English
Today’s beatification is a sign of consolation from God, in times marked by wounds inflicted by violence and war – said Cardinal Marcello Semeraro at the Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Krakow-Łagiewniki. The Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints presided on Saturday, 15 June, over the Mass of Beatification of Father Michał Rapacz, a parish priest from Płoki murdered by the communists on 12 May 1946. 12 May will henceforth be the day of the liturgical commemoration of the new Blessed.
„Our new Blessed encourages us to believe in the power of the Eucharist, the only one through which each of us can become more and more each day a faithful and noble witness to the Gospel, as he was a shepherd according to the Heart of Christ, to the point of sacrificing his own life, as we heard in the Apostolic Letter of Pope Francis by virtue of which Father Rapacz was elevated to the glory of the altars” – Cardinal Semeraro said in his homily.
The Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints stressed that Blessed Fr Michal drew from the celebration of Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament „an inner strength and energy capable of transforming life and the world, daily life and history”. The cardinal recalled that the parish priest of Płoki would go to the church every evening, stand before the tabernacle, lay down on the ground, and there the Status animarum, the „list of parishioners” became his prayer book through which he commended to God one by one the individual families and persons of his community.
Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski, Metropolitan of Krakow, emphasised the role that the Eucharist played in Fr Michał Rapacz’s life. It was this that prepared him for his martyrdom on 12 May 1946. „As we look at Blessed Father Michał Rapacz, whose beatification crowns the Eucharistic Congress of the Archdiocese of Krakow which has been going on for several months, we experience all the more what God has given us in the Eucharist – in his infinite love He has given us his Son so that we continually respond to him with our faithful love, especially by attending Sunday Mass and by adoration of the Blessed Sacrament” – the Archbishop said.
Archdiocese of Krakow/ Press Office of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
Photo: Archdiocese of Krakow
