Guest Blog - My Lay Dominican Brother Was Willing To Pay The Price for His Faith. Will You?

Let’s be honest. Up to recent years, it has not been too difficult to live as a Catholic in these United States. But that is changing.

Efforts have been underway for some time to undermine our right to the free exercise of our religious beliefs.

For the most part, we have sat silently, acquiescing to such a radical agenda.

In the not too distant future, each of us may have to make the same type of choice my Lay Dominican brother, Roman Gorski, had to make some years ago in his native Poland – forfeit his physical comfort, and freedom or lose his soul.

He has given me permission to share his story, not to bring attention to himself but in hopes it will serve as a clarion call to all Catholics and Christians in this nation – be ready to suffer for your Faith.

Although lengthier than most of the work I have shared on this blog, the article is well-worth your time.

Strengthened by Faith by Mr. Roman Gorski, O.P.

(Image Source: From the House Tops)

[This firsthand account by Roman Gorski, who lived in Poland at the same time as Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, tells of his struggle to keep the Faith in an atheistic regime.]

On October 16, 1978, I was in a streetcar in my college town of Lublin, Poland, when a stranger en­tered the car and announced: "Have you heard the news? Cardinal Wojtyla from Krakow is our new Pope." It was shocking news and hard for me to believe. When I arrived at my college dorm, my colleagues were also excited­ly talking about the new Pope. Why did this news make us so happy? Why was it so important to us? In Poland, for all practical purposes, it was challenging to keep the Faith and now the person in the highest position in the Church comes from our country. It was like a miracle from Heaven, and a sign for all Catholics that God is still in charge, no matter how powerful governments may appear.

I grew up in a very patriotic Cath­olic family. To understand Poland it is essential to know that Church and politics cannot be separated there like in other countries. Members of my family fought against the Russians in the 1863 insurrection. My grand­mother's twin brothers joined the battle against the Russian Army in the First World War and again in 1919 against the Bolsheviks. One of the twins died in combat, killed by the Soviets. Only nineteen years later, in September, 1939, we faced another war when Po­land was attacked by Germany from the west and the Soviet Union from the east. Our allies, France and England, abandoned us in the fight. During the German occupation, in the Second World War my father and grandfather joined the Resistance fighters, only to be forsaken by the so-called Big Powers that they had defended, and our country was given over to Soviet domination. 

The Soviets established a repressive, Godless system, which lasted almost 50 years, ending in 1989. During this period many Polish patriots were killed or arrested. The Church was persecuted. The press, radio, TV, and publications were all censored. The word "God" was removed from school textbooks and public life. The regime wanted "to put God in the closet," but no matter how they tried, the Communists could not take Him out of our lives and our souls. They knew this and they were afraid to close all of the churches in Poland until they "converted us" to their atheistic ideology. They wanted to "own us," but we were not for sale!

Remembering Fra Angelico

[Sharing a post that first ran in 2012]

Some of us employ words to fuel our contemplation. Others like early Renaissance painter, Fra Angelico (Blessed John of Fiesole 1395-1455), whom Dominicans remember today, used paint brushes to nourish hungry souls.

1- (The Nativity)

2-(The Crucifixion)

3 - (The Christ Crucified)

                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
                                                          

4- (Lamentation)

                                                          
                        
His depiction of our Father Dominic in many of these scenes is a reminder of where we should also fruitfully place ourselves during times of meditation and contemplation.

And of course, we need to spend time with our Blessed Mother:

5- (The Madonna and Child)

                                                   
Fra Angelico pray for us!

(Sources: 1 and 2: Convent of San Marco, Florence; Images 3 and 4:Wikimedia Commons; and Image 5:Staatliche Museen, Berlin)

On The Feast Day of St. Thomas Aquinas

I recently began reading St. Thomas Aquinas by G.K. Chesterton. I highly recommend this book!

Although I do not know if the following tale Chesterton shares about our Angelic Doctor is true, I just had to share it with you:

"It was of him [St. Thomas Aquinas] that the tale was told, and would certainly have been told more widely among us if it had been told of a Puritan, that the Pope pointed to his gorgeous Papal Palace and said, "Peter can no longer say 'Silver and gold have I none' "; and the Spanish friar an­swered, "No, and neither can he now say, 'Rise and walk.' "

St. Thomas Aquinas pray for us.

Have You Looked Into The Mirror Lately?

Merry Christmas

(Image Source: Embedded Faith.org)

"O Come, O Come Emmanuel" - MaryAnne Muglia

Just had to share one of my all time favorite Advent  hymns performed in a breathtaking and majestic manner. Close you eyes and enjoy!

A Simple Reflection on Mary's Fiat

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

[I am recycling this simple reflection which got lost amid an earlier and lengthier post.]

In today’s Gospel (Luke 1:26-38) we hear the angel Gabriel’s familiar greeting to our heavenly Mother Mary: “Hail full of grace”. We repeat that salutation every time we pray the “Hail Mary”.  As a result, we sometimes forget the significance of those words and the rest of this Scripture passage.

When told by the angel that she, a virgin, would conceive the God-man, she asked him: “How can that be?” His reply – she would conceive not naturally but by the power of the Holy Spirit - was all Mary needed to hear. Without further hesitation, she said “let it be done to me according to they word”.

How often have we said “How can this be?” in response to promptings we have received – some no doubt from the Holy Spirit? Today’s Gospel should be an unmistakable reminder that, like Mary,  we must also say “Yes” to whatever God asks of us, knowing and trusting He will give us whatever assistance is necessary to fulfill His request.

Mary’s “fiat” changed the eternal fate of mankind. In a similar but lesser way, God will use our “Yes” to His invitations to change the hearts and souls of those known to Him.

But remember: He will not use us, if we say “No” to Him.

 

Pray that we may never let our selfishness and fear deprive us of the privilege of being part of God’s perfect plan.