In June, renewal of the Act of Dedication of the Polish Nation to the Heart of Jesus May 1, 2021 | 08:00 | Marcin Przeciszewski | Krakow
On June 11 this year, on the hundredth anniversary of the consecration of the homeland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, this act is to be renewed by Polish bishops in the Jesuit Basilica of St. Of the Heart of Jesus in Krakow. It will be the central liturgical event of the plenary meeting of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, which is to be held in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska on June 11-12 this year. “In this way, we want to re-entrust to the Divine Heart the Church that is in Poland” – emphasizes Bishop Artur G. Miziński, secretary general of KEP.
Exactly 100 years ago – on the threshold of regained independence – the Polish Episcopate, led by the Primate of Poland Edmund Dalbor, consecrated the nation and the entire homeland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This act was renewed at the initiative of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński in 1951. On July 1, 2011, the act of consecration was renewed by Card. Józef Glemp, and last year – in the face of the pandemic – to the chairman of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki.
The genesis of dedication to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
The idea of giving oneself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is related to the revelations of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), a French showpiece of Paray-le-Monial. This saint was a mystic, to whom Christ showed his heart thirsting for human love and demanded that she give herself to him and that a feast in honor of his heart be established on the first Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi. The future saint and her confessor, Claudius la Colombière, were the first to offer themselves to God’s Heart, and then formulated the formulas of entrustment and thus started the process of personal consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Poland was one of the first countries where this cult developed strongly. Over time, the Church began to practice the consecration of communities, families, nations and countries, and finally the whole human race was offered to the Savior’s Heart.
After a hundred years, the Holy See recognized the content of the apparitions, though with considerable reluctance. Liturgical feast of the Divine Heart of Jesus, together with the Holy Mass. and the office of breviary, established in 1765 by Pope Clement XIII. Interestingly, at first it was a privilege for the Kingdom of Poland, a congregation of VISITATION sisters and one Confraternity of the Sacred Heart in Rome. In this way, the Holy See responded to the memorial of Polish bishops of 1764.
In Poland, the Heart of the Divine Savior was venerated even before the apparitions of St. Margaret Maria Alacoque. The first textbook of this devotion in the world was written by a Jesuit, Father Kacper Drużbicki, the author of the book “Hearts – Heart of Jesus”.
In 1856 Pope Pius IX made the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus obligatory in the Church all over the world. Margaret Mary Alacoque was beatified by Pius IX in 1864 and canonized by Benedict XV in 1920. She is called “Saint of the Heart of Jesus”.
We have many examples of public consecration to the Heart of God in Poland. One of them is the dedication to the Sacred Heart of the Gniezno and Poznań dioceses during the partitions by Primate Mieczysław Ledóchowski on December 20, 1872. He decided to take this act in the face of the Kulturkampf in order to awaken the religious life of the faithful and prepare them for difficult times.
On June 11, 1899, on the eve of the Jubilee Year 1900, Pope Leo XIII consecrated all mankind to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
. The idea of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was referred to at the beginning of the rebuilding of the independent state. On July 27, 1920, in the face of the Bolshevik threat, Polish bishops gathered in Jasna Góra under the leadership of the Polish Primate, Card. Edmund Dalbor, consecrated the Polish nation and the entire homeland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and re-elected Our Lady Queen of Poland. “At the moment when dark clouds gather over our homeland and our Church, we cry like Your disciples, surprised by a storm at sea,: Lord, save us, because we are perishing. And as once, having stretched out your right hand, with a single word you calmed the storm, so move away, Lord, now the danger that threatens us from us, ”the bishops pleaded. The Episcopate undertook then to spread the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus among the faithful and to encourage Polish families to devote themselves to him. Three weeks later, on August 15, 1920, the victorious Battle of Warsaw called “the miracle on the Vistula” took place. When Pope Benedict XV heard about the entrustment of Poland to God’s Heart, he wrote to the Episcopate: “You could not take anything more appropriate to correct the evil of our times, such as devoting your Homeland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and spreading his holy worship in the nation more and more. (…) For what can be found more salutary in this upheaval of all things than increasing me? the love of the Lord Jesus, who is the defense and the strong foundation of every Republic ”. Advertisement
The solemn consecration of the whole nation and homeland to the Sacred Heart of God took place a year later, on June 3, 1921, at the Mały Rynek in Kraków. It was related to the consecration of the temple dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (at Kopernika Street in Krakow). “As our Poland once, one of the first, fell down in obeisance before Your sweet Heart, so today we give You our whole nation in complete and undivided reign, we give You and consecrate its towns and villages, its laws and customs, its works and hardships, his needs and his hopes, ‘declared the bishops together with the gathered people. The Krakow basilica was built as a vote of gratitude for regaining independence from donations made by Poles from all over the country and was conceived as the central place of the worship of God’s Heart in the country.
The idea of entrusting the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was expanded upon by the feast of Jesus Christ the King established by Pope Pius XI in 1925. The meaning of the new holiday – as the Pope explained in the encyclical “Quas Primas” – was the recognition of Christ’s reign and power in the personal lives of Christians and entire communities. It was to serve the renewal of faith, also in the public space, which, according to the Pope, is particularly exposed to the displacement of Christian values and principles. episcopate New bishop of the Włocławek diocese In 1932 in Poznań, the monument “Sacratissimo Cordi – Polonia Restituta” was unveiled. It was demolished in 1940 and has not been rebuilt so far. Primate August Hlond referred to the idea of dedicating Poland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus after the cataclysm of World War II and in the face of new, promising persecution. In 1948, Polish bishops encouraged all the faithful to dedicate themselves personally to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in their families. Three years later, the Polish Episcopate announced the year of consecration of the Polish nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
On October 28, 1951, on the feast of Christ the King, Primate Stefan Wyszyński at Jasna Góra, in the presence of a million of the faithful, renewed the act of entrusting Poland to the Heart of Jesus. The act of renewal was carried out simultaneously in the cathedrals and parish churches. In a special message, the Episcopate emphasized that “through this solemn consecration of the Nation, we express our steadfast will that all areas of our life, both private and public, be arranged according to the principles of Jesus Christ.” Advertisement 25 years later, on the last Sunday of the church year, the churches renewed the act of dedicating the nation to the Heart of Jesus.
On July 1, 2011, another renewal of the Act of Dedication of the Polish Nation to the Heart of Jesus took place in Krakow in the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Heart of Jesus, attended by the then chairman of the KEP, Archbishop. Józef Michalik, the Primate of Poland senior Józef Glemp and the Archbishop of Krakow, Card. Stanisław Dziwisz.
On March 25, 2020, the current president of the Polish Episcopate, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, in the face of the coronavirus pandemic spreading around the world – as president of the Polish Episcopate, in spiritual communication with the Shrine of Our Lady in Fatima – entrusted Poland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The faithful could follow him through the media, uniting spiritually in prayer.
This year’s renewal of the Act of Dedication of the NSPJ – June 11, 2021, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, during the Holy Mass at. The act of consecration of the Polish Nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the 100th anniversary of this event, with the participation of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, which will be held in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska from 11 to 12 June 2021, will take place at 18.00 in the basilica of the NSPJ in Krakow – informs the archdiocese Krakow. Holy Mass will be chaired by Fr. Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, President of the KEP, he will also renew the consecration of Poland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In connection with this event, a consecration will also be made in each Polish parish on the same day. Preparations for the renewal of the Act of Dedication of Poland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus began on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, January 10, 2021. As part of these preparations, the Jesuits prepared pastoral materials that were sent to all parishes in Poland. There were also prepared pastoral materials for the first Fridays of the month, proposals for Passion sermons, Way of the Cross and June services. A special pastoral notebook was also prepared by the Commission for Pastoral Care of the Polish Episcopate, which contains materials to be used in parishes in connection with the 100th anniversary of Poland entrusting to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Source: https://www.ekai.pl/w-czerwcu-odnowienie-aktu-poswiecenia-narodu-polskiego-sercu-jezusa/