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ST. HEDWIG'S -- SPIRITUAL CENTRE St. Hedwig's Church -- in Oshawa's southeast sector -- is the spiritual centre for the city's Polish Roman Catholics, Dedicated June Geen emeseninmremmmninnaiit - ~ accineeansieeeeet 24, 1961, the construction was actually started in 1953 with the basement structure. The convent of the Felician Sisters and St. Hedwig's Sep- arate School are also located nearby the church, which is shown above. Oshawa Times~Photo ARRAN: Fi origin will join people of Poland 000 others of Polish elsewhere in the world to. brate the 1,000th anniversary Poland's acceptzmce of Christi- Aes Canadians of Polish origin are donating one million dollars to their Canadian Polish Mill- enium Fund, which honors the 1,000th anniversary of Polish Christianity; earnings of the permanent fund will aid educa- tional and social projects in Canada. Although Canadians of Polish origin constitute only 1.8 per cent of Canada's population, the group includes over 1,20% prof essional engineers, more than 200 'university professors, and numerous other professionals, a musicians and journal- Sts. cree ares = Christianity Vital n Life Of Polish The year 1966 marks a signi-| Pope John 15, he drew up, in fi ant historical event in the life of the Polish Nation: the one- thousandth anniversary of the baptism of its first recorded ruler, Mieszko, Price of Po- land, It is the anniversary of the of- ficial aceeptance of Christianity by a member of Polan's first historical dynasty, the Piast family, setting the stage for the entrance of the Polish people into the Catholic Church. It re- calls too, the formation of an indissoluble bond linking the Po- lish nation with Western culture and civilization. For the past nine years the people of Poland have been pre- paring themselves, by way of a spiritual renewal, to observe fittingly this important anniver- sary. The nine years of prayer, a novena of spiritual exercises, will come to a close on the first Sunday of MMay in 1966, and then Millenium festivities will begin. It is not only the 32 million Poles in their native land who look forward with eagerness to this unique occasion, but also the men and women of Polish descent who have for various reason migrated to the four cor- ners of the world and number of their Christian heritage, they will join with their brethren of Poland, in spirit if not in person, to commemorate this joyful and historic event. WED IN 965 The following is a general out- line of the part Christianity has played in the history of Po- land, as well as the contribu- tion that country made to the spread of Christianity and its influence on Western culture and civilization. In $65, Prince Mieszko i mar- ried Dubravka, a Christian Bo- hemian princess. He was bap- tized, and the following year invited missionaries from Prague to convert Poland. Wish- ing to secure the protection of 985, a document ceding his lands to the feudal overlordship of the Holy See. Pope Sylvester II, in 9999, created the archbishop- ric of Gniezna. Christian Poland constituted Christian Poland constituted Europe's eastern bastion against the pagans, Tartars, and later the Turks. Each Christian pagans, thus brining them into the civilized community and making all the involved cultural benefits available to them. Po- land's missionary work, which continued throughout the cen- turies had its greatest success in the conversion of Lithuania in 1386, as a result of the mar- riage of Jadwiga, Queen of Po- land, to Lithuanian Prince Jaciello, Poland also played an important role in the defense of Europe against the Tartars and Turks, After World War I tremen- dous. progress took place in re- surrected Poland in all spheres of the nation's life, as well as in the economic and intellectual fields. A marked renaissance of re- ligious thought based on the Catholic Faith and of consider- able significance to the develo- opment of the national culture and conceptions of social struc- ture was evident. Often, in Polish history, the Church held a special role of unifying and consolidating the Polish State. (Poland was con- sidered a province of the Roman Catholic Church), Also the Church's contribution to Polish culture was tremendous, for the education of the nation was un- dertaken by religious orders. During the partitions of Poland (1772-1918) the work of the Church on behalf of the Polish State was continued. Among the Polish patriots exiled or im- prisoned by the Russians and Germans we find numerable names of priests, monks and members of the hierarchy. In the field of economic sclf- POLISH 833 SIMCOE ST. S. JOSEPH BOSCO Realtor MURRAY BOYLE Manager Congratulations To the Oshawa During this the thousondth year of Christianity in Poland. -- 966 to 1966. From The Management and Steff of BOSCO REAL ESTATE Joe Crewtord Gord Cheriton COMMUNITY 728-7377 Satty Waltlece Lerry Andley Gerry Osborne preservation too, Polish clergy- men were in the forefront. With the end of the Second World War the iron curtain de- scended, cutting Poland off from the West. A Communist re- gime was forced on the Polish nation. After several bishops had been interned, Cardinal Wysznski, Premate of Poland, was arrested in 1956. A pilgrim- age to Czestochowa with one and a half million Poles seeking di- vine help and protesting against oppression resulted in the re- lease of the Cardinal, and the granting of comparatively more religious freedom in Poland than in any other Communist state. POLISH CLERGY Poland's contribution to the Catholic Church has been great. The learning of the Polish cler- gy enabled it to play a very prominent role in the Councils of the Church. Of outstanding significance was the work done by the kings, state and clergy of Poiand in working outa wiion of the Orthodox (Byzantine) 966 _ 1966 | POLISH MILLENNIUM Congratulations to the Polish People of Oshawa and District on the occasion of the Polish Millennium 475 Queen St. W. ZWIAZKOWIEC Published by Polish Alliance Press Limited Torente 3, Ont. TO THE POLISH MILLENNIUM WE EXTEND On the occasion and celebration of 1000 years of Christianity. We offer best wishes for and even greater future towards these great people "The Polish People of our community. JOHN SWAN HARDWARE | LIMITED OSHAWA SHOPPING CENTRE 725-3527