On September 20th, 1969, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, then Cardinal Karol Wotija, visited and offered prayers in our church. On that cool September day, our Saturday Greeter, was astonished when Cardinal Wotija came through the church doors. After their cordial greetings our parishioner relates that the Cardinal said to her " ... my church" and commented on how beautiful the church was and how it reminded him of the churches in Poland. He knelt in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and then to the Side Altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary -where our humble memorial to the Holy Father is located.
The Church Of St. Stanislaus Kostka Of The Salesian Fathers In Debniki (Konfederacka Street)
This was Karol Wojtyla's parish church during his stay in Oebniki in the years 1938 through 1944. Young Karol Wojtyla frequently prayed in the Chapel of Our Lady of Assistance to Believers here. In February 1940, he met Jan Tyranowski as a participant to religious youth meetings organized on the initiative of the Salesian Fathers. Ordained 1 November 1946, It was in this church, on 3rd November 1946, that Karol Wojtyla celebrated his first public Mass. Also, Jan Tyranowski was buried here. In 1968 Cardinal Karol Wotija wrote that: "Saint Stanislaus Kostka gives us a deep insight into the full meaning and purpose of our own lives, its real value and worth, life with its short span of 17 years gives us an excellent example of the following truths: First, that man on earth is destined for eternity, that is, he is destined for God as his final end and that this goal is worth striving for and enduring all things in order to reach Him. Secondly, that every man possesses a dignity which is increased by his nobility of soul and strength of character."
World Youth Day - Opening Address in Saint Peter's Square on World Youth Day -15 August 2000 “I remember how as a |
