Greetings to all our Members and welcome to the start of summer (at least in the northern hemisphere)! Since the last issue of the Naród Polski, so much has happened, but one of the major highlights is that we have a new pope – Pope Leo XIV – the first pope from the United States, a native from the southside of Chicago and a White Sox fan. I know that the latter two items are not that important to most, but that is what prompted my granddaughters, Ariana and Mila, to call me and ask if I knew the new pope. Our hope and prayer are that Pope Leo XIV has a long and successful papacy.
June celebrates our annual PRCUA Sacred Heart Mass (6/1), International Children’s Day (6/1), Flag Day (6/14), and Father’s Day (6/15), in addition to another month of Happy Birthdays and Happy Anniversaries. Sto lat to all celebrants, especially Elizabeth Dziadulewicz and Mila Turkiewicz (6/3), Jeanine Leonhard and Victoria Bomba (6/7), and my soulmate, Richard Jaminski (6/26).
The annual PRCUA Sacred Heart Mass—this year, hosted by District 8 at Our Lady of the Woods Parish in Orland Park, Illinois—will be held June 1st. The month of June has been devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus since 1856, when Pope Pius IX designated the Friday following the feast of Corpus Christi as the feast of the Sacred Heart. For countless years, the PRCUA has honored its patron with a Mass of thanksgiving for the many blessings our fraternal organization has received through the year and to pray for its members – both living and deceased. The Sacred Heart Mass is a tradition that alternates between District 7 and District 8 (in northern and southern Illinois, respectively) and District 9 (Indiana and the southeastern corner of Illinois).
The Polonia Ensemble (Anna Krysinski, Director; Jaclyn Krysinski, Choreographer) will hold its final dance recital of the 2024-2025 PRCUA school year on Sunday, June 8, at the Irish American Center in Chicago.
On the Saturday of Father’s Day weekend (6/14), the PRCUA Opole Dancers (Warren, MI); PRCUA Southwest Center of Polish Song & Dance (Orland Park, IL); the PRCUA Wesoły Lud Polish Folk Dance Company (Homer Glen, IL); and the PRCUA Zakopane Dance Ensemble (Warren, MI) will perform at Milwaukee’s Polish Fest. The latter two groups will also be participating in the PFDAA (Polish Folk Dance Association of the Americas) Gala Concert. If you are in the area, come to the Cultural Stage where Zakopane will perform at 12:30 pm, and Wesoły Lud and SWCPSD from 4-5 pm. The Opole Dancers will be performing at 3 pm at the Children’s Stage.
Baseball season is in full swing with the annual Polish Heritage Night events—first, the Chicago White Sox vs. Arizona Diamondbacks at Rate Field (6/24) and the second, at Jimmy Johns Field with the Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers vs East Side Diamond Hoppers (6/28).
May was an extremely busy month, especially for the PRCUA, but personally for the Bastrzyk family as well as my own. From the start, the Polish Constitution Day festivities took front and center with the main event, the Parade in Downtown Chicago, and ending with a Mass at SS. Cyril and Methodius in Lemont, Illinois. You can read all about it on p. 8 and 9 of this issue.
Graduation season was in full bloom including the Polish language schools under the patronage of the PRCUA. The St. John Paul II Eighth Grade and High School Graduation Mass was held at SS. Cyril and Methodius Parish in Lemont on May 4, followed by the High School Graduate Ball at Crystal Grand Banquets. Representing the PRCUA was District 8 Director Elizabeth Dynowski. On May 7, Richard and I had the pleasure of attending the Henryk Sienkiewicz Eighth Grade and High School Graduation and Celebration at the same venue. Then on May 9, the Holy Cross Polish School hosted its graduation at its parish in Joliet. District 8 Director Mirek Cislo represented the PRCUA at the St. John Paul II Eighth Grade Luncheon on Sunday, May 11; as well as at the Jan Karski Graduation Mass at St. Alexander’s Parish in Palos Heights and Polanie Dancers’ End-of-the Year Recital, which were both on May 17.
Meanwhile, also on May 17, Joanna Niedzielski, Vice President of District 8, represented PRCUA at the Rev. Stanislaw Cholewinski Polish School Graduation at St. Faustina Kowalska Parish in Chicago, and Richard accompanied me to the Maria Konopnicka Polish School Graduation at Our Lady of the Church Polish Mission in Willow Springs. Continuing with the festivities of May 17, the St. Rafal Kalinowski school graduation Mass also took place at the Carmelite Fathers in Munster, Indiana. Each and every Mass and graduation was as unique as the schools are and on behalf of the PRCUA, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to the extraordinary efforts put forth by the school leadership and teaching staffs, school boards, parents and families, and especially the students who juggle their American and Polish studies, extracurricular activities and sometimes, part-time jobs. Bravo for the accomplishments of all!
Continuing with the accolades, together with Secretary-Treasurer Agnieszka Bastrzyk (also School Board President of Holy Trinity Polish School), Richard and yours truly, attended the annual Polish High School Graduation Mass organized by the Polish Teachers Association at St. Hyacinth’s Basilica on Chicago’s north side. Thirty-eight of the 50 Polish secondary schools from the Chicagoland area participated, including those under the patronage of the PRCUA. I have always been in awe as each school presents its graduates accompanied by its principal, school board president and the class teacher proudly carrying their school flags. What an extraordinary experience it is for the graduates and their parents and families, for the schools, for the Polish American community and all who are witness to this accomplishment. I have been to several of these Masses, and, for the first time, I had the distinct pleasure of seeing the filled-to-capacity Church from the pulpit. The pride swelled up in my heart as I searched for the right words to impart on the graduates on behalf of the PRCUA and myself. I applaud first and foremost, the graduates and their families and their Polish schools; the president of the Polish Teachers Association, Urszula Gawlik, and her board members together with the clergy for the beautiful Mass.
Earlier in this article, I mentioned the blessings of May on the Bastrzyk and Jaminski-Turkiewicz families. On May 4, our youngest granddaughter, Mila Turkiewicz, age 8, made her First Holy Communion at Christ the King Parish in Tampa, Florida, with family from various parts of the country present. The Parish Pastor, Fr. Leonard Plazewski, officiated at the first of three First Holy Communion Masses planned for that day and for 210 First Holy Communicants. I briefly spoke to Fr. Plazewski and learned that his grandmother belonged to the “Zjednoczenie Polskie Rzymsko-Katolickie.” Small world. God’s choicest blessings on our beautiful Mila who shares the same Holy Communion date with her sister, Ariana, who received Jesus for the first time a year earlier.
The Bastrzyks’ celebration was three-fold and included both of their sons: Karol, age 8, who made his First Holy Communion on May 11 at Holy Trinity Parish; Aleksander, age 13, graduated from Holy Trinity Polish School on May 17 and from St. Celestine Grammar School on May 29. Congratulations to both sons (daughter Natalia will be graduating from Polish and American grammar schools next year). God bless the Bastrzyk family!
Condolences to our members who have lost loved ones this past month, including Barbara Krynski and her family on the passing of her brother Mark Matelski, and to Mary Anselmo and her family on the loss of her husband, Henry. May eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.
For the last 26 years, Danuta Czajkowska has worked in the Audit Department of PRCUA. On May 30, Danuta will celebrate her last day of work with her colleagues at PRCUA. We thank her for her commitment to her job and wish her all the best as she enjoys the next chapter of her life. Sto Lat!
Check out the new PRCUA annuity rates starting June 1st! Happy June! Happy Summer!
