Rosary; The Way of the Cross (Advent); Reading
Adoration: The need for a more complete expression of my consecration to God has grown over the last few months, which were full of human experiences.*
* response (T. to (b)) only as a sign that one must always be ready.
The framework for this consecration has been formed by the consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the act of ‘holy slavery’: ‘… my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to Thee (Mother) the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity …’7
Within this fundamental act of consecration and the entrusting of myself, I wish: (1) to be at Lord Jesus’ complete disposal when it comes to the service and ways of serving the people of God in the Church; (2) to accept all experiences, which according to His thought and will belong to the entirety of my earthly path; (3) asking only for grace, so that I could always live up to the task: so that I could accept, undertake, serve.
1–5 September 1971 The Bishops’ Conference Retreat at Jasna Góra Led by Bishop L[ech] Kaczmarek1
1 September
Introductory [meditation]:
1. Dinumerare nos doce dies nostros, ut perveniamus ad sapientiam cordis [So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom] (Ps.).2
2. Voluntas Tua – pax mea [Your will – my peace] (St Gregory of Nazianzus).
3. God is omnipotent – man is impotent? (Primate).
2 September
Rosary; Petitionary prayers; Prayer to the Holy Spirit; Participation in the Mass celebrated by His Excellency Primate Stefan Wyszyński3
Meditation: I turn to the Mother of souls, of my soul! The Mother of conscience, the Mother of divine grace, the Mother of the inner man, the Mother of the inner mysterium – at the start of the retreat that is to shed new light on the way of the soul. I entrust to Her all (theological, diocesan Synod’s, personal) concerns.
Talk: Episcopus – imago Patris [Bishop – image of the Father]. How to act on this ‘image’? (paura [fear], prudenza [prudence], pazienza [patience]). Not to take any decision without prayer. The proper meaning of the dialogue with priests. Goodness and firmness.
Ancillary reflection: Confrontation of fatherhood as a value which comes from above, from the Father, with the contemporary idea of social life, which comes from below, and which, in a way, does not leave any place for the father. A fervent prayer for fatherhood to be fulfilled in the Church despite these unfavourable circumstances – although, as the retreat leader said, ‘priesthood (and so also episcopacy) will be ever more difficult’ (Malraux).
The Little Hours (word for the Week of Mercy)
Talk: ‘Blessed is he whom thou dost choose and bring near’ (Ps.)4 – the problem of emptiness as the cause of priests’ resignations. Priest, bishop: forma gregis [example to the flock].5
Conversations with priests who are going down a path with no way out – formational conversations aimed at renewing priesthood in individual priests. Care for priests and their pastoral duties. The bishop knows what threatens contemporary priests (neomodernism, Bultmann, Küng) – practical materialism, pessimism (‘earthly life is not the highest value’ – Fr Kolbe’s words).6 The lack of prayer, routine, lack of love for learning – the bishop knows that priests need unity, mutual love, openness to the world (Ecclesia semper reformanda [the Church always being reformed]).7
Reflection: (a) petition for the ability to turn to the value that lies beyond the value of earthly life; (b) ([illegible] – the witness [illegible] of my devotion to God); (c) on the topic of what serves the unity among bishops and what impedes that unity (de affectu collegialitatis [on the feeling of collegiality]).
(‘The bishop is the parish priest of parish priests and the father of the fathers of families’ – St Francis de Sales.)
Spiritual reading: (1) Sacraments of the post-Concilliar Church; (2) Znak;8 (3) on Fr M. Kolbe
Rosary (longer); The Way of the Cross (shorter)
Talk: Episcopus – homo doloris [Bishop – man of suffering]. Longing for heaven, thoughts about death and eternity; let us not be afraid of death, but let us be afraid of the responsibility for life; responsibility for ‘our sheep’.
Suffering in the bishop’s life: falsi fratres [false brothers] and others – one needs deep trust in Christ. Suffering is marked by a particular kind of consecration, hence our eyes are turned upwards, ‘beyond the crossbeam of the cross’. The philosophy of suffering is best understood when one becomes humble and aware of the frailty of life. One needs to prepare oneself for suffering without becoming immersed in suffering. To be a Christian and not to want to suffer is a blasphemy (Tertullian). Suffering brings us closer to God in a fuller, faster and firmer way. It is a condition of spiritual maturity.
Petition to Mother Church to stand in suffering (Stabat Mater) and not to fall, and to maintain ‘Magnificat’.
Adoration (thoughts on the fourth talk); (Anticipated) Matins; Holy Mass concelebrated in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Reading (afterwards)
Eucharistic service (Primate: topics: for authentic priesthood at the Synod, consecration of the entire Church to the Mother of the Church, beatification of Fr Kolbe, collegial unity of the Bishops’ Conference)
Holy Hour (evening); Compline
3 September
Holy Hour (morning); Rosary; Petitionary prayers; Lauds; Prime; Concelebrated Mass
Talk: Episcopus – custos fidei – custos morum [Bishop – custodian of faith – custodian of morals]. A description of the situation in Poland and around the world (theocentrism – communocentrism – anthropocentrism – anthropotheism). Novelties, progressivism (effrenata novitas [unbridled striving for novelty]). The attitude to theologians – with a simultaneous sense of the bishop’s responsibility, his special responsibility for faith, ‘strengthen your brethren in faith’! (Gospel).9 To defend law and truth until death! (Bishop Fischer). At the same time, it is necessary to renew theology and kerygma, to change the language while maintaining the identity of the content.
Contemporary man finds himself in a crisis which is directly proportional to the difficulty of issues he needs to solve and to the price he pays for his mistakes.
The Church abides in divine truth by the power of Christ’s guarantee – this is the special mission and responsibility of the bishops.
The question
