A Life With Karol/Swiadectwo

Karol Wojtyla - John Paul II is one of the most influential, beloved and treasured people - saints in my life. I felt his presence when I studied philosophy at the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland where he had taught it several years before. I had a privilege to study under one of Karol Wojtyla's great friends who had become the chairman of the Ethics Department after Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II. I have seen him a number of times in Poland during his papal visits. We have named our son Karol Cyprian after Karol Wojtyla and his (mine too) beloved poet Cyprian Kamil Norwid. Even though John Paul II never held my hand I feel his prsence deeply now. I know that he is with me as my spiritual father now and he often holds my hand. Yesterday I watched a new DVD that my mom sent me for Christmas. It is called SWIADECTWO and it is mostly in Polish. There is some narration by a popular actor Michael York and it is in English. The film features Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz. He talks about his almost 40 years spent with Karol Wojtyla. It expends on the book written by the Cardinal A Life With Karol. It is an amazing, inspiring and thought provoking film. Watching it was a very emotional experience for me. Every time I read or watch anything about Karol Wojtyla I feel inspired to live as a saint. I recommend you get a copy of the book and see for yourself.

Swiadectwo...Karol Wojtyla... dla nas Polakow jest to ktos o kim nigdy nie zapomnimy. Moja glebsza przygoda z Janem Pawlem II rozpoczela sie na Katolickim Uniwersytecie Lubelskim, kiedy to moglam brac udzial w zajeciach z etyki prowadzonych przez Ks. Profesora Stycznia, ktory byl wielkim przyjacielem Karola Wojtyly Jana Pawla IIi to po nim objal Katedre Etyki. Wszyscy moi profesorowie wspominali wyklady Karola Wojtyly. Widzialam Jana Pawla II przy okazji jego wizyt papieskich w Polsce. I mimo iz migdy z nim nie rozmawialam osobiscie to wiem, ze on sie mna opiekuje z nieba jak dobry ojciec. Czesto mnie trzyma za reke i dopomaga mi. Modle sie czesto do niego za nasze dzieci, szczegolnie naszego Karola Cypriana, ktory nosi imiona Karola Wojtyly i jego (mojego tez) ulubionego polskiego poety Cypriana Kamila Norwida.
Wczoraj obejrzalam Swiadectwo na DVD - prezent Bozonarodzeniowy od mojej Mamy. Moje podziekowania plyna do calej ekipy, ktora zrealizowala ten film, szczegolnie do Kardynala Stanislawa Dziwisza. Ten piekny, emocjonalny i napelniony glebokimi refleksjami film jest dla mnie inspiracja, aby kazdego dnia zyc jak swieta. Niech nasz wspanialy Karol Wojtyla wyprasza dla nas potrzebne laski!

St. Nicholas/ Swiety Mikolaj

At this time of the year many people ask: "How do you handle Santa?" For us it's an easy answer. My husband and I agreed that we would celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas. My husband dresses up as St. Nicholas - the bishop and we tell our children that we give, parents them gifts because we want to remember the goodness and spirit of St. Nicholas and imitate him. We celebrate many feast days in our homeschool so our children are used to commemorating the lives of the saints. This year we experienced something really funny. On the feast of St. Nicholas we were at a party and there was a man who dressed as "Santa". Only for some reason his mustache ended up on his nose rather than under it. When we came back home our four year old daughter said: "I knew it wasn't the real Saint Nicholas because he had this thing on his nose." We all laughted and then our seven year old daughter said: "I knew it was not real Saint Nicholas because his body is buried in the ground and his soul is in heaven with God." I couldn't be prouder of both of them.

W czasie Adwentu wiele osob pyta: "Co wy mowicie Waszym dzieciom o Swietym Mikolaju?" Odpowiedz na to pytanie jest dla nas bardzo latwa. Moj maz i ja postanowilismy swietowac ten piekny dzien Sw. Mikolaja mowiac naszym dzieciom, ze tatus przebiera sie za Swietego Mikolaja Biskupa i przynosi im prezenty od mamy i taty. W naszej domowej edukacji wspominamy wiele Swietych, wiec nie jest to dla naszych dzieci nic obcego czy niezwyklego. W tym roku przydarzyla sie nam bardzo smieszna historia. W Swieto Swietego Mikolaja uczestniczylismy w polskiej Wigilii. Pan, ktory przebral sie za Mikolaja zakladajac brode polozyl wasy na swoim nosie zamiast pod nosem. Kiedy bylismy juz w domu nasz czteroletnia coreczka powiedziala: "Ja wiedzialam, ze to nie byl prawdziwy Swiety Mikolaj, bo on mial to cos nas nosie". Bardzo sie wszyscy z tego powiedzenia siemlismy. Nasza siedmioletnia corka dodala: "Ja wiem, ze to nie byl prawdziwy Swiety Mikolaj, bo jego cialo jest pogrzebane, a jego dusz jest w niebie z Bogiem". Bylam z nich bardzo dumna.