Ostrabrama to intercede for us to Her Son for the salvation of our souls and for the resurrection of our church. We hope that you, Your Eminence, will reconsider your decision and let us have our church back. Sincerely, Your brothers and sisters in Christ. |
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| List Niedzielny - 02/03/02 | |||
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Our Lady of Ostrabrama Church 696 North Main St. Brockton, MA 02301 _____________________________________________________________________________________His Eminence Bernard Cardinal Law Archbishop of Boston 2121 Commonwealth Ave. Brighton, MA 02135
Date: February 3, 2002
Your Eminence,
On February 2, 1937 Saint Sister Faustina wrote in her Diary: " O, Mary, today a terrible sword pierced Your holy soul. Except for God, no one knows of Your suffering. Your soul does not break; it is brave, because it is with Jesus. Sweet Mother, unite my soul to Jesus, because it is only then that I will be able to endure all trials and tribulations, and only in union with Jesus will my little sacrifices be pleasing to God. Sweetest Mother, continue to tech me about interior life. May the sward of suffering never break me. O pure Virgin, pour courage into my heart and guard it." We, parishioners of Our Lady of Ostrabrama can repeat after Her: "Pour courage into our hearts!" Yesterday was February 2, the Feast of Presentation, which ended the Christmas season 2001. For us parishioners it was a very sad time, but we do not despair. Although our hearts, like Mary’s Heart, are pierced by sorrow, we are full of hope and trust in God’s Mercy. We continue to pray for salvation and resurrection of our church.
Your Eminence, Please, hear our prayers and do Your part in answering them. Please, open our church for us and let us in our church offer the gifts of our souls to Jesus with Mary, Mother of Mercy. Please, show us Your mercy, and mercy will be granted to You. Faithful parishioners,
of Our Lady of Ostrabrama Curch in Brockton, MA
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| List Niedzielny - 02/10/02 | |||
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Our Lady of Ostrabrama Church 696 North Main St. Brockton, MA 02301 ________________________________________________________________________________________Bernard Cardinal Law Archbishop of Boston 2121 Commonwealth Ave. Brighton, MA 02135
Date: February 10, 2002 John, 8; 12 "I am the light of the world ", says the Lord. " Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Your Eminence,
Today is the 5th Sunday of the year, and for the seventh time since the beginning of the year we, parishioners of Our Lady of Ostrabrama church in Brockton, gather together in front of the closed door of our temple to pray. We pray that our church will be reopen for us, and so Jesus will not let His House to be destroyed, and that the Light of the Lord may shine from this sacred place for us and for all the people again.
In today’s gospel Jesus says to his disciples: "You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a bushel basket: it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father."
For us, parishioners of Our Lady of Ostrabrama, our church was a House of Light, but You, Your Eminence, using your whole power and authority, tried to "suppress" this light by closing our church. We would like You to know, that the light of Christ is still shining in our hearts, thanks to intercession of Mary, our Mother and Queen. She like a moon reflects the Light of God, makes it gentle to our eyes and protects them from its burning fire, so we can see its beauty and enjoy its warmth. Now Our Lady is a prisoner of its own church, remaining in house-arrest. But the powerful rays of Her Loving Light penetrates the doors and walls of Her House reaching far…
Tomorrow, February 11, is a Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. What a tragic irony and a pitiful coincidence that the Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Brockton, Father Manning, was chosen to do a dirty job of closing our church, the Church of Our Lady of Ostrabrama. We pray to the Immaculate Virgin Mary that he and everyone, who in anyway contributed to the church closing, would realize that it was a mistake and at least regret it. Saint Bernadette, pray for us!
God’s Priests, may the Rays of the Light of Jesus Christ worm up your hearts and open the eyes of your souls, so you are able to see us people of this parish as your brothers and sisters and that you help us resurrect our church. Your Eminence, please do everything what is in Your power to bring back the Light of Life to our church. Please, reopen our beloved church for us.
With hope and prayer,
Parishioners of Our Lady of Ostrabrama
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| List Niedzielny - 02/17/02 | |||
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Our Lady of Ostrabrama Church 696 North Main St. Brockton, MA 02301 ________________________________________________________________________________________Bernard Cardinal Law Archbishop of Boston 2121 Commonwealth Ave. Brighton, MA 02135
Date: February 17, 2002
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| List Niedzielny - 02/24/02 | |||
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Our Lady of Ostrabrama Church 696 North Main St. Brockton, MA 02301 ________________________________________________________________________________________ His Eminence Bernard Cardinal Law Archbishop of Boston 2121 Commonwealth Avenue Brighton, MA 02135
Date: February 24, 2002 Psalm 33, 18-22 "But the LORD’s eyes are upon the reverent, upon those who hope for his gracious help, Delivering them from death, keeping them alive in times of famine. Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and shield. For in God our hearts rejoice; in your holy name we trust. May your kindness, LORD, be upon us; we have put our hope in you." Your Eminence,
Today is the Second Sunday of Lent as we gather together in front of our closed church to pray for its reopening. Also today is a wonderful Holiday, the Transfiguration of Jesus, when He reviled His full glory to three chosen Disciples. As they climbed the mountain with Jesus, we come to this Holy Place, which is our church, and we repeat after Peter, "Lord, it is good that we are here". Only Jesus knows how much we love this church. For us parishioners our small church is our home. We want to be with Jesus and His Mother in this place. We believe Jesus won’t let us become homeless now.
Our ancestors chose this place and decided to build this beautiful temple with hope that it would serve generations after generations of Polish-Americans and other people. We are faithful to their wishes and want to continue worship God in this church. We want the Good News of God’s Mercy to be spread from this place to the whole world.
Today we pray to Our Lady of Ostrabrama, Mother of Mercy with the words of Saint Faustina, the great Apostle of Devine Mercy, repeating after her: "O Mary, my Mother and my Lady, I offer you my soul, my body, my life and my death, and all that will come after it. I place everything in your hands. O my Mother, cover my soul with Your virginal mantle and grant me the grace of purity of heart, soul and body. Defend me with Your power against all enemies, and especially against those who hide their malice behind the mask of virtue…"
As Faustina, we also put all our trust in the Mercy of the Lord. Mary, our Mother, we place our church and ourselves in Your Hands!
Your Eminency, please listen to our prayers.
Cc: Holy Father, John Paul II His Excellency Gabriel Montalvo His Excellency Wilton D. Gregory His Excellency Walter J. Edyvean His Excellency Richard J. Malone a/a
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| List Niedzielny - 03/03/02 | |||
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Our Lady of Ostrabrama Church 696 North Main St. Brockton, MA 02301 ________________________________________________________________________________________
His Eminence Bernard Cardinal Law Archbishop of Boston 2121 Commonwealth Avenue Brighton, MA 02135
Date: March 3, 2002 Psalm 95:1, 6, 8-9 "Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD, cry out to the rock of our salvation. Enter, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us. Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on the day of Massah in the desert. There your ancestors tested me; they tried me though they had seen my works." Cc:: Holy Father, John Paul II His Excellency Gabriel Montalvo His Excellency Wilton D. Gregory His Excellency Walter J. Edyvean His Excellency Richard J. Malone a/a |
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| List Niedzielny - 03/10/02 | |||
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Our Lady of Ostrabrama Church 696 North Main St. Brockton, MA 02301 ________________________________________________________________________________________ His Eminence Bernard Cardinal Law Archbishop of Boston 2121 Commonwealth Avenue Brighton, MA 02135
Date: March 10, 2002
Your Eminence,
Today is the Forth Sunday of Lent and we, parishioners of Our Lady of Ostrabrama, come to pray again at the steps of the closed door of our church for the miracle of its reopening. We believe in indefinite goodness and power of God who heals the blindness of eyes and hearts with the Light of Truth. We pray that your heart, eyes, and ears will open to see us - the people - and to hear our voices.
People today need the spiritual healing desperately, because for too long their souls have been immersed in the dirt of sin. They want to be healed from blindness which sin brings and to be washed in the healing waters of Siloam – the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The problem is, who is going to heal them, when so many Church Leaders lost their moral authority because they failed to practice what they preach. One wonders whether God is really on the first place for the priests of God? What is the quality of their service to others? Where is their love and sacrifice? Who are the prophets of our times? Definitely - not those who close churches for poor communities to destroy them and sell them for profit.
By healing the man blind from birth, Jesus exposed the blindness of the religious leaders of His times. Isn’t this a warning for the Church leaders of the present times?
Your Eminence, today we pray for You, for us, and for the whole Church asking Jesus to heal our hearts and souls from blindness of sin by washing them with the Blood and Water, which gushed out from His agonized Heart opened by a lance on the Cross. We pray to Mary, Mother of Sorrows, the best witness of the Cross, to reach out Her hand and bring us closer to Her Son so He will be able to reach us and heal our blindness by washing us in the rays of His Mercy.
Jesus, who died on the Cross because of the blindness of our hearts, have mercy on as all!
Faithful parishioners
Our Lady of Ostrabrama Church Cc:: Holy Father, John Paul II His Excellency Gabriel Montalvo His Excellency Wilton D. Gregory His Excellency Walter J. Edyvean His Excellency Richard J. Malone a/a |
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| List Niedzielny - 03/17/02 | |||
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Our Lady of Ostrabrama Church 696 North Main St. Brockton, MA 02301 ________________________________________________________________________________________ His Eminence Bernard Cardinal Law Archbishop of Boston 2121 Commonwealth Avenue Brighton, MA 02135
Date: March 17, 2002
Your Eminence,
Today is the Fifth Sunday of Lenten Season 2002 as we, parishioners of Our Lady of Ostrabrama, come to our House of God to pray. Until now, our cry to you, your Eminence, for opening our church for us remains unheard. In the meantime, the process of death and decay of our church continues behind the closed door. Bags and boxes full of church possessions are being loaded into private cars, transported out of our church, and unloaded "only-God-knows-where".
Only you have the power to stop this process of destruction, to hold the impious hands from further profanation of this sacred place. But you remain silent and let the process to go on. You have the power now, but remember, God will judge you how you used your power. How many churches you closed for the poor people, how many you opened for the rich? Why for so many years you applied the "100% tolerance policy" towards offences of your brothers-priests, and why suddenly you changed it for the "zero tolerance policy".
Some people say, that you are a very skilful politician. For the smart politician every vote counts. It seems to us that to you, we people of this church, do not count. But we still believe that we count very much in God’s eyes and He hears our voices. We believe in God, who is a Good Shepherd, who gives His life for His sheep, not in those who abandon their sheep to save themselves.
The story from today’s Gospel about the raising of Lazarus shows us that even in the midst of death and decay, God still has the power to bring life and renewal. For such renewal for the whole Church and for its unity based on truth, justice and mercy we pray today. And especially, we pray for our small church in Brockton, which was allowed to die and was put into the tomb like Lazarus, so the Glory of God would have been revealed. Lord Jesus, who raised Lazarus, hear our lament! Mary, Mother of Mercy, intercede for us!
Faithful parishioners Our Lady of Ostrabrama Church Cc:: Holy Father, John Paul IIHis Excellency Gabriel Montalvo His Excellency Wilton D. Gregory His Excellency Walter J. Edyvean His Excellency Richard J. Malone a/a |
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