From Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish
Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish in Central City will hold the first of its three-part devotion, Gorzkie Zale, or Bitter Lamentations, on February 18 at 3:00 p.m.
These devotions, sung in English are composed of a three-week cycle reflecting on the Passion of Christ and form a rich part of the Polish Liturgical tradition.
Each celebration will feature a guest speaker.
The guest speaker for February 18 will be Father Eugene Ritz, a priest of the Diocese of Allentown and co-postulator for the canonization of Father Walter Ciszek.
Father Ciszek, a native of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, secretly entered the Soviet Union in 1939 to serve as a priest when the church was outlawed in Russia.
After serving 23 years as a prisoner in the forced labor camps of Siberia, he returned to the United States in 1963.
Father Ritz is the Chancellor of the Diocese of Allentown, Director of the Office for Canonical Services, Director of the Office for Permanent Diaconate Formation, and Judge on the Diocesan Tribunal. He is in residence at Saint Joseph the Worker Parish in Orefield, Pennsylvania.
The Gorzkie Zale devotions continue on March 10 at 3:00 p.m. with Reflections on art, history, and faith. Dr. Stephen Rombouts will be the featured speaker. He holds a doctorate in European history from Vanderbilt University with a secondary field in art history.
A long-time faculty member of Saint Francis University, Dr. Rombouts will offer spiritual reflections on art, history, and the Catholic faith.Â
Dr. Rombouts lives in Loretto and was named a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher, an order of knighthood under the protection of the Holy See, founded in 1099.
On March 24 at 3:00 p.m., a faith journey talk and spaghetti dinner.Â
For over 20 years, Kenny Burchard served as a Protestant minister, working as pastor of a number of very vibrant Pentecostal churches. After much prayer, discernment, and study, in 2019, burchard and his family converted to Catholocism. A very unlikely convert, Burchard’s sincerity and thoughtful story of faith offer a compelling witness about our often-misunderstood Catholic faith.
Following devotions on March 24, three will be a spaghetti and homemade meatball dinner offered at no cost as a way to start Holy Week together, sponsored by the Queen of Angels Holy Name Society.
