The feast of St. Clement Hofbauer is traditionally a day that brings together all the formation communities of our Warsaw Province of the Redemptorists. The meeting of Tuchow postulants, Lubaszowa novices and seminarians took place on March 15, 2024, at the Redemptorist Major Seminary in Krakow.
The meeting of the formation communities began with common prayer, lunch and coffee. Then we participated in an integration game, in which we had to demonstrate not only our knowledge of St. Clement but also that of the Bible, Polish songs or the ability to recognize different flavours.
At 6 pm we went to our Sanctuary of Perpetual Help and participated in the Way of the Cross service, whose meditations were based on the words of our holy saint. It was a great synthesis of the spirituality of St. Clement.
The culmination of the gathering was the Eucharist, celebrated by the Superior of the Warsaw Province of the Redemptorists, Father Dariusz Paszyński CSsR. In his homily, the rector of the seminary, Fr. Jacek Zdrzałek CSsR, recalled the biography of Saint Clement. He gave us reasons why this saint could be particularly close to each of us: Clement came from Bohemia (like us, he belonged to the Slavic ethnic family), he carried out his ministry in Warsaw for 21 years, he had great faith, he did not surrender to difficulties and was close to people in need.
At the end of the Mass, the Provincial encouraged everyone to follow the example of our holy brother and addressed the brothers in formation with the exhortation “Do not lose your missionary spirit. We need you!”.
Our meeting in Krakow was a beautiful and enriching moment for all of us – brother seminarians, novices, and postulants. We were able to re-explore the spirituality of our holy brother and spend time together, sharing the joys and difficulties of our vocation.
Jakub Stanisz CSsR, Seminarian in Krakow
(www.redemptor.pl)
