Oct 12, 2021 | NEWS
On December 7, 2021, 145 years have passed since the death of our Founder the Servant of God, Fr. John Schneider. Wrocław bade farewell to the priest – sincerely devoted to the Church, city, parishioners, sisters … people. Father John “was like a fire that warmed with the flame of youth, burning himself in pastoral work, at work for charitable works and in creating a new Congregation. He never took any rest, he was forced to take health leave twice, ”recalled Fr. Władysław Bochnak. Father John, called the apostle of mercy, did not count time for the needy, he was an enthusiastic vicar fully present in the service for the faithful of the parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Piasek in Wrocław. As a parish priest, he was strongly involved in the life of the parish of St. Maciej, undertook many social and charitable activities and at the same time created and supervised the emerging new religious congregation. Intense activity for the benefit of so many souls, in so many pastoral spaces, caused premature exhaustion of the body, as a result of which he died at the age of 53. His death touched many. Archbishop Henryk Forster said about him that: “He was a great decoration of priests in Silesia, and this because of his extraordinary zeal, willpower and deep inner life.”
The funeral service was celebrated in the St. Matthias church in Wrocław by Father Robert Spiske – the founder of the Jadwiga sisters. The homilies were delivered by the parish priest of Saint Michael in Wrocław, Father Gustav Haucke, who addressed the deceased priest:
“Dear Dead Brother, come out of that beloved church of yours that you liked to restore and decorate so much! Go out with your flock and your brothers priests and go to a place of peace, a home that no one will take from you. (…). You will follow tears of gratitude and prayers of your parish, your relatives and your wards, there will be a memento of your brothers (…), your good deeds and merits will follow, for which our Lord and Judge, Jesus Christ, will reward you with joy and happiness in heaven “.
God’s servant, Fr. John Schneider died in the age of 53, on December 7, 1876 in Wrocław, on the eve of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
As spiritual daughters of Father John, on the first Tuesday of each month, we pray in all religious communities for the gift of beatification of our Founder. This year, at the suggestion of the Provincial Superior of the Polish Congregation, Sr. M. Magdalena Zabłotna, we started a novena of nine Tuesdays at the Founder on October 5. The weekly prayer combined with the conference of Sr. Elżbieta Cińcio will allow the participants of the service to learn about the stages of the life of the Servant of God. Our sisters who gather in the church on Piasek from various institutions pray together with the faithful first in adoration combined with the prayer of the rosary. Sr. Elizabeth’s speech takes place before the Holy Mass at 18.00, this time the sister introduce the profiles of the parents of Fr. John – Katarina and Jerzy John and introduce the audience to the atmosphere of the little Janek’s family home. Eucharist celebrated for the beatification of Fr. The Founder also becomes a thanksgiving and an exceptional cry of our Congregation for the spiritual good for each of us personally and for the entire Congregation.
The nine-Tuesday novena has already started. Our monastery in Racibórz Brzezie was located together with the monastery in Racibórz and Pyskowice as the beginning of this novena pilgrimage. Each Tuesday, the liturgies prepare the next designated houses and in this way all the sisters can create a spiritual bouquet of heartfelt prayer brought to God from the resting place of our Father Founder.
Sr.M. Margaret Cur
Oct 11, 2021 | NEWS
The name of English Medium Primary School in Mwanga is Johane Schneider. John Schneider is a Patron of our school.
This school is for children from 5 to 13 years old. The children are getting education for their life and also, they are getting moral education and religion apart from other education.
STRANGE NAME BUT FAMOUS
In the beginning the people who live here in Mwanga, heard the name of school and see the photo of John Schneider, they didn’t understand the origin and nature of the name.
Always they used to say this name is a school name but difficult in pronunciation and very strange especially “Schneider”. They always ask who is that man?
Some people used to say
- This man is from Europe is the one who build the school.
- This man is the owner of school
- This man is a priest but is the one who rise the fund of building school
- This man is saint he is a patron of student so sisters take him as patron and they use his name.
Slowly through the explanation of the sisters some of the people come to understand. that John Schneider is the founder of our Congregation.
Due to the presence of this school in Mwanga our founder is wide known in many areas in Tanzania, although until now many people used to call our school as SCHOOL OF SAINT JOHN SCHNEIDER!
HOW STUDENTS CALL HIM
After educating the pupils and explaining about our founder, now they come to know and understand a bit who is John Schneider. Nowadays they used to call him a second name “Schneider” only, even the people surrounding us called our school the school of Schneider and they pronounce very well although the name is so strange in our place. we are expecting some of the parents to give their new born name of Schneider.
By Sr. Maksymiliana SMI
Oct 11, 2021 | HISTORY, NEWS
This year, December 7 is the 145th anniversary of the death of Fr. John Schneider, Founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate. We, his spiritual daughters, wish to prepare ourselves spiritually for this anniversary by participating in the novena of the 9th Tuesday Mass. celebrated in this church for the beatification of the Founder.
Today, on the first Tuesday of the said novena, the Liturgy of the Word will invite us to Bethany, to the home of the sisters Martha and Mary who had a brother Lazarus.
Before the Eucharist, let us move our thoughts to another house, in Mieszkowice near Prudnik, where sisters Anna and Maria and their older brother John, later a priest from Wrocław and Founder of our Congregation, lived. This house is a small, thatched building at the end of Mieszkowice, but its uniqueness was not in material form, but in the family that lived in it.
It was rented by the newlyweds: Katarina and John Schneider, who 200 years ago, on September 30, 1821, in the church of St. George in Mieszkowice entered into a holy marriage. They brought sincere love and great diligence to the marriage community, thanks to which they could acquire the most necessary items from scratch and buy a rented house before their offspring were born. The father of the family was a butcher by profession, he also worked as a farm worker in the property of the parish in Rudziczka, and in winter he was engaged in weaving. He always tried to organize his work in such a way as to participate in family dinners. Before she got married, her mother, Katarina, worked for wealthy farmers as a housekeeper. After the wedding, she often supported the family budget by hiring the neighbors to do heavy seasonal work.
The firstborn son John Jerzy was born on January 11, 1824, followed by his daughter Anna Rozalia in 1827 and the youngest daughter Maria Janina in 1832.
In the Schneider family home there was a place for common conversations and for prayer in the family circle and for forgiving one another. Thus, in love, in self-denial, in a climate of material poverty, parents shaped the spiritual outlines of their children, daughters chose to marry, and the son discovered a priestly vocation in himself.
The marriage of John and Katarina Schneider survived in their vow of fidelity for 23 years. Katarina fell ill with tuberculosis and ended her earthly life in 1844. Father John Jerzy lived to a ripe old age as a widower. His own son, a priest, buried him.
The spouses Katarina and John, remaining in marital love and fidelity, fulfilled their life vocation. They brought up three children well and gave the Church a priest and a great-granddaughter – a nun, a member of our Congregation of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate.
Let us remember here our parents who passed on, to us spiritual values. Let their prayers and sacrifices bear fruit a hundredfold in our lives and may not be wasted by us.
Sr. Elżbieta Cińcio
Oct 9, 2021 | NEWS
“And the heart rejoices, and the heart rejoices,” said Sister Dulcissima whenever she felt joy. I am convinced that the handmaid of God is happy with us today about the event that took place in Brzezie on October 3, 2021.
Well, on Sunday, October 3, in our parish church dedicated to the holy Apostles Matthew and Matthias in Brzezie, at 10.30 we thanked for the gift of St. Teresa of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, asking God for the intentions of the most lost souls. Helena Hoffmann’s spiritual friendship with the Carmelite Saint began in her early childhood and continued throughout her life. It was little Teresa who prompted Helena to pray and offer herself. Sr. Dulcissima’s first biographer, Redemptorist, Fr. Józef Schweter, notes: “In accordance with the wishes of the Saint of Lisieux, Helena should have offered herself for the Church, for priests and for the Congregation of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate.” Therefore, it was Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus who watched that Helen’s vocation would grow and develop for the greater glory of God and for the benefit of people. Saint Teresa of Lisieux appeared in Helena’s dream and then also led Sr. Dulcissima, stimulating her to love God and her neighbor. Meetings with Teresa always took place in an atmosphere of deep joy. By offering her sufferings for the Church and priests, for sinners and the souls in Purgatory, and for her own religious family, and by practicing humility and spiritual poverty throughout her life, Sr. M. Dulcissima became a faithful follower of St. Teresa of the Child Jesus. And whoever met Saint Teresa and our sister Dulcissima will certainly admit that these two nuns shared the same passion for saving souls for the Savior. Their biographies are remarkably similar. I will briefly mention that both sisters walked the path of God’s childhood, still offering Heavenly Father grateful spiritual flowers.
Thus, bringing the relics of St. Teresa of Lisieux to the monastery in Brzezie is not only an installation of a reliquary in the monastic chapel. It is an INVITATION of the Carmelite Saint to live (register) permanently in a place that she has always watched over with God’s consent.
And if we invite you to the guest’s house … we had to be well prepared to welcome such an important person. Thus, the nine-day novena introduced us to the time of permanent formation, which became a closer preparation for receiving the relics of St. Teresa in our monastery. Fr. prelate Teodor Suchoń, retired custodian of the sanctuary of St. Teresa in Chwałowice, ardent devotee of the Carmelite nun.
We were glad that our sisters from nearby Racibórz, Branice or Wrocław were also with us. On that day, also courtesy of Fr. Teodor also hosted the relics of the Holy Spouses Zelie and Ludwik Martin, and in this way the Holy Parents accompanied Saint Teresa in such an important event for us. At the end of the Holy Mass, Fr. Theodore blessed the roses, which are a sign of the favors asked for through St. Teresa.
The saint from Lisieux, before her death, said: “I want to do good on earth while I am in heaven. After I die, I will rain down roses. ”
Beautiful, consecrated roses held by children, teenagers, adults, and the Sisters of Mary Immaculate, shaped the procession of roses leading to the convent of the awaited Little Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.
and the heart rejoices and the heart rejoices
Sr. M. Margaret Cur
Oct 7, 2021 | NEWS
Non-public Special School and Educational Center of John Paul II at ZOL for Children in Jaszkotle, is an institution run by the Congregation of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate since 2004. The center conducts educational and care-giving activities for children with intellectual and motor disabilities and chronic diseases. Some of them use wheelchairs. Our pupils are the charges of the Children’s Care and Treatment Institution to the ZOL. most often go to the ZOL due to the lack of parents or pathologies in the family and their disability. NSOSW runs a boarding school for school children and a primary school. Children learn in the scope adapted to their abilities, they also learn everyday life skills such as: independent toilet, getting dressed, making beds, preparing sandwiches and cooking. Each child has its own measure. First of all, we try to create a home for children that they do not have, so that they feel wanted and loved. Our employees are experienced educators and teachers involved in work and education. All employees are a family for children who spend their lives here until they come of age. After the age of 18, each of them is forced to move to other centers for adults, usually Nursing Homes. However, it happens, although not often recently, that children are adopted or go to foster families. It is important to us that children are happy despite their disabilities. We organize excursions, walks, cinema, winter holidays, camps, holiday trips. (Very limited or suspended altogether during the pandemic). In the Center, we have a chapel with the Most Holy Sacrament, where the Eucharist is celebrated with the participation of children and employees every Sunday and on holidays. On the occasion of the world, we are preparing a nativity play and the Lord’s Passion. We try to celebrate holidays, especially Christmas, by sitting down to the Christmas Eve supper with the children, breaking the wafer and singing Christmas carols. Our friends help us in our work. They support us materially, financially, and even more through a personal relationship with children. I am full of admiration for the commitment of employees and people who are friends with the Center. It is not only a job but a mission that we try to fulfill with all our heart. They are not only children, but also almost 50 employees. We are all family.
S.M. Natalia Kozieł
To learn more about the children and the specificity of the facility, please visit our Facebook: Non-public Special School and Educational Center in Jaszkotle.
Oct 6, 2021 | NEWS
The simple and repeated prayers of the rosary allows us to really Focus on what Jesus did and said. To some may seem un significant, tiresome and boring to hold and reciting a rosary, but Pope Leo XIII put it well when he said “The Rosary is the weapon of choice given to the church to defeat the ancient dragon, bring peace, heighten personal virtue and demonstrate a true devotion to Jesus and Mary” The Rosary is not an optional extra, it has the potential to transform our lives if we are willing. This does not mean we should pray only the Holy Rosary and leave the other prayers, NO!
It is a very light but victorious weapon one can hold and it is very easy to make it a daily habit of praying and connecting with Mary any were in any time, if not in the church or in the praying place, can be said else were, for example in every new day, the reciting of the Rosary has been part of my living experience, I have found it a quick answering prayer to my needs and intentions I make and this is true that, I just give Her my problems and they are answered in different ways. years back when I joined the group of Legio Mary in my parish one of the leaders always told us that whenever we say hail Mary, Mother Mary plucks a rose and puts it in a beautiful basket and the more hail Marys said the more the roses becomes and Mary is Happy about this. When I love something and become addicted to it, is not possible to stop it, this is how I have become used to pray the Holy Rosary, whenever am traveling or walking it is not easy to find my hand empty, or it is worthy reciting a rosary than using the phone if not necessary, this is the best opportunity I get to talk to Mary because the devil uses these moments to destroy when people are sleeping or busy with other things and we know that even by holding it, Satan knows there is a battle ahead. It has happened many times when am travelling I notice many people getting annoyed when their evil powers corrides with the power of the ‘Rosary’ even when in my pocket and one day I was reciting my rosary in a bus and one man was seated next to me, at first I could not understand why the man was so disturbed and restless and telling the driver he wants to change his seat, and when he was asked why he said something is burning him, the rosary I was praying was competing with his evil intentions.
The praying of rosary should be inserted in our program, find the time, may it be in the church, working place, while walking during the day or before sleeping or according to every one’s devotion to Mary. when we get into this intimacy love of the rosary no way we can find ourselves helpless or defeated because we are holding in our hands the ‘un- breakable’ weapon with all graces. Well, the month of October is a good time to re- evaluate the place the Rosary has in our lives and today is 7th October when we have the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, in other words ‘Our Lady of Victory’ which was instituted by Pope Pius V. God has promised to make us like Himself and our lady is the first in whom this promise has been fulfilled and so she is worthy of the highest of praise. Let us experience the power the Holy Rosary by reciting it daily and showing more love to Mary through it. Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary pray for us.
sr. Teresia Mukumu
