Cardinal Wyszyński about PRAYERS AND PRISON MEDITATIONS

Family News Service / 16.11.2021

photo: Primate Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski Institute

Pearls and Aphorisms of Blessed Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński about PRAYERS AND PRISON MEDITATIONS.

I will put into my soul stones that are so heavy that I become incapable of holding onto the fruit of my life. So, I am throwing them before Your feet, Mother, so that you may lead over this stony path to your dear Son. Your Son did not want to turn stones into bread. For, it is easier to reach the Son on a rocky road than on a road lined with logs. Perhaps the fruit of my womb, Mother, will also be blessed. Smile at my stones. That’s all I can do. The rest is up to you. Nor do I want them all to become bread. But let at least one of these pebbles nourish my hungry soul. After all, petra autem erat Christus (1 Cor 10:4).[i]
Ave verum Corpus, natum de Maria. – Mother, I cannot honor the Guest of my soul as he should be. Allow me to use your words. After all, you alone knew how to talk with your Son … … I greet Him with all your virginal immaculateness, all your humble submission, all your living faith, fervent love, special solicitude, all your collaboration and commiseration, all your inaccessible closeness, all the holiness of your soul, every movement of your heart, every act of your thought, every gesture of your hands, every step of your virginal feet, every moment of your unique life, all the accomplishments of your service to the Lord…[ii]
If I feel Your presence in my soul, Christ, make me forget myself entirely. May I stop thinking about myself and telling you about myself! This is such an uninteresting and poor topic! I want to think about you, talk about you, and adore you – I want to thank you that you exist, that you are the Word, that you are the Father’s Son, that you wanted to receive a body from the Virgin, that you wanted to lay in the manger in Bethlehem, that you wanted to show yourself to the shepherds and the Wisemen, that you wanted to walk on the earth, that you wanted to be in the temple, in Cana, and on Lake Tiberias, and in Gerasa and Bethany, and in Jericho, and before Pilate, and on Calvary, and on the Mount of Olives … What a wonderful conversation this can be – about You! Watch over me so that I only think of you when you enter my house.[iii]
Non horruisti Virginis uterum – and not only that. You showed even more courage. After all, the womb of the Immaculate Virgin was prepared by the hands of the Purest Father—Ens Purum—so that you could keep your Divine Purity in him. You were not afraid of the womb of my heart … just covering the “stagnant filth” with a meager layer of regret and shame. You chose a stable and dwelt in it so that Bread, giving birth to virgins, would grow in the mud of the stable. That alone is almighty Courage! Mary, take care that your Son, whenever he wishes to be born in the stable of my heart, will always find your immaculate arms there: let them shield him and protect him from the filth of my soul. You waited in Bethlehem to receive God and expect in my soul that Christmas may never be completed in me without You.[iv]
In notubus Dominus videt – When I stand on a mountain top, I have the impression that I am alone on earth, alone at its highest point, closest to heaven. Alone closest to God! Alone with God! It seems to me that God sees only me, and I feel the gaze of His eyes on me. On me alone … Then, I feel truly great. Even if I see my nothingness against the vastness of the space below! The greatness of man is that he constantly goes up, higher and higher, unhindered. He wants to reach the heights in order to feel “above everything.” Now, when this “all” diminishes, then he will feel his greatness. And precisely then, at the height of his greatness, he feels that he has come face to face with God. In Him, he has seen how little he is. My littleness is truth before Him who sees. God sees in me. That is why I climbed the mountains so that God could see me fully. I climb the mountains, like a boy, on the Father’s lap to say to Him: me and You. No obstacles, no middlemen. Dio – Io! Audacious! Father! Son![v]
Sometimes I think about how poor I am; I look at my surroundings and see that I have no temporal insurance for my existence. It seems to me like I am like you in Nazareth. I miss even the simplest help for normal work. Your poverty, Jesus of Nazareth, was richer because in Nazareth you were the “Word.” My library remained at Miodowa Street, although it is so difficult to live without it. But these are external things –words on paper. You are the living Word, my Word of Life. When you remain with me, why do I need a library? You are my library. A week before my arrest, you asked me in such a clear voice, “Would you know how to be poor?” Then, I said, “I think so, Christ.” – “So far, I answer your question with my life every day. You probably already knew if I could be poor.” Yet, if at this moment you would demand even greater poverty from me, I would leave without regrets everything I have now and follow you. When I left Lublin, I left everything in the bishop’s palace, even my purple cassocks and personal gifts. I didn’t want to “make a fortune” as a pastor. The second time I did the same was in September [1953]. Nothing I have now come from my efforts. It is the ordinary fruit of human compassion. You have given everything, everything is yours. Christ, I want to be poor, just as you became poor by being rich.[vi]
I thank You, Master, for making my fate so similar to yours, for leaving me Your Passion as a good example for my Passion. Your apostles abandoned you, just as the bishops have forsaken me; the disciples left you, as my priests have left me. Both were dismayed. A handful of women remain with you; I can see them with me. The rest are laymen, weak and sinners: the thief, Magdalene, the Centurion, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and Simon of Cyrene. And with me, there is a group of lay Catholics, not the strongest ones, who dare to admit to me. That’s all. When I compare my little sufferings with yours, I am glad that you have experienced everything that you tell me to imitate. May you be glorified in my passion![vii]
Stabat Mater …I am striking out the word – Dolorosa, although it has its historical significance. Certainly, Mary was Socia passionis. But none of the artists have shown Mary leaning on the cross! She stood there on her own. Everything was wobbling! But whoever looked at Mary saw that she was not swaying! She has always been the Virgo Auxiliatrix! – with her attitude, she supported everyone around her. And she persevered![viii]
The most sensitive to Mary’s voice, John the Baptist moved in the womb of his mother Elizabeth, when he heard the greeting of the Mother of God. This edifying sensitivity shakes the person’s whole being. Mary, help me to always be sensitive to Your voice, as the Forerunner of Your Son was sensitive to the first Word of Your greeting. Happy to hear you, there, in the darkness of the mother’s womb. He was ready to run to fulfill his task. Mother, awaken in me this readiness to preach Your Son. I am still in prison, and so is John. But let my readiness replace the actions I am ready to do.[ix]
Sanguis Christi inebria me … So much of Your Blood has flowed over me. When I consider that one drop would be enough to wash away the sins of the world, I admire Your generosity even more. What streams of Your Precious Blood have flowed through the Chalice of blessings on altars all over the world! What a mighty wave of Blood you directed at me! How much of Your Blood have I had in the chalices before me? How do I ensure that I may daily receive refreshment from the cup of Your Blood? Every drop you have given me in my chalice is measureless grace. Let alone the excess of Your Blood, which has been poured out through my hands, into my mouth. I am bathed in Your Blood. I am washed inside and out. I live thanks to Your Blood. I cleanse myself and cover myself with Your Blood. I have it for my daily drink! Today the Gospel of the 6^th Sunday after Pentecost spoke so eloquently: “I feel sorry for these people.” Your compassion has opened your veins for the people to nourish them and give them to drink the Most Holy Blood. Your heart squeezed out to the last drop of this blood so that your grief for the people would not only be a feeling but turn into action. I watch over myself to keep a spirit of gratitude for the rivers of Your blood that flows to me from Your side, from the chalices of the whole world, and from my priestly chalice. Nourished by your blood, can I spare You my blood which is yours? [x]
Omnia bene fecisti … After my three years in prison, I consider this conclusion to be the final one. I would never renounce these three years, and three such years in my curriculum vitae … But it was better the I passed them in prison rather than on Miodowa Street. Better for the glory of God, for the position of the universal Church in the world – as guardian of truth and freedom of conscience; better for the Church in Poland and better for the position of my nation; better for my dioceses and the strength of the clergy. And certainly better for the good of my soul. I am closing this conclusion today, at the hour of my arrest, with my Te Deum and Magnificat.[xi]
The Church was born in Christ’s regenerative blood on the cross, just as every child of God is born into the world in the blood. It is healthy when this blood flows; a blood clot is dangerous for the human body. The stagnation of Blood is likewise dangerous for the Mystical Body of Christ. It must always flow somewhere, not only in the chalices at Mass but also in the living chalices of human souls. The bleeding of the Church must be completed somewhere, so that She may be in full health and vitality. And that is why the Church always bleeds somewhere in the never-ending persecution that is a constant phenomenon in the history of the Holy Church.[xii]