May 5, 2026 | SPIRITUALITY
I stand before you, Mary, to ask for your help in making my choices. The path of life is full of them—not only the big, decisive ones, but also the everyday, small, and ordinary ones that make up life. Sometimes it seems like there is too much of it, that things are too complicated or exhausting, that everything is overwhelming. And I don’t know what to think, what to do, or what to give up.
In moments of doubt or dilemma, especially on the paths of faith and daily love, spiritual life, or apostolic work—I want to look to you, whom they call the Mother of Good Counsel. You yourself are “Good Counsel,” for every moment of your life was spent listening to God’s will, pondering His plans and actions in your heart.
Intercede for me for good discernment—to understand what Jesus is inviting and encouraging me to do at this very moment—and help me to do what I come to understand. After all, your best advice is: “Do whatever Jesus tells you.” (Jn 2:5)
Mother of Good Counsel—pray for us
May 4, 2026 | SPIRITUALITY
“For in him he chose us before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and blameless before him.” /Eph 1:4/
Mary, desired, beloved, and formed in the plan of God the Father. “You are all beautiful, Mary.” Thank you for responding to this calling simply and truly through your life. I thank you especially for not hesitating to accept God’s plan for you—and through you, for all of us.
Help me to believe and take to heart that God looks upon me with love, chooses me, and wants to be close to me in my daily life.
Can I accept this gift from God consciously? Have I already done so?
Mary, Daughter of God the Father—pray for us
Apr 9, 2026 | SPIRITUALITY
1. The Meeting of the Risen Christ and His Mother Mary
In the silent dawn of the Resurrection, before words are spoken and before the world awakens, the Son meets the Mother who never ceased to believe. In Mary, faith had already embraced the Resurrection even at the foot of the Cross. Now, the Risen Christ does not simply appear, He fulfills her hope. This encounter is not described, because it belongs to the deepest mystery of love: where sorrow has been total, joy becomes immeasurable. In Mary, the Church contemplates the perfect response to Easter, faith that remains, love that waits, and hope that is never extinguished.
2. The Meeting of the Risen Christ and Mary Magdalene (John 20: 11-18)
Mary Magdalene seeks a body and finds a living Presence. Her tears blur her sight, until her name is spoken: “Mary.” In that moment, recognition is born not from seeing, but from being known. The Risen Christ calls each of us personally out of our grief, transforming loss into mission. “Go and tell my brothers…”, from the garden of sorrow, she becomes the apostle of hope. With her, we learn that Easter is not an idea to understand, but a voice that calls us into new life.
3. The Meeting of the Risen Christ with Cleopas and His Companion (Luke 24:13–35)
On the road to Emmaus, disappointment walks slowly, weighed down by broken expectations. The Risen Christ draws near, not imposing Himself, but accompanying their confusion. He opens the Scriptures and their hearts begin to burn, yet they recognize Him only in the breaking of the bread. So too in our journey: Christ walks with us in our doubts, interprets our wounds in the light of God’s plan, and reveals Himself in the Eucharist. What was a road of escape becomes a path of return, and despair turns into proclamation.
4. The Meeting of the Risen Christ and Thomas (John 20:19–31)
Thomas stands at the threshold between doubt and faith, refusing to believe without touching the wounds. The Risen Christ does not reject his demand; He invites it. “Put your finger here…”, the wounds remain, not as signs of defeat, but as the eternal language of love. Thomas moves from skepticism to the highest confession: “My Lord and my God.” In him, we see that faith is not the absence of questioning, but the courage to let Christ enter our questions. The Risen One meets us precisely where we struggle to believe.
5. The Meeting of the Risen Christ and Peter (John 21)
By the shore, in the quiet simplicity of a shared meal, the Risen Christ restores Peter. Three times he is asked, “Do you love me?”, not to reopen the wound of denial, but to transform it into a confession of love. Christ does not define Peter by his failure, but by his capacity to love. “Feed my sheep”, mission is entrusted not to perfection, but to a heart that has been humbled and renewed. In Peter, we discover that Easter is the place where our past is not erased, but redeemed and entrusted with new responsibility.
G.P.
Apr 7, 2026 | SPIRITUALITY
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” /Jn 15:11/
Jesus, what are you telling us? What sources of joy are you showing us?
Is it possible for joy to blossom in this world, so full of suffering and hopelessness?
You say: “my joy” and “full joy,” meaning a joy different from the one we usually desire.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Remain in my love!” /Jn 15:9/
The source of the joy of which you speak, Jesus, is therefore your Heart, the source of Love. Your heart, loved eternally by the Father and therefore loving immeasurably. It is precisely this love that you pour into our hearts and teach us. You invite us to this love and so ardently desire that we persevere in it.
Help us to believe in Your love, which is greater than suffering and despair. Help us to open our frightened hearts and accept Your gift. Help us also to persevere in Your love—that is, with You, to try to love more each day.
When we persevere in love, starting anew each day, step by step, building the love that You show us and to which You enable us, You Yourself will be the source within us.
“Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” /Jn 16:22b/
S.M. Roza
Dec 1, 2025 | SPIRITUALITY
One mountaineering account describes a situation in which a man was stranded high up in the mountains on a narrow rock ledge during a storm. The wind was so strong that it was impossible to go up or down. Raindrops bounced off the rocks like needles, his hands were numb with cold, and every movement threatened to make him fall. At one point, in the darkness and rain, he felt a small depression in the rock with his hand — almost invisible, inconspicuous. He slipped his fingers into it and leaned his entire weight on it. This small, invisible support allowed him to survive the whole night. The mountain did not change, the storm did not stop, but there was a point that prevented him from falling into the abyss. This image aptly describes the situation of many people and many communities in difficult moments of history. There are times when the wind of events, decisions, persecution, and fears blows with full force. And yet there is a “recess in the rock” that the world often does not see — the quiet presence of God, His grace, and the intercession of Mary. For you, Sisters of Mary Immaculate, in moments of danger and struggle for the survival of the Congregation, Mary, the Guardian of Faith, was that support. She did not take away the difficult experiences, but she prevented faith from falling into the abyss. In today's Gospel, Jesus enters the temple and makes a radical gesture: He drives out the merchants, disrupts their arrangements, and purifies the place of prayer. This is one of Jesus' most violent actions — and one of the most loving. The Greek word that Luke uses to say that Jesus “drove out” (ἐξέβαλεν) is the same word that describes the casting out of demons. Jesus is not angry with people—He is fighting against what destroys the heart of prayer. He is not fighting against man, but for man. And Luke goes on to emphasize that “every day He taught in the temple.” It is a beautiful juxtaposition: on the one hand, the strength and courage of purification, on the other, a gentle, patient presence. Jesus removes what gets in the way, but He stays to give life. Purification is not the end, but the beginning. Moreover, Luke notes that “the people listened to Him with bated breath” (ἐξεκρέματο αὐτοῦ ἀκούων – literally “hung on His lips”). This is an extraordinary image: people clinging to Jesus' words like a climber clinging to a rock ledge. The word of God is a support in times of storm. Sisters of Mary Immaculate, your Congregation has experienced its own “cleansing of the temple” in history: times of trials, threats, and even moments of near destruction. But it was precisely then that the truth, which your Constitutions remind us of, was revealed even more strongly: “Our apostolate will only be fruitful if we are deeply united with Christ. He is the source of our spiritual life and the strength of our dedication to our neighbors” (Constitutions, 92). This sentence is like a key that unlocks today's Gospel. Jesus, in cleansing the temple, does not destroy it—He restores its heart. Similarly, in the history of your Congregation, in times of trial, Jesus, through Mary, did not allow that heart to be extinguished: prayer, adoration, daily perseverance with Him. Your fidelity was not merely survival, but—as the Final Document of the 21st Chapter says—being rooted in the primacy of grace: “The renewal of our vocation in today's world is possible only through the recognition of the primacy of grace and the rediscovery of spiritual depth.” This is an extremely powerful message for today. In a world that says, “What counts is effectiveness, projects, numbers, plans,” the Chapter reminds us that everything begins with grace. Not with strategy, but with remaining with Jesus—just like the people in the temple who “hung on His every word.” And one more sentence from the Chapter that particularly resonates with your pilgrimage to Mary, Guardian of the Faith: Your identity as Sisters of Mary Immaculate is not just a name, but a mission: “We feel called to revive our Marian spirituality (...) by listening to and meditating on the Word of God and presenting Mary as a model.” Mary of Bardo – Guardian of the Faith – teaches precisely this kind of listening and perseverance. She did not stop the storm, she did not take away the cross, but she ensured that faith did not die out. And in the same way, she did not allow your Congregation to die out. That is why today your thanksgiving is not just a memory of the past. It is a renewal of the decision: to be a temple purified by Christ, nurturing the primacy of grace, in which Mary guards the faith — not as an exhibit, but as a living fire. In a moment, we will participate in the Eucharist — in the mystery in which Jesus enters the temple again. Into the temple of our hearts and into the temple of your Congregation. Every Holy Mass is a moment of purification: He removes what hinders us and stays with us — every day, just as He taught every day in the temple. When the priest raises the Host, Mary, the Guardian of Faith, teaches us her gaze beneath the Cross: a gaze that never turns away from the mystery of God acting amid difficulties. She teaches us that fidelity is not a feeling, but perseverance. That salvation comes from trust. That the Word is truly a rock. Today we give thanks for the salvation of your Congregation. But at the same time, we entrust it anew to Mary – that she may always be your Guardian of the Faith. May each sister listen to Jesus “with bated breath.” May Jesus purify what needs to be purified and teach you daily in the temple of your hearts.
Ks. Bartosz Trojanowski
Sep 20, 2024 | SPIRITUALITY
Despite the fact that we live in Ruda Śląska, close to Zgoda, we only learned about Sister Dulcissima when our daughter Edyta fell ill. Father Peter, the pastor of our parish, then gave us relics, that is, earth from the grave of Sr. Dulcissima, the future saint, and so the sister came to live with us, in our family, and became our friend.
My daughter was diagnosed with stomach cancer, it was a difficult diagnosis for us, a huge blow, a shock. A new and difficult situation to accept. First we heard: stomach cancer, and after the stomach was resected, we learned that there was a metastasis to the liver. Edyta underwent three surgeries, eight chemotherapy treatments, many medical consultations. In these struggles with the disease, the experience of suffering, our daughter was always accompanied by Dulcissima. With her relics, Edith traveled to all the hospitals, to medical appointments and for examinations. Sister Dulcissima was with Edith, she was with us every day. Through her intercession we asked for health for our daughter.
It so happened that this year we wanted to celebrate our Friend's 114th birthday in Birchwood. On the occasion of Sister Dulcissima's birthday, it was possible to write a “gritty letter” to the birthday girl, because that's what the sisters suggested, so I wrote one. It was a great event for me, I felt as if I had written a letter to Heaven. On her birthday we were at Mass in the convent chapel, and I put the letter to Dulcissima in a specially prepared large envelope just below the altar.
Then, within a short time, her daughter's health began to improve. Edyta, together with her fiancé David, decided to get sacramentally married. Then we decided to invite our friend Sister Dulcissima to the ceremony. Sister was with us during the difficult moments, and we invited her to those happy moments as well. Edith and David's wedding was special, because their guest was the future saint, it was such a tangible experience of the Holy Communion.
The Sisters of Birch gave the newlyweds an icon depicting Sister Dulcissima and St. Therese. Father Peter welcomed the servant of God Sr. Dulcissima as the most important wedding guest, placed a portrait of Dulcissima at the altar on a specially prepared place and at the end of the wedding mass blessed this beautiful gift. Sister Dulcissima was also with us at the wedding, taking the place previously prepared for her in the wedding hall.
We announced our visit to Birchwood for 15.09. When I arranged our meeting with the sisters, Sister Margaret was happy to inform us that on 16.09 is the day when Sister Dulcissima's name day is. I was heartily pleased. It's no coincidence, our friend invited us to celebrate together. Although we have had Sister's relics for two years and Sister is with us every day, for her celebrations she invites us to her home in Birch.
Thank you Sister Dulcissima.
Joanna M
Ruda Śląska, 15.09.2024
