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10:00 AM | Sunday
9:00 AM | Weekdays
(Except Monday)
St. Casimir's Parish
Polish National Catholic Church
268 Lakeview Avenue - Lowell, Massachusetts 01850 USA
Blessing of the Pets
Paula Jones, Treasurer of the ANS
Co-Chair Rober Hunt Greets Father and Agnes
Prayer rocks made during our workshop
Many homemade breads, muffins, tarts, and summer salads were part of our brunch
Blessings for the New School Year
St. Casimir's has been busy preparing our students for a new school year. The ANS society spearheaded a fundraiser for school supplies for children in Lowell, which were delivered to Project Wish for distribution to those in need. Parishioners were generous with their donations of pencils, pens, notebooks, and other supplies for use in the classroom.
Father Tenus then held a "blessing of the backpacks" for the students of St. Casimir's who brought their backpacks to church. This blessing coincided with Youth Sunday, and special prayers were offered for all the parish youth as they begin a new school Year.
Drive to Support School Nurses
St. Casimir's ANS society held a fundraiser to support the efforts of school nurses in area public schools. Many nurses purchase needed items for students in their care, often without reimbursement. JoAnn Menzia and Shirley Garvey reached out to their contacts in the community to see what kind of items would be beneficial to children from elementary school age to high school teens.
The ANS collected a variety of items, such as hygiene products, band aids, Kleenex packets, toothpaste, plastic cups,
sandwich bags, and colorful stickers. We are
hopeful that this effort will make the work of
school nurses a little easier and take some of the
monetary burden off their shoulders.
Installation of Officers
The installation of Officers of the Parish Committee took place Sunday, December 17, 2023. Co-President Robert Hunt led the proceedings and Father Tenus offered prayers to the appointees; "Bless those who undertake the role of service to our parish." The swearing in of members followed. Congratulations and thank you to all who serve on the parish committee.
Parish Committee Co-Chairmen: Dr. Robert Quirbach and Robert Hunt; Recording secretary: Janice Klimczak; Treasurer: Shirley Garvey; Financial Secretary: Linda Hedrick;
Directors: JoAnn Menzia. Carol McNiff, Shirley Kourey, Patricia Whiting, Diane Quirbach, Deb Charette, Phyllis Hunt, Thomas McNiff, Stanley Kosidlo, Christopher Kowalski, Charlotte Stankiewicz, Paula Jones, Irene Jaracz, Christine Piec
Financial Reviewers: Stanley Kosidlo Jr., Christopher Kowalski, Dr. Robert Quirbach
Cemetery Committee: Robert Hunt and Dr. Robert Quirbach, Co-Chairmen: Robert Ferus and Thomas McNiff, Co-Superintendents: Paula Jones, Irene Jaracz, Stanley Kosidlo, Janice Klimczak, Phyllis Hunt.
Delegates to Seniorate meetings first year of two year term: Janice Klimczak and Linda Kosidlo.
Public Relations: JoAnn Menzia, Janice Klimczak, Linda Kosidlo, Debbie Starenas, Beverly Runowicz..
Babka baked especially for the ladies of the ANS
In June we celebrated Father Tenus with our annual Pastor Appreciation day event. Parishioners gathered during coffee hour to toast Father's dedication and work for our church.
We celebrated with a wonderful brunch type menu and gifts for Father Tenus from our ANS, Fredrich Chopin Choir, and members of St. Casimir's.
Convention participants pose for a group photo after Mass
On Saturday October 7th St. Casimir’s held a special blessing for all well-behaved cats and dogs. Father Tenus prepared booklets for the service so all those who attended could participate. The booklets contained prayers for pets that can be used at home, and also information about St. Francis of Assisi, who saw God reflected in nature and was a great lover of God's creations. Many of the stories that surround the life of Francis say that he had a great love for animals and the environment.
Parishioners Shirley Khoury and Bob Hunt read scripture for the special service. Father Tenus blessed each pet individually. Each dog received a St. Francis medal and a bag of dog treats donated by Charlotte Stankiewicz. Along with the medal, each cat also got a cat toy donated by JoAnn Menzia.
Helping the Lowell Humane Society
A raffle with many beautiful items raised money for the youth of Holy Cross
Beautification Project
The ANS of St. Casimir’s sponsored a Beautification Project for the month of May. The goal of this project was to create container gardens, weed existing landscaping, clean up the monuments in the church yard, and in general, spruce up our church space.
The endeavor began in May, with the parishioner donating funds to purchase flowers, containers, and any other items needed for the project. For several days, volunteers came to pull weeds and cut back plantings that were overgrown. Hard work indeed, but luckily the weather was not yet too hot and humid.
The final day was a “planting party” when containers were planted, and hostas and other plants from home gardens were donated for planting. A lunch followed with the volunteers celebrating their success in creating a lovely space for the church.
Thanks to the following for working and participating on our Beautification Project:
Deb Charette, Phyllis and Bob Hunt, Jacob (our young neighbor), Shirley Kourey, John Koziol, Christine Piec, Diane Quirbach, Beverly Runowicz, JoAnn Menzia. Special thanks to Paula Jones and Linda Kosidlo for providing delicious treats for our break.
The ANS society of St. Casimir's spearheaded a fundraising event to benefit the Lowell Humane Society. Our parishioners were very generous in their donations to animals in need. We collected needed items such as dog and cat food, treats and toys, paper towels, bleach, blankets, towels, sheets, and peanut butter. Thanks to Paula and David Jones, Christine Piec, JoAnn Menzia, and Janice Klimczak for helping to collect and deliver these items.
Boldog-Kosidlo Wedding
On Saturday June 17, Andrea Boldog and Joseph Kosidlo were married at St. Casimir's parish in Lowell. The bride became a member of St. Casimir's last year and recently made her confirmation at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Manchester, NH. The groom and his family have been members of St. Casimir's for many years.
Father Tenus performed a lovely ceremony, welcoming the bride's family to our parish, providing heartfelt advice on marriage, offering good wishes, and even making humorous observations on the typical wedding preparations. Mrs. Janice Klimczak provided the music for the occassion.
Congratulations and many years of health and happiness to the new Mr. and Mrs. Kosidlo!
The "Chasing Annie Powell" Project
Annie Powell (1859-1952) is a recently discovered street photographer who is likely responsible for 3,000 “anonymous” photos of Lowell, MA found in books, postcards and university libraries. Annie Powell took pictures of Lowell and its inhabitants at the beginning of the twentieth century. Included in her collection were various ethnic groups within their neighborhoods. When Annie passed away, her photographs were found in her home, some of which have been made into posters.
The "Chasing Annie Powell" Project celebrates Annie’s work in and around Lowell. From spring 2024–October 2025 the city of Lowell will distribute 100 posters to local businesses, nonprofits and government agencies that now occupy buildings or have addresses on streets that Annie photographed one-hundred years ago.The goal is to show how Lowell neighborhoods appeared in Annie’s time in relation to Lowell today.
St. Casimir's has been chosen to participate in the “Chasing Annie Powell Project”. The poster held by Father Tenus (Poster #3) depicts a tenement with a group of children on Lakeview Avenue. St. Casimir's will display it on the interior surface of our parish hall exterior door enabling passersby to view it until or about November 2025 when the entire collection will be displayed in downtown Lowell.
73rd Annual Convention of the Easter Diocese ANS
The annual convention of the Diocesan Ladies Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament Society was held on May 18th at the beautiful Holy Cross Parish in Central Falls, RI. Several members of St. Casimir's ANS society attended; President JoAnn Menzia, Recording Secretary Janice Klimczak, Marshals Deb Charette and Phyllis Hunt, and delegate Linda Kosidlo.
Bishop Paul Sobiechowski began the event by celebrating Holy Mass on this Pentecost vigil. Following mass the group attended several informative lectures. Father Paul Lukaszewicz did a presentation called "the Christian Family" in which he explained the ways in which faith is present in marriage and parenting.
Deacon Justin Daviault presented "Holy Scripture in the Life of the Faithful". This informative and moving presentation detailed some history of the bible and how its teachings are present in our lives today.
After a delicious pasta lunch the participants discussed and voted on ANS business, and decided on the date and location of the next convention. Marylin Folcik then ran a workshop where the group worked on a small project creating prayer rocks.
It was a wonderful event and the hosts were so gracious and welcoming and the lunch was delicious. One of the church members baked a babka bread for each of us to take home, a very special treat.
Easter Workshop
The women of the ANS sponsored a workshop to celebrate the Polish Easter traditions. Phyllis Hunt gave a lesson on pisanki. The words pisanki/pysanky are sometimes used to describe any type of decorated egg, but they traditionally referred to an egg created by the wax resist method using traditional folk motifs and designs. The designs are "written" in hot wax. When the wax dries the eggs are dyed. On Easter Sunday, these eggs are exchanged and shared among the family at the table. This is a symbol of friendship, similar to the sharing of the Opłatek (Christmas wafer) on Christmas Eve.
Beverly Runowicz demonstrated how to make a "butter lamb." Using a lamb shaped mold, Beverly created this traditional addition to an Easter dinner celebration.
Ladies of St. Casimir's Summer Solstice Afternoon Tea
ANS Treasurer Paula Jones invited the ladies of St. Casimir's to a special summer afternoon tea party. Paula created a very special menu, which started off with mimosas, assorted teas, and appetizers of cheese and crackers, mini vegetable quiches and lemon blueberry scones with lemon curd.
The main entree featured curried turkey and apple on marble bread, smoked salmon with cream cheese and dill on pumpernickel, and mini BLTs on a biscuit. Tea cookies were served for dessert.
After we enjoyed the lovely food, Paula's husband David, an avid photographer who specializes in landscape photography, gave a presentation of award winning images taken by members on the Merrimack Valley Camera Club of North Andover MA.
Two lucky members of St. Casimir's won prints of David's photography. Janice Klimzcak won a landscape taken in Acadia Park in Nova Scotia Canada. Elaine Holsberger won a black and white print of the interior of a control room of a ship.
Thanks to Paula for putting together this afternoon tea and to David for sharing his wonderful photography with us.
Janice Klimczak, Shirley Khoury and Charlotte Stankewicz of the Fredrich Chopin Choir