St. Agatha Parish exists primarily to serve the spiritual needs of those of the Polish language and ethnicity living in the St. Louis area.  We live our faith in union with the Supreme Pontiff and the Archbishop of St. Louis.  While living in American society, we celebrate our heritage of rich cultural traditions.  Through the intercession of Our Lady of Częstochowa, the Queen of Poland, and St. Agatha, the patron of our Parish, we seek to fulfill our calling in Jesus Christ by living out our Catholic faith in love, justice and peace.

The Month of May at St. Agatha’s

 

THE MONTH OF MAY

We are now into the month of May. Throughout most of the northern hemisphere of the world, May is considered one of the most beautiful months of the year as it signals the blooming of Spring and the bursting forth of life. During May, Christians, both in church and in the privacy of the home, offer up to Mary from their hearts an especially fervent and loving homage of prayer and veneration.  The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the Church. She is the example, the guide and the inspiration of everyone who seeks to be the servant of God and mankind, and the obedient agent of the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

 

HISTORY OF MAY 3rd

FEAST OF MARY, QUEEN OF POLAND

This year we celebrating the 231st anniversary of the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791.

 (Polish: Konstytucja Trzeciego Maja) is generally recognized as Europe's first modern codified national constitution, as well as the second oldest national constitution in the world. It was instituted by a Government Act (Polish: Ustawa rządowa) adopted on that date by the Sejm (parliament) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

In 1656, King Jan Casimir proclaimed the Mother of God the "Queen of the Polish Crown" and the shrine of Jasna Gora at Czestochowa its spiritual capital. In 1923, Pope Pius XI designated May 3 as the Feast of Our Lady, Queen of Poland, to coincide with the civil holiday commemorating the Constitution of May 3, 1791.

 

MOTHER’S DAY

On this Mother’s Day, we would like to extend our love and gratitude to all mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers, godmothers, aunts, sisters, teachers, caretakers, and all of you wonderful women who have nurtured us, cared for us and loved us. Thank you for all you are and all that you do for us! May God bestow an abundance of His grace and blessing upon you, and may Mary, our dear and Blessed Mother, keep you close to her loving and Immaculate Heart.

 

THE LITANY OF LORETO

One of the foremost devotions to Mary in May is the praying of the Litany of Loreto. In many places this litany is sung by the faithful together every evening in the presence of the image of the Blessed Mother.  The fifty-one titles of Mary in the Litany, which include newer titles “Mother of the Church" and "Mother of Mercy" are invocations set before us exalting Mary's privileges, her holiness of life, her amiability and power, her motherly spirit and queenly majesty. Reflection on these titles of Mary in the litany unfolds before us a magnificent picture of Mary, our Queen and Mother.  During this month of May, let us remember that Jesus gave Mary to us as our heavenly mother. Let us honor her each day, especially in the beautiful prayer of the Litany of Loreto.

 

 

MARY & THE SAINTS

 Catholics believe that worship is due to God alone. Catholics do, however, venerate Mary. In other words, we honor our Blessed Mother with great reverence and devotion because she is the Mother of God. Mary is the model of perfect love and obedience to Christ. God preserved Mary from sin, and she conceived our Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit, bringing Christ into our world. Catholics can’t help but honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is full of grace, the Mother of God and our Mother, for her “yes” to God  made the Incarnation possible. And without the Incarnation, we would not have salvation. Mary is the most beautiful model of total submission to the will of God. Catholics do not view Mary as equal to Christ, but rather venerate Mary because of her relationship to Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains, “Mary’s role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it” (CCC 964). As Catholics, we pray that we can respond to God’s call to holiness for our lives in the way that Mary did.

 

Pieśń maryjna Zdrowaś Maryja, została napisana prawdopodobnie na przełomie XIX i XX wieku. Kompozytor melodii i autor tekstu do pieśni Zdrowaś Maryja pozostają nieznani. Nie mniej zapis nutowy pieśni Zdrowaś Maryja, pojawił się w Śpiewniku Kościelnym Jana Siedleckiego z 1928 roku.

 

Ty w całym życiu łagodna, cicha,

Daj, niech pokojem kraj nasz oddycha,

Niech duch niezgody nas nie rozbija,

Broń nas od wojny, Zdrowaś Maryja!

 

MSZE SW. WIECZORNE W MAJU

W tym miesiącu Maryjnym zapraszamy na Msze wieczore połączone z Nabożeństwem Majowym – Litanią Loretańską. W  tygodniu, od wtorku do piątku o godzinie 7:00 PM.

W piątek adoracja od godziny 6:00 PM.