Central Diocese

Helping Ss. Cyril & Methodius Parish

Our prayers and best wishes are with the Pastor, Fr. Mariusz Zochowski, and all parishioners of Ss. Cyril and Methodius Parish in Perth Amboy, NJ. It is heart breaking that this beautiful church was destroyed by the fire on Monday October 28th.

I helped Fr. Mario by celebrating Holy Masses in that church and also attended various NY/NJ Seniorate liturgies such as our annual Corpus Christi Holy Mass with procession. The national Mission and Evangelism workshop was also held there. The people of that parish are friendly and have a deep faith. Fr. Mariusz and some parishioners dedicated countless hours to renovate and remodel the church, rectory, and the parish hall. On Monday evening October 28th I witnessed many people praying in the front of the demolished church with tears in their eyes and broken hearts. It was difficult not to share their feelings. Bishop Bernard Nowicki came to express his support, and together with Fr. Mario inspired those gathered with their prayers of hope that the parish will be rebuilt through the dedication of its people. It will be rebuilt by the people of faith who are the “living stones of the church.” I need to mention that the Holy Eucharist, the consecrated bread – the real presence of Jesus was unharmed as well as the processional cross. This is indeed a sign of the presence of the risen Lord among us and in us. A wonderful start of a new beginning.

At the request of Fr. Mariisz and his parishioners present on Monday along with Deacon Konicki, serving our diocese, we prepared a GoFundMe site so people of good will could offer donations online to help the parish of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in this very difficult time. You can also donate by mail to:

Ss. Cyril and Methodius Parish
600 Jacques St.
Perth Amboy, NJ 08861

Thank you and God bless your generosity.

Fr. Joseph

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Bp. Bernard Nowicki celebrates 25th Jubilee Holy Mass for Deacon David Gaydos

On Sunday September 8, 2013 at 4 pm a special Holy Mass was celebrated on the occasion of the 25th Jubilee of Deacon David Gaydos service at the Holy Cross Church.

The solemn Holy Mass was celebrated by His Excellency, Rt. Rev. Bernard Nowicki, Bishop Ordinary of the Central Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church. The Holy Scripture readings emphasized God’s calling of prophets, Jesus’ selection of Apostles who too needed to choose deacons in order to help them in the ministry for the Church.

Deacon David was thanked for his service and his family for their support, wife Laurie, sons Scott and Mark and daughter, Emily. Bishop spoke about the need of men accepting God’s calling to serve as deacons and priests. There are parishes where priests from neighboring parishes and deacons are filling-in due to a lack of priests; providing services for the faithful. It was 25 years ago when David Gaydos was ordained deacon to serve the parish in Woodland Park and provide help in other parishes of the diocese. “I don’t know why I was chosen to be a deacon?” he humbly said in his remarks. Deacon David said, “I think it happened because once Jesus said in the Gospel: ‘You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit…’ (John 15:16)”

Father Joseph R. Cyman, who has served as Pastor for the past ten years at Holy Cross Church, thanked the jubilant for these years of good cooperation working together for the spiritual benefit of the parish. Deacon David Gaydos helped especially during Father Joseph’s vacation time. In that time he conducted the Liturgy of the Word of God with Distribution of Holy Communion. Additionally, Deacon David helps at Holy Cross by reading the Gospel, distributing Holy Communion, and occasionally preaching sermons. He uses his culinary talent in preparing menus for different parish dinners. As an excellent cook, he is fulfilling the service of the first deacons who served meals to widows in the early Church. In his 25 years of service he traveled to most of the parishes of the diocese helping other priests including one parish in Los Angeles which is a part of the Central Diocese of PNCC.

Expressions of thanks were expressed also to Deacon David’s brother, Deacon William Gaydos. He is serving as a deacon at the Holy Cross Church by reading the Gospel, helping in the liturgy for special occasions, serves as a Lector and prepares altar servers.

Other priests and deacons joined – Father Senior Gregory Mludzik, visiting priest Fr. Adam, and Deacon William Gaydos. The altar servers offered their service during Holy Mass. Organist Jessica Muccilli beautified the liturgy with well selected hymns.

After the Mass, the parish hosted a dinner in the parish hall as a token of appreciation for the Deacon David’s service. Dozens of guests enjoyed the dinner.

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Consecration of our new bishops

See coverage and a video of the consecration of Bishops Nowicki and Bilinski at: New Bishops Installed in Polish National Catholic Church

Scranton, Lackawanna County – Friday, [September 14, 2012] was a big day for the Polish National Catholic Church.

A mass to officially install two new bishops, including the one who will serve northeastern Pennsylvania, got underway late Friday afternoon in Scranton.

The mass began at 3:30 PM at Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr Cathedral in South Scranton.

The two bishops who will now serve their communities are Bishop Stanley Bilinski and Bishop Bernard Nowicki.

“I can’t believe the people who have come around from so far away and old friends from close places are an absolute delight,” Bishop Nowicki said.

Bishop Nowicki will serve the Polish National Catholic Church’s largest diocese, which includes Scranton. It stretches from New York to Washington, D.C.

Bishop Bilinski will be based in Chicago and will serve the church’s western diocese.

“We each bring unique gifts to the table and to understand that we can help the church along in its various needs, especially in this day and age,” Bishop Bilinski said.

Both of the new bishops, who were elected in June, say this is an exciting time for the Polish National Catholic Church. The bishops point to a new Prime Bishop in the church and a lot of new leadership that will drive them forward.

“We have our ideas, we have senses of where we want to go and certainly how we want to work together and that’s already been born out in the last few days,” Bishop Nowicki said…

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Central Diocese Clergy Retreat

Central Diocese Clergy gathered for their annual retreat at the Villa of Our Lady Retreat House in Mt. Pocono, PA. In the picture are the clergy after the celebration of Holy Mass along with this year’s retreat master, Bishop Tikhon of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania (OCA) who was presenting spiritual advice. Following the retreat, the clergy had one day conference to discuss various matters of the Church, and our diocese.

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Acolyte Retreat 2012

This year there were 29 participants at the Central Diocese Acolyte Retreat held at the Bishop Hodur Retreat and Recreation Center in Waymart, Pennsylvania.

Bishop John Mack gave a presentation and celebrated the Holy Mass for our altar servers on Wednesday.

Presentation by Bishop John Mack at Bishop Hodur Retreat and Recreation Center

There were five priests involved in the program: Fr. Joseph Cyman, Fr. Gregory Mludzik, Fr. Mariusz Zochowski, Fr. Andrew Bieganowski, and Fr. Zbigniew Dawid. Mr. Joe Kolonko served delicious meals. The children helped him in the kitchen cleaning the dishes and helping set up for meals.

We thank all for coming and spending a great time together at the beautiful location. The weather was gorgeous. The children and adults enjoyed swimming in the pool with the supervision of Andrew, our lifeguard. Because of the hot weather we experienced on Thursday and Friday, there was plenty of time for the pool. There were also outdoor games such as volleyball and basketball. After we hiked to Kin Lake, our acolytes enjoyed the playground and kayaked with adult supervision wearing life jackets.

At the Kin Lake

During the retreat we had Holy Masses, prayer services, and a special Candlelight service. Fr. Andrew Bieganowski led the children in singing Christian songs. The bon-fire on Thursday was enjoyed until mosquitoes chased us away.

After Holy Mass in the chapel.

We welcomed visitors including Prime Bishop Emeritus Swantek with his wife, Fr. Carmen Bolock and some parents. Thank to all for sharing a great time!

Acolytes gather in front of Bishop Hodur’s residence at Waymart – “Ustronie”

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Acolyte Retreat

From Tuesday, June 29th to Friday, July 2nd the Central Diocese Acolyte Retreat took place at the Bishop Hodur Retreat and Recreation Center in Waymart, PA. Almost forty participants came from several parishes of our diocese including five altar servers from our parish: Nayef, Ned, Neil Kiame, Michael and Natalie Cyman.

All participants had time to pray during Mass, before meals and before going to sleep. They enjoyed playing different games indoors and outside. They did swim in the pool with the presence of the life guard. Yes, the water was warm which helped adults to join as well. The pool was used every day. Participants hiked to the shore of Keen Lake (see the picture below). They listened to interesting presentations at the retreat center. The weather was excellent except for one chilly night. The bonfire on Thursday made all of us become one friendly family.

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