Login

Letter from Br. Błażej: 125th Night

June 29, 2022, Wed. Saints Peter and Paul.

In Krakow, life goes on with a normal rhythm. In Ukraine, in two different regions of it, war – rocket raids. People are dying. Twenty people were killed in a shopping center. Rockets fell on Dnieper, a city of a million inhabitants. Our brothers live here. God give us peace.

The Word… “…. a Church prayed for him (Peter) constantly to God.” There are many testimonies of Ukrainian soldiers who talk about the incomprehensible moments thanks to which they are still alive. They say simply, it is thanks to God and people (the Church) who pray for them. The miracle for Peter is not that he got out of prison, or for us that this war will ever end. The miracle is what Peter himself says: “Now I know for certain that the Lord sent his angel and delivered me from the hand of Herod.” (Putin) The miracle is for the soldier, each of us to believe that there is a God in our lives and He will win my war and defeat Putin in my mind. “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” God make me believe, make every Ukrainian and Russian believe that there is a God in our nations and countries. Jesus is Lord !!!

We live in war, we do not live by war.

Every day is a gift, writes Br. Sergij Gubicki. (photo)

Krasilov:
In Krasilov relatively normal life. We work with parishioners, the sisters distribute humanitarian aid, we take care of refugees who live in our retreat house, who feel more and more comfortable with us, they are smiling, open to conversation… .

Kiev:
Volunteers are present. (photo) Displaced people get help. (photo). Children are having fun. (photo)

May the Lord bless you and keep you…

Letter from Br. Błażej: Night 124

June 28, 2022, Tuesday.

In the places where the brothers live, the night passed peacefully. In yesterday’s attack on a shopping center in Kremenchuk 18 people were killed, all civilians.
Kharkiv shelled all day and night! Regular war in Donbass. Kherson occupied. Nikolaev shelled, similarly Odessa. God be merciful…..

The Word….. “Who is He that even the winds and the lake obey Him?” On the answer to this question depend my fears, anxieties, resentments, etc. “Lord, save us, we are perishing!” – There is no end to war. Children die, innocent people die. Rockets are scattered all over Ukraine. “Why are you so fearful.” – We don’t know who you are. “I hope in the Lord, I trust in his word…” Lord increase my faith that You watch over us, my brothers, over Ukraine.

We live in war, we do not live by war.

Today in Ukraine is Constitution Day of Ukraine – let us pray for the rule of law and peace in Ukraine.
The friars are assisting refugees. In Krakow, on the Main Square, there was another action against the war. (photo)

May God protect us…. from Russian missiles.

Letter from Br. Błażej: Night 123

June 27, 2022, Monday.

I have been staying for a few days in Krakow. I have been following the events in Ukraine, especially in the Capuchin Ukraine where our brothers and friaries are located. God is merciful. We pray for …..

The Word…. I am touched by the simple statements that God uses to reveal Himself to man: “Thus saith the Lord…”; “I brought this out before them…”; “And I brought this out…”; “Behold, I will crush…”
This is the mighty hand of God showing its strength in my life story. In the story of my life, God and his love is revealed. Follow this God, his Word, not your declarations, your desires. I will follow You, but….
Let God’s ” Here am I” be mine too: “here am I…”

We live in war, we don’t live by war….

Yesterday (Sunday) in Kiev, at our monastery, the brothers and Sisters of the Nazareth organized the 10th World Meeting of Families. (photo)

Short video clips.

Vineyard:
It is alarming at our place. But despite this, the Franciscan Youth of our parish are doing a charity fair. (photo) You can see and of course join in, you are welcome:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02Qnqb4Bdt2xnKbmy3ejj3AEcSaLFNq2b2PWhbYLQoG1kjPs4NUrS4j1hn5RHnJu31l&id=100001157038184&sfnsn=mo

May God grant us peace and keep us…

Letter from Br. Błażej: Night 122

June 26, 2022, Sunday.

In Kiev, in the morning, rockets fell on an apartment building in one area of the city. We do not know whether there are casualties. There are reportedly people under the rubble of the building.(Photo) Other regions of Ukraine were also bombed. God grant us PEACE.

The Word…. “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. You have the words of eternal life.” Willing to listen to You means I am open to change my thinking whatever that thinking is. This is freedom. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” War. Kill the enemy, in your mind, in your heart….This is my thinking…. Lord, do you want us to say, ‘Let fire fall from heaven and consume them?’ “But Jesus, having turned away, rebuked them.” You follow me, that is, look to me, listen to me, “This is what I teach: walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Obey Israel….you shall love….and the enemy also….Russian also …

Voronezh (Russia):
I would like to send some photos of the dedication of our chapel in front of our house. (The maker of the project of Our Lady, Br. Grzegorz 🙂
May God give us peace.

Letter from Br. Błażej: Night 121

June 25, 2022, Saturday. Immaculate Heart of Mary.

About 40 rockets fell on Ukraine that night, according to media reports. How important is this peace in the heart…. Regular war in the east and south of Ukraine continues. God grant for peace. …!!!
Word… “Son, why have you done this to us? Behold, your father and I have sought you with an painful heart” gives me the courage to ask God questions. Don’t be afraid to ask God.

The answer is: “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I should be in what belongs to My Father”? Yet they did not understand what He told them.” War? Is it the will of the Father? God allowed war? Answer….? One thing I know is that only God can bring good out of this cruel war for me, for Ukraine…. “… I should be in what belongs to my Father.” The Father’s will is for me to know His love for me. God loves you. Keep this truth in your heart, just as Mary did.

We thank the guardian, Brother Tomasz, and the Capuchin community of Krakow for their fraternal welcome and hospitality to our “temporary Ukrainian diaspora” (photo). Here is our guardian, Br Tomasz:

Another song to keep up the spirit of the nation has appeared on the internet…. “We from Ukraine”:

 

Caritas Zagreb, Croatia put on their website: https://www.czn.hr/vijesti/humanitarna-pomoc-caritasa-zagrebacke-nadbiskupije-stigla-u-ukrajinu

Dnipro
Today at 4:20 a.m. Kyiv time, I opened the sign-up form for the queue to dispense humanitarian aid. At 6:30 I had to close because 2 thousand families and individuals had signed up. Greetings from the train to Wroclaw. (photo)

Kiev:
The right equipment for the right people in the right place has been purchased and donated. Thank you to the benefactors!

Brothers from Malta donate an ambulance for the cardiology institute in Kiev. The delivery of the vehicle is in progress. I thank the Provincial Minister for his support and Br. Rafał for his direct involvement! Immaculate Heart of Mary, intercede for us!

Vinnitsa:
Peace Brothers! There were a lot of air raid alarms yesterday and tonight. The last alarm was very long. May God bless us and keep us safe from Russian missiles also …

Letter from Br. Błażej: Night 120

June 24, 2022, Friday. Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The 120th war night.

I experienced that night, sleeping in the Capuchin friary in Krakow, Poland. It was an unplanned, sudden departure, in our war plans, here and now. In Ukraine, incessant alarms. In the east and south, regular war. God grant peace.

The Word…. God is love!!! “I will find the lost, I will bring back the strayed, I will bandage the wounded, I will strengthen the sick, and I will protect the fat and strong. I will feed righteously.” God is love!!! “Christ died for us while we were still sinners.” God is love!!! “In the same way, there will be greater joy in heaven for one sinner who repents than for ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance” Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us !
Brothers in Kiev and Nazareth Sisters assist refugees from eastern Ukraine. (photo)

Dnieper:
Dnieper calm. Yesterday we did not give out aid due to problems with transport. Today we are issuing it. (photo). At 9:00 Holy Mass in the courtyard. For our sisters today’s celebration has a special meaning because their chapel at home is dedicated to the Sacred Heart. And since a lot of parishioners come and we don’t have room in the chapel, the Mass is in the backyard. I am on the train now, going to pick up the bus from Poland, donated by our benefactors in Austria, at the initiative of the Capuchin brothers who live there.
May God protect us….

Letter from Br. Błażej: Night 119

June 23, 2022, Wed. Nativity of St. John the Baptist.

In Uzhgorod, where I am currently, the night quiet. According to the application, in Kiev and other regions, alarms. Half an hour ago and in Uzhgorod alarms, as in all Ukraine. God is love. We are alive. In the east and south regular war.

The word…. that surpasses and frightens me. God’s will for my life is this: “I will establish you as a light to the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. God help and do a miracle in my life so that this Word will be fulfilled in me….. “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel because …..”
Today Indulgence in Starokonstantinov. With best wishes to the Parish and Pastor Br. Stanislaw Manski. May God be glorified in the history of this parish and in your hearts……God is love.
In Uzhgorod, today in the Byzantine rite “Corpus Christi”. Brother Justyn returned home after the retreat. Thank God. In Ostropol, “Holidays with God” (photo)

In Kiev, at the Capuchins, Sr. Bogumila helps the needy and refugees. (Photo).
Kharkov. A school in ruins. A kilometer from the house where our friend Tania P. lives (photo)

Dnieper:
It’s quiet at our place. There are alarms. Today we do not give out aid, we had to stop, we can not assemble a full package of products. We hope to resume distribution tomorrow. Regarding repairs, we are laying electrical wiring for the guest rooms. Catechesis in the evening. Greetings.

Kiev:
As it turned out on Monday there was a thief in our house. According to Capuchin tradition, having been asked by the thief to open the gate because I asked to close it earlier than usual, the anonymous Br. A. hospitably opened it. )) Now we pray not only for our benefactors but also for the thieves.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel….

Letter from Br. Błażej: Night 118

June 22, 2022, Wednesday, 118th war night.

Calm – Transcarpathia, where I am staying now, Uzhhorod, the city of the presence of our Capuchins in the Byzantine rite, is probably the most peaceful city. It is peaceful because in Eastern Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU) are waging a regular war. Can we call it peace in Transcarpathia ?

The Word…. To what extent is a prophet in sheep’s clothing dangerous…and how dangerous? The prophet himself is not dangerous. More dangerous is the word, which is proclaimed by a false prophet. A false prophet, a false, untrue word. A word that is preached, but not life-giving or peace-giving, it is loveless. Who and what am I listening to?

The word …. from our brother Robert, a missionary: Hello Blazko! My sister Anne is a faithful reader of your reports after another night of war. She wrote to me, but since she asks to pass on her greetings, I am sending her words to you:

“Thanks so much for the information from the brothers. They are very uplifting to me. I don’t want to, but sometimes (thank God rarely, but nevertheless) I fall into a kind of marasm…and fear of the future (what if there is a war and they come… ?). And then, when I read that [the brothers] are building and renovating ‘out there,’ despite everything, I immediately feel better. I remember the Gospel from Saturday, that I won’t even add a moment to my life by worrying. God bless!”

Robert, if you can, thank her from the bottom of your heart from me. Anyway, we are doing what you did during the rebellion in central Africa. You dealt with what you have influence over – no matter what. And for that, God bless you!

Yesterday – thank God – I reached 850 km from Kiev to Uzhgorod. On the way I visited Lviv and brother Zbyszek. Our Lviv brothers were at the funeral of Pavel, son of our benefactor Katia from Ostropol. God give them Peace.

In Uzhgorod, Br. Justyn, the priest of Bilki, is conducting a retreat for the candidates for priestly ordination. We live….(photo)

Dnipro:
Things are calm in Dnipro. A volunteer took our bus to Khmelnytsky to transport a lady with belongings and animals, and on the way back he takes clothes from Kiev to distribute. Preparations are underway to provide a car for us from Lublin. Thank God for all the brothers and people who help us. (photo)

Kiev:
Zoom retreat for the priests of our diocese – Serhii and Slawek – we are listening for the second day. Sr. Bogumiła is developing the ministry for the displaced people. People come every day… more and more, she has already invited volunteers to help. Yesterday our chaplain went to visit us. (photo)

May God grant us peace.

Letter from Br. Błażej: Night 117

June 21, 2022, Tuesday. 117th war night. We survived the night. Thank God.

The Word… Here is our “narrow way and narrow gate.”

One of the brothers wrote me a letter:

“I wanted to share with you my scrutiny today. (A form of reading and listening to the Word of God). Namely, today I scrutinized the passages: Genesis 18:16-33 and Ez 14:12 (the footnotes for these passages are also important!). I also thought about you and yours. Just as Abraham prayed not for the righteous but for rescue for the unrighteous, just as Jesus, prays for us unrighteous, asking for our rescue – the mission of the Christian is to pray for the rescue of the unrighteous – to be like Jesus. So that also, God willing, the unjust can see God’s love.

I wanted to share this with you. May the Lord sustain and guide you.” Here is the narrow way, for us brothers living in war, having a specific enemy. “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.”

Helping the poor, needy in Kamiańske. (Photo)

Help from Poland, in the form of sausage. (Photo)

Photos from the Corpus Christi procession:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MRF17Js7KSKpUYcQhaQ91JfZHKxIiAhw?usp=sharing

(External link secured. Br. Vito)

Letters from Br. Błażej: Nights 114 & 115

June 18-19, 2022, Saturday-Sunday 114-115 war night.

God was merciful and gracious. We are alive. In the east and south the war continues. From the south a big threat….

The Word…another excerpt from the “Sermon on the Mount.” Is it fantasy or my reality? As God, is my Father – Abba, the Word in today’s Gospel is life-like and real. And if God is somewhere, far away, high in the sky or just in the church, it means that I have to take care of myself and others and this Gospel of the lilies is a pious fantasy.
Hence my call to return to the Word “Our Father” and seek the true God – Father – Abba. God has not left Ukraine. There is war and God is here and knows our fears, concerns, needs. God is love. God loves you.

If God is Father, then we are brothers, born of the same fatherly womb. Our Capuchin General Government, headed by General Roberto, prays for us, for Ukraine in their national languages, asking for mercy on us: Lord have mercy on us !!! Господи помилуй !!!
https://youtu.be/wHYvsCeNx8g

Brothers, thank you for your brotherly love. I already thank the Minister General for visiting us in July, from 14 to 17.07. Thank you and we look forward to it. We are waiting for the General Councillor Br. Peter and the Provincial Minister Marek.

We have bought a temporary house for the brothers in Lviv. A pre-war plan, now finalized. We thank the benefactors who helped us before the war. Brothers, let us live in gratitude, it will protect us from being false poor. Today’s Gospel will be fulfilled before our eyes. In the same spirit, the project of buying apartments for refugees in Vinnitsa was born. The benefactors are a family from the USA. We are slowly entering into the implementation of this project. Brothers from the province of Austria want to buy us a bus. Let us pray with gratitude for our brothers and benefactors. Thanks to the support of our benefactors, the brothers in Dnieper have renovated the guest room. Deo gratias ! (photo)

Dnieper:
It’s quiet at our place. One alarm in the night. We are happy for the happy return of the brothers and volunteers after yesterday’s trips to deliver aid near Donetsk. This morning the dedication of the new guest room for the brothers, volunteers and refugees took place. Our greetings. (photo).
The brothers in Dnieper say that help is coming from only two European Caritas: Caritas Poland and Caritas Croatia are helping our Caritas. (photo). Brother Jure, from Zagreb – thank you Caritas Croatia.

When the war started, in our lower church, the shelter, there was all-day Adoration, i.e. we were in His presence, and the enemy was overcome in our heads and at the front. He was defeated in Irpin, Bucha, etc. Hence another time and so to the end of the war….

In Vinnitsa “Saturday” action with children. Children, Bishop Leon Dubravsky and Br. Konstantin Morozov (photo)
May God sanctify us with His Presence.

Letters from Br. Błażej: Night 113

June 17, 2022, Friday, 113th war night.

We went to bed and outside the windows sirens were howling warning of Russian missiles. And so almost all over Ukraine. Nothing happened in our area. We are alive and thank God.
Word… “The light of the body is the eye. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be illuminated. But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be in darkness. So if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” It is a gift from God to have light on your life and on this war that no one needs. Only God can bring good for me out of every evil I do and experience. For everything and at all times, bless God. God be blessed.
Brothers in Vinnitsa continue to repair the roof of the church. (photo). Under the roof, cleaning work continues on the refugee housing. (photo).

War maps in eastern Ukraine. (photo). St. Nicholas, who is a patron of our church and Orthodox Church, is worshipped in Kamianske. (Photo) Our modest, slightly dirty with local graphite from the smelter monastery with a kitchen for the poor.(Photo) In a nearby park people children at war not living the war. (photo)

Kiev:
I want to share a joy: yesterday Br. Philip from Malta wrote me that there will be the ambulance I asked for for cardiology. In fact, it is already here, it is just a question of transporting it. This is what I am doing now. Thank God for the benefactors!!!

Dnieper:
Things are quiet at our place. We are happy about the return of brother Leonid. Brother Vadym is going to donate potatoes to the military in the east. He is going in our bus with Sergey, the director of our Caritas. The volunteers who stay with us overnight are actively helping. Today they were close to the places where warfare is going on. Marcin in the south, Dawid in the east. Henry is scheduled to go to Kiev today. I ask for your prayers that they will all return safely to us this evening. On the ground we are distributing aid and gathering equipment for the guest room. (photo)
May God protect us and grant us PEACE

Letter from Br. Błażej: Night 111

June 15, 2022, Wednesday, 111th war night.

In the city of Kamianske, where I am currently located, a quiet night. One town in the province was attacked with rockets. There are casualties among the civilian population. The war continues.

The Word…. It is difficult to fulfill this word formally: the gifts, the humanitarian aid that the friars distribute is in front of crowds of people waiting for help. Our prayers and liturgy are also with the people and in front of the people. There remains a room, a small chapel of my heart.
God give me a humble and grateful heart, for all that we give and give away is not ours or from us. Everything we have…. we have received. God please give me a thankful heart because the fact that I am a Capuchin, a priest is also a gift to serve others.

The help of the brothers in Dnipro: professionally organized, in the spirit of serving the refugees. Everything begins with a common prayer with the volunteers. (photo)
Despite much humanitarian work, evangelization in the parish continues. (photo)
Brother Jacek has left Russia. Last photo on Latvian-Russian border. He spent the night in Kowno, Lithuania. There are 7 of our brothers working in Lithuania. (photo)
Yesterday, local pensioners received help in Kamiańskie. Since morning, preparations are underway to deliver aid to refugees and displaced people.

Starokonstantinov:
Starkon quietly. We are distributing humanitarian aid. Yesterday, together with priests from the diocese, we had a meeting in Khmelnitsky with Fr. Zdzislaw Zywica MIC (psychologist, missionary in Rwanda in 1984-2019) on first contact and helping people affected by war.
May God give us a new Spirit and a new heart.

Letter from Br. Błażej: Night 106

June 10, 2022, Friday, 106 war night, I survived it not in Kiev, but in Kamyanske – closer to the eastern borders of Ukraine.

Official data: Every day up to 100 to 200 Ukrainian soldiers die in the war. God….

The Word…. we read, we listen to the “Sermon on the Mountain,”… Lord give us courage to accept this Word.
I was reminded of an incident I experienced at another “war” over a church in Dnipro. Standing in front of the church, in front of the closed doors of the church, we prayed singing to the Mother of God: “Under your protection”. I heard the words “The only pure … Mary,” “the only pure one.” “The only pure one.” – And what am I? I… if Mary is the only pure ?
I am impure….. Mary is the only one. God has not left me in crisis. He came to my aid and gave me the Word, from the “Sermon on the Mount”: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” To see God is to see and experience love. To see God is to have a pure heart. Mary sees God, hence the only pure … Psalm 27: “I seek, O Lord, your face”
A trip to the East with an “angel”, volunteer Dawid from Poland, from Torun. Before us 500 km. ( photo) For the first time since the beginning of the war I visited brothers in Kamianske, Dnepropetrovsk region.
You can see in brothers commitment to help people, but also tiredness. Regardless of everything, together we went to the boys from the Ukrainian Armed Forces to their positions. The car was packed to the roof with food, drinking water and hygiene products. (photo)
The gifts that arrive in Ukraine to Kamianske. (photo) Real Madrid T-shirt 😉 Original, with his signature 😉
https://youtu.be/7HU4Mwv756Y
May God protect us….

Letter from Br. Błażej: Night 102 

June 6, 2022, Monday. St. Mary Mother of the Church.

Indulgence in Kiev. 102 war night. Alarms, but no rocket bombardment. We are alive. God is … love.

The Word … The question, “Adam where are you?” God wants a relationship with me… a close, intimate, paternal relationship. For normal life, the same God gives me a Mother, Mary, the Church. He also invites me to intimacy with the Mother, the Church. “Behold your mother, behold your Son….and he took her to himself.” Nothing extraordinary, just “to be.”
In times of war, people want to be, be together, they want to be close. God is, is close. Mary is, is close. The Church is, is close. God loves me, gave me Mary, gave me the Church. God is love!
The rockets that fell on Kiev yesterday were our area of the city. Partially destroyed factories repairing rolling stock. About human casualties they do not write. Kiev, as the capital, will be in danger until the end of the war. For how long? Nobody knows, maybe until the end of the year.  Let us watch and pray…. Let us stay close.
Yesterday was the name day of Br. Igor from our Kiev community. Brother, 100 years. May God protect you.
Yesterday, Br. Sławek, taking advantage of his free time, bought fuel. He stood in line for a couple of hours. It worked!
Uzhhorod:
Peace and goodness! Today in Uzhhorod we had our FIRST communion.(photo) And the last “pjatirke” before the vacations.
May God grant us Peace….

Letter From Br. Błażej: 100th Night

June 4, 2022, Saturday, 100th war night. Anniversary? A symbolic date?

For me personally, it is once again an opportunity to thank God, we are not alone…
To thank the people, the Capuchin Brothers, the benefactors, the volunteers. We are not alone. Thank you. Дякуємо. And so 100 nights and days of war, and we are not alone. God is love. Come Holy Spirit and convince me that God is indeed love, that God has not left Ukraine. Thank you. Дякую.
100 nights and days, this is also suffering, death of innocent people, children. The death of the defenders of the independence of Ukraine. The death of our enemies, whom I do not want to judge. “Lord, and what will be with these,” what about Putin, what about them? Lord have mercy on us! Господи помилуй нас!!!
Word… “I will send you the Spirit of truth, He will lead you into all truth….” Show us your true FACE, your true LOVE ! Come Holy Spirit!

In Kamiańske, Br. Adam sweetens life for the children.  By the way, from Vinnitsa I brought some pampers for the children.  We still remember our benefactors. (photo)
Kiev:
“Apostle of the East” – Janusz brought gifts from Mark. (Dnipro) Great thanks;) (Nazareth Sisters with us). Peeling potatoes from the “Potato Institute”.

Krasilov:
In Krasilov it’s quiet , evening alarm but we didn’t even notice (at least some). The parish is preparing for the night vigil, and since yesterday we have had the School of Mary retreat. Greetings to all!

May God give us the Holy Spirit and grant us PEACE, which does not only mean the absence of war.