Hundreds attend dedication of St. Andrew Bobola Shrine

By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press

DUDLEY – Bishop McManus officially established the Shrine of St. Andrew Bobola, as a shrine attached to St. Andrew Bobola Parish here, on Sunday before a standing-room-only congregation said to have come from at least 10 states.

The traditionally-Polish parish is named for a 17th century Polish Jesuit who fought division among Christians, was brutally tortured and martyred, and is now a patron of Poland.
At the end of the two-hour shrine dedication Mass on Mother’s Day, Bishop McManus consecrated the shrine to Our Lady of Czestochowa in front of her image, where the parish keeps a first-class relic of St. Andrew Bobola for public veneration, said the pastor, Father Krzysztof Korcz.

The prayer noted that God the Father entrusted Jesus to Mary’s care, and Jesus gave her to us from the cross.

“Jesus, I now want to imitate You, and entrust Saint Andrew Bobola Shrine, and all of its parishioners and pilgrims, through the prayers and intercession of St. Andrew Bobola, St. John Paul II, St. Stanislaus Kostka and Blessed Bronislawa to Your Mother,” the prayer said.
“Mary ... I entrust to you, all the faithful parishioners and pilgrims of St. Andrew Bobola Shrine, present and future, our physical Church structure, the Rectory; and all our property and ministries into your maternal and loving care.

“We are living in times of spiritual crisis and we are asking for your help. We are confident that you will bring us close to Jesus ... May this be a sacred place of Christian unity, reconciliation, and healing. Protect us from errors ... Intercede dear Mother for an increase in holy vocations in our diocese. ... Totus Tuus...”Bishop McManus consecrates the Shrine of St. Andrew Bobola to Our Lady of Czestochowa in front of her image Sunday, during the shrine dedication Mass at St. Andrew Bobola Parish in Dudley. With him is the pastor, Father Krzysztof Korcz. By the Marian image is a first-class relic of St. Andrew Bobola, who is depicted in a statue on the wall to the right, where another first-class relic of him is kept.

Father Korcz has been working for more than a year to keep his small parish open by getting a shrine to its patron established there, to draw pilgrims and increase devotion to St. Andrew.

After Mass Bishop McManus blessed a plaque on the outside of the church marking the occasion, before a reception.

“We are truly blessed,” Father Korcz told the congregation that he estimated consisted of 600-700 people. He said the shrine is a gift from God.

St. Andrew Bobola “wants us to stay united in this shrine,” he said. “This is the first and only shrine [dedicated to him] in the United States.”

Father Korcz thanked God for sending St. Andrew Bobola “as a sign of Your providence” and the saint himself for “choosing Dudley as a special place of your presence.” He expressed hope that the shrine guide many people to encounter Jesus and become holy.

Jesuit Father Mitch Pacwa, EWTN TV host who closed the novena leading up to Sunday’s dedication, had expressed similar desires in his homily at the dedication Mass.

“I love my Polish heritage,” said Father Pacwa, adding that he took St. Andrew Bobola’s name when making his vows. “He has been made a saint for the whole Church.”

He suggested the shrine can be a place where people today follow St. Andrew’s example. As the saint worked to overcome his stubbornness and temper, pilgrims can pray God will remove their faults.

He said St. Andrew was devoted to Mary, and at the shrine pilgrims can pray the rosary, aided by windows depicting its mysteries.

Father Pacwa gave some information about divisions within Christianity. He said Jesus asked the Father that his followers “be one, as you and I are one” and St. Andrew died working for unity.

Father Pacwa called for Catholics having greater knowledge of the faith so they will know what they are inviting others to: “we’re talking about offering people the Body and Blood of Christ” and hope of life after death.

At the Mass Father Michal Jedrzejski, professor at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin in Poland, who led most of the novena before the shrine’s dedication, read the congregation a letter from the university’s rector, Father Habil Miroslaw Kalinowski. The letter, addressed to the shrine’s pastor, parishioners and pilgrims, said “sensitivity to the testimony of the saints” is essential to the university, where St. John Paul II taught.

“Today, we rejoice in the new shrine of St. Andrew Bobola in Dudley,” the letter said, and expressed gratitude to Bishop McManus for supporting it.

“At a time when international relations seem to be entering a difficult and uneasy time, we need witnesses of faith, even martyrs, who, regardless of wars, revolutions, and human hatred, live by love, reconciliation, and hope on both sides of the Atlantic,” it said. “May St. Andrew Bobola support us in our common pilgrimage.”

The letter is available through the parish website standrewbobola.com, as is the university’s musical composition that Father Jedrzejski mentioned.

Father Korcz and parishioners expressed thanks in word, and, in some cases, gifts, for those involved in the Mass and the shrine’s establishment.

The pastor told pilgrims, whom he said came from at least nine states besides Massachusetts, “This shrine is open to you, to be your home always.”

He told The Catholic Free Press that the shrine is to celebrate its May 16 feast day next Sunday with a 10:30 a.m. Mass in English, and a noon Mass in Polish, with a reception after the noon Mass.