Read newsletter online [email protected] 2016 Issue II www.ciszek.org Getting to know , S.J. as Servant of God Mark A. Lewis, S.J. My arrival at the task of working on the cause of Servant of God Walter Ciszek started with a casual conversation. While passing through Rome on another research project, I stopped in to greet my good friend and companion Fr. Marc Lindeijer, the Jesuits’ Vice Postulator. In the course of catching up on each other’s projects and news, Fr. Lindeijer casually mentioned that he was hoping to interest an American Jesuit in working on the cause of Fr. Ciszek. Since my current project had hit a bit of a wall, and since I knew the story of Fr. Ciszek from With God in Russia, I offered to lend a hand. My sabbatical came to an end before all of the details Annual Celebration were worked out, so it has become a project that must now fit between my new assignment as Director of Catholic Studies at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri. So why am I working on Fr. Ciszek? What brought me to this assignment? How do I see the process developing? As with Fr. Lindeijer, my academic preparation is in history. Unfortunately my specialization is neither in twentieth century U.S. or Soviet history. But many of the research challenges are the same, and fortunately so much of the rigorous research has already been finished. While Fr. Lendeijer has much more experience with the office and process of the postulation of saints, I am sure that I will be able to call on him and the Rev. Mark A. Lewis, S.J., Postulator General, Fr. Anton Witwer, S.J., for help on the Director of Thomas More Center canonical details. While in Rome, Fr. Lindeijer introduced me for the Study of Catholic Thought and Culture. continued on page 3 With God In America by Father Walter Ciszek

Loyola Press will be publishing With God on America by Father Walter Ciszek on October 1, 2016. The book will be available for the annual Father Walter Ciszek Day celebration October 16, 2016 and serves to continue to spread devotion to Father Walter and his Cause. Rev. Marc Lindeijer, S.J.’s and John DeJak’s collaborative efforts have brought this volume to fruition. Father Marc and John have agreed with Loyola Press that any royalties or monetary gain due to them from the sales of the book will be directed to the Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League.

The Prayer League is most Annual Fundraiser grateful! Raffle Tickets Enclosed SUNDAY, October 16, 2016 prayer hotline By Rev. Thomas J. Sable, S.J. The spiritual life is like music. Music has beats and Health: Frank G.- healing of rheumatoid tempo. Human rhythm recalls the regularity with which we walk and the heartbeat by which we live. There are arthritis, William Deffenbach, Patti, John Buckley, different rhythms for each of the ages and stages of our Jr., Rev. Joseph Cazenavette, Duke Laconas, human existence. In his rules for discernment of spirits Dorothy Kaye, A Friend, Margie, Grant, Thyroid in the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola gives tests are good and Pat Extance this advice: “When one enjoys (spiritual) consolation, let him Deceased: George E. Puhak, Doris Ciszek Kaye consider how he will conduct himself during the time of ensuing (spiritual) desolation, and store up a SPECIAL INTENTIONS: Joe, Pat and Daughter, supply of strength as defense against that day… He Tony, Maria, Roseann, James O’Shea, Matthew, who enjoys (spiritual) consolation should take care to Eugene and Claire, Conversion of my daughter and humble himself and lower himself as much as possible. son-in-law, Strength and endurance, Desire of my Let him recall how little he is able to do in time of heart, Success of my son in high school, conversion (spiritual) desolation, when he is left without such grace or (spiritual) consolation. On the other hand, one of Dennis, healing of addiction, identity confusion who suffers (spiritual) desolation should remember that Prayer for all our military especially Lt. Col. John by making use of the sufficient grace offered him, he can do much to withstand all his enemies. Let him find Chovanes strength in his Creator and Lord.” For all members of the Prayer League living St. Ignatius is reminding us that in times of spiritual and deceased. consolation, when we are so moved and inclined towards God and the things of God, we should prepare For all whose names were previously on our list, but who are still for the coming spiritual desolation when we feel in need of our prayers; for all those who have requested prayers ourselves emptied of that movement and closeness of the League; for all prayer league members, for all those who to God. And when we are in spiritual desolation, we are praying through the intercession of Father Walter Ciszek; should use the grace of the present moment to prepare and for all who need our prayers. for the coming consolation. Neither spiritual desolation nor spiritual consolation lasts forever. This timeless We are now on Facebook! advice is the key to hope in our spiritual life that is in constant fluctuation between times of spiritual fervor www.facebook.com/FatherWalterCiszek and dryness in our relationship with God. In the prison camps of Russia for the priest and “For/From the Friends of Walter Ciszek, S.J.” clergy imprisoned there, the movement of spiritual A Publication of the Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League desolation seemed to predominate, but even there, as Official Organization for the Promotion of the Cause of Father Ciszek says, “ … a deep renewal of faith in Canonization of Father Walter Ciszek, S.J. Christ, a renewed vision of how his kingdom is won 18 Oak Street in the world and a renewed sense of dedication to his Shenandoah, PA 17976 will, could dispel the discouragement sometimes felt by these prisoner priests, frightened because the power Editor: Daniel L. Flaherty, S.J. of evil and the seeming hopelessness of their cause Executive Editor : Elaine Cusat Co-Postulators: Msgr. Anthony D. Muntone, dawned on them with all its clarity in the camps.” Rev. Thomas F. Sable, S.J., (He Leadeth Me, p. 140) Circulation Manager Sister Doris Burkot, O.S.F. No spiritual movement is permanent. We are Business Manager Elaine Cusat constantly caught in a rhythm of consolation and desolation. Are we experiencing spiritual consolation “Friends of Walter Ciszek, S.J.” is published four times a year for today? Then let us humble ourselves in grateful prayer friends and contributors to the Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League. and prepare ourselves for the spiritual desolation that Copies mailed from Shenandoah, PA. For a subscription, write: The will surely come. Are we in spiritual desolation? Then Prayer League, 18 Oak Street, Shenandoah, PA 17976. Current cost is let us make use of the sufficient grace of the present $10 a year. Manuscripts should be sent to: Editor, Prayer League, 18 Oak Street, Shenandoah, PA 17976; please include a stamped, self- moment that Jesus offers to us every day in prayer and addressed return envelope. For changes of address or problems with your the sacraments to bear this desolation until the sure subscription write: Circulation Manager, The Prayer League, 18 Oak light of divine consolation shines in our hearts. Street, Shenandoah, PA 17976. Postmaster, please return undeliverable copies to The Prayer League, 18 Oak Street, Shenandoah, PA 17976.

2 Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League continued from page 1 as I sit down with the material more seriously this to the Congregation for Causes of the Saints, so I have summer. yet another helpful resource in my work. Already it seems clear to me that Fr. Cizek’s life falls While I never met Fr. Ciszek, he was alive when into three fairly distinct periods. His early life and I first entered the , and some of my preparations to be a priest and Jesuit, ultimately in companions in studies from the Maryland Province mission to the ; his life in Russia, first as lived with him in the novitiate or at other moments a laborer, then as a prisoner, finally as an exchange in in their formation. A few had the privilege to make a the height of the Cold War; the final period of his life, retreat with him. Most of us, of course, came to know a time of fruitful, if at times pain-filled ministry in the him through the more popular With God in Russia, U.S. Each period required and displayed the practice though a few of us in the novitiate also read his more of the virtues in diverse ways. His youthful zeal and spiritual work, He Leadeth Me. As someone who grew desire to be the best and strongest would lead him to up during the Cold War, I became interested in Soviet volunteer for the Russian mission. Yet before he could Russia and read some of Alexandr Solzhenitsyn’s go forward he had to learn not only theology, but the work as well. The dangerous mission to move into school of the heart. The young Jesuit hadn’t been Russia after the invasion of Poland in 1939 captured perfected when he made his way into Russia in 1939. the imagination of young novices who could identify He had no idea that his time there would be a crucible with the generosity of spirit that led Fr. Ciszek to for yet another tremendous step in his becoming volunteer for the mission when he was our age. In the God’s instrument. While the facts of this period are course of time I lost track of that early acquaintance perhaps the best known of his life, one might spend with Fr. Ciszek’s life, but from time-to-time little a lifetime delving into the testing, spiritual growth, reminders of his life crossed my own. I lived at the and ultimately the self-emptying that brought him Jesuit Curia during the time when the Oriental Chapel to yet a new level of virtue and relationship with the there was restored. Its claim to fame was that it had God who sustained him. The most interesting, for been designed and prepared for the Jesuits who had me, is the last period of his life. When a man who had volunteered for the Russian mission in the 1930s. I suffered so much and been so emptied returns home, remember marveling that I was able to celebrate Mass there is good reason to expect him to move into a life in the Roman rite in the chapel that had been used for of retirement and prayer. But Fr. Ciszek embraced this the Oriental liturgy by Fr. Ciszek and his companions. last period of his life with the same zeal and courage A few years later I had the privilege of staying at that had brought him through the preparations and Ciszek Hall of Fordham University, the last residence struggles of his previous experiences. The prayer, of Fr. Ciszek in New York. It is now used as a the preaching, the engagement with the church as he residence for young Jesuits making their studies after found it on his return establishes the final period of their first vows. They carefully conserve a little chapel his life. This last period provides the final piece of dedicated to the memory of Fr. Ciszek, and learn Fr. Ciszek’s life of holiness, and allows us to see how about his life, ministry in Russia, and his final years in every experience leading up to that time prepared him the U.S. During my stay I learned a little more about for the last growth in holiness that would bring him to his final years in the U.S., especially his humility in the God he served so faithfully. the midst of unsought fame, and the devotion of his One interesting effect of my undertaking this waning strengths to help deepen the spiritual life of project and process has been to discover how many the U.S. Church in this crucial time of its history. people know of Fr. Ciszek and have read his books. So I write this little article in the midst of final I have been impressed by the interest in this cause: exams and plans for graduation celebrations and from a diocesan bishop interested in giving copies summer work. While I’ve not had large blocs of of He Leadeth Me to his priests as a way to encourage time to make large strides in the process so far, I’ve their own pastoral zeal, to younger students taken budgeted out quite a bit of time during the summer by this humble priest who held great aspirations, break. While in Rome in October I paged through the suffered tremendously, and found another voice back 23 odd volumes of materials (documents, testimony, in his homeland. The degree to which people get historical background), and began reading through excited about the story of Fr. Ciszek’s life encourages the summaries of these documents. Even in the me to find what they have found. For it is models of midst of my teaching I dipped into these documents holiness and heroic virtue that call each of us to our as I prepared classes for western civilization in the own conversions, and help us in our own attempts to twentieth century. Both He Leadeth Me and With God find where God seeks to lead each one of us. I have in Russia have become my spiritual reading. This always been consoled by the lives of the saints, and background preparation should help me to find focus am grateful that the Lord has brought me to this task.

Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League 3 New book about Father Ciszek focuses on return to America BY JOHN E. USALIS Used with permission from “The Republican-Herald” A new book will be released in October that will er book authored by Father Walter,” DeJak said. “In focus on the life and writings of Father Walter J. Cis- our research, there were retreat notes, spiritual and zek, S.J. after he returned to the United States from scriptural reflections, personal letters to people, all of his unjustified imprisonment in the Soviet Union. this as evidence for the cause for sainthood. We came The softcover book, “With God in America: The to the conclusion that another volume is here to be Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit: Selections published under Father’s name. These are Father’s from the Writings of Fr. Walter J. Ciszek, S.J.,” is writings. Let us focus on what he wrote and what co-edited by John M. DeJak and the Rev. Marc Lin- he did for the last 20 years of his life, because we deijer, S.J. and will be published by Loyola Press, the both agreed that his whole experience in Russia was publishing arm of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). The more like a seminary. We’re not trying to diminish introduction was written by Timothy Cardinal Dolan, anything he did in Russia, which was tremendously archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York. The heroic, but I think he was the priest for the time release date is Oct. 1. when he came back. He comes back when Vatican II is underway, there is a cultural revolution on the The new book will include Ciszek’s retreat medita- horizon in the 1960s, and he is strong and steady tions, select correspondence with spiritual directees through this whole time, which is very apparent in and friends, reflections on his life, and counsel to his writings, his reflections and his own experience. people of all walks of life. It will also include remi- He was a good, solid priest who is a rock in a tumul- niscences of those who were close to him and who tuous age.” knew him best. DeJak and Lindeijer said the book is divided into Ciszek co-authored two books with the Rev. Dan- different aspects of Ciszek’s life as a Jesuit, a spiri- iel L. Flaherty, S.J. on his life in the Soviet Union tual advisor and counselor, a letter writer, and as an — “With God in Russia” and “He Leadeth Me.” Both observer of the modern age. Some of the material has were published in the 1960s. “With God in Russia” not been seen before. has been translated into Dutch, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Korean, Polish and Slovak. “He “We edited this book, put introductions in and Leadeth Me” translations are Korean, Chinese, Polish, inserted some text based upon some interviews we Slovak, French, Czech, German and Spanish. did,” DeJak said. “We also divided the book into various themes: thankfulness, generosity, prayer, DeJak has been been devoted to Ciszek since the turmoil in the Church. There are also other people in 1990s and was interested in writing a biography. it who were under his direction to provide context. “I really wanted to promote Father’s cause and I The book itself is Father Walter’s. We wanted to get had the idea to write Father’s biography, taking into people to understand Father’s absolute love for ev- account not only what we know that he articulates ery individual he met and his patience and humility. in his books, but then the 20 years afterward,” DeJak He didn’t take himself seriously. Whether you were said. So I approached Father Dan Flaherty, his co- a bishop or a janitor, he didn’t care. He talked to you author and one time postulator, about the idea and just the same and loved you just the same. We really he was extremely supportive, said I was the guy to wanted that to come out in the book.” do it, and he said to go for it. I pitched it to him and An attorney, DeJak is the director of Institutional he put me in touch with Father Lindeijer, and that Advancement at Father Gabriel Richard High School was right around the time he came to Shenandoah to in Ann Arbor, Michigan. DeJak was graduated from do his research for the postulator’s office in Rome. I Loyola University, Chicago, with a bachelor of arts consider him a very dear friend now.” degree (Classics (Latin)) and took his juris doctorate Over time, DeJak and Lindeijer continued their from Ave Maria School of Law, where he was privi- research and kept connected and both came up with leged to study under legendary Notre Dame Profes- the format of a new book. sor Charles E. Rice. He practiced law and served “We decided between us to come to publish anoth- on active duty as an officer in the U.S. Army’s 10th continued on page 5

4 Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League continued from page 4 Mountain Division prior to being named the founding ties. Tommy’s condition prompted the nurse to ask headmaster of two new high schools in the Twin Cities about baptizing him, which DeJak did, and was taken area: Chesterton Academy and Holy Spirit Academy. by medical helicopter to a larger hospital and placed He has taught Latin, Greek, literature, government in an neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). and theology in high schools in Chicago, Cleveland, “Within 45 minutes of his birth, Annie and I had a and Minneapolis-St. Paul. He also served as an advo- good cry and said we needed to choose a main inter- cate for the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese cessor and Father Walter was our guy from the first,” of St. Paul-Minneapolis. His articles have appeared DeJak said. “This caused us to probe deeper and have in Chronicles, The Wanderer, Gilbert Magazine, The deeper devotion.” Distributist Review and the St. Austin Review. He and For the next five months, Tommy was in hospitals, his wife, Ann, have eight children. and during that time DeJak decided to make a pil- A native of the Netherlands, Lindeijer works in grimage to Shenandoah in 1999 and visited with Sister Rome as the assistant of the Jesuit’s Postulator Gen- Albertine, who managed the Ciszek Center. eral, the Rev. Anton Witwer, who oversees the pro- “In my mind, Father Walter has done his job,” he cesses towards beatification or sanctification of Jesuits said. “The boy is alive. He will be our lifelong com- or people who have been commended to the Society panion. Father Walter’s spiritual message about God’s of Jesus. will being in front of you each and every day is not As Lindeijer explained his work in an e-mail, “I pre- just something that is out there. It is the people, places pare the dossiers to prove the heroic virtues, martyr- and things God places before you.” dom, or miracles of our candidate saints and blesseds; DeJak has made many trips to Shenandoah for these dossiers ranging from 500 to 1,000 pages or more a “spiritual shot in the arm,” including the annual are evaluated by the Congregation for the Causes of Father Walter Ciszek Day in October and to work with the Saints in various steps, and finally it is the pope Lindeijer in his research. who decides.” “There is a certain familiarity even though none DeJak learned of Ciszek in high school in his senior of my family is from the Shenandoah area,” DeJak year. said. “My grandpa was a coal miner in Pennsylvania “I went to St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, toward the Johnstown area, so I have some Pennsylva- and an assignment was given to choose a book from nia roots on my mom’s side of the family. I’m Slo- a group of books for a theology class,” DeJak said. “I venian and my wife is Polish, so I always say, ‛same was rifling through the books and not much caught food, different name.’” my eye except for ‘He Leadeth Me.’ I still have the dog- There is a personal connection for DeJak with Cis- eared copy of it. I picked up and read the back of the zek, especially having been Jesuit-trained and becom- book and something really attracted me from the start ing friends with Flaherty. in terms of here was a tough guy who had weathered the storms of persecutions. It was more of the heroic “I can say that beyond any other saint, and I know that really attracted me. I read the book and loved it. he’s not canonized yet, that I’ve been closer to Father I gleaned spiritual messages and benefits from read- Walter than anyone else,” he said. “I and my family by ing it. At my high school level, I saw him as a priest’s extension really do feel that he has accompanied us, priest and a man’s man.” especially since the beginning of my life with my wife. It didn’t take long before he came into the picture in a DeJak’s interest in Ciszek continued as he studied very real way with Tommy. By rereading a paragraph at Loyola University, which is a Jesuit school, and or two from ‘He Leadeth Me,’ and even in ‘With God in learned that his cause for canonization had begun Russia,’ you can’t help but get spiritual sustenance and about five years before entering the university. see God’s providential work. He’s been a dear friend, DeJak obtained prayer cards and other items from and I think that the best way to describe it, even though the Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League, which was I met him for the first time 10 years after his death.” originally based near Sugarloaf, which increased his DeJak plans to attend the Ciszek Day Mass in Octo- devotion. ber and will sign books after Mass in the St. Casimir DeJak and his wife, Ann, were married in 1998 and Church hall. Royalties from book sales will be donated their first child, Tommy, was born about six weeks to the prayer league, which supports the canonization premature with severe mental and physical disabili- cause.

Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League 5 Relatives of Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J., Visit Jesuit

Printed with permission from the Jesuit High School of New Orleans. The article was written by Jeremy Reuther, a 2001 alumnus of Jesuit who currently serves as the school’s director of campus ministry.

The stone medallions in the Traditions Courtyard honor Jesuits from ages past whose lives of exemplary service to the Church continue to inspire today. The medallion of Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J., the Pennsylvania priest who spent 23 years in prison or slave labor camps in the Soviet Union, had a few visitors on Friday morning. Frank Kielbasa, the nephew of Ciszek, along with his wife Connie and Fr. John Brown, S.J., (left) and Tim Powers (right) meet with daughter Audrey, came to Jesuit to see the memorial the Frank, Connie, and Audrey Kielbasa underneath the stone medallion of their relative and visit the campus. medallion dedicated to their relative, Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J. Greeting the Kielbasa family were some faculty members who had participated in the English teacher Tim Powers, whose Medallion Lenten Spiritual Reading Series. The group of Story written for the Spring 2008 edition of 30 faculty members met weekly during Lent to Jaynotes alerted the Kielbasa family to the discuss sections of the book He Leadeth Me, the existence of the medallion and inspired their autobiography describing Ciszek’s time spent in the visit. Fr. John Brown, S.J., also greeted the Lubianka prison and Siberian slave labor camps. family to show them a drawing of Fr. Ciszek he Ciszek’s story was a source of spiritual nourishment had created while studying theology in Ciszek during Lent because it focused on reliance upon Hall as a scholastic at Boston College. God when every normal comfort of daily living is The cause for canonization for Fr. Ciszek has stripped away. been introduced, and he is currently a Servant Among the teachers greeting the Kielbasas was of God.

“If we could constantly live in the realization that we are sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father, that we are always in His sight and play on His creation, then all our thoughts and every action would be a prayer.” – Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J.,

The artistic rendering of Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J., drawn by Fr. John Brown, S.J.

6 Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League Thank You and God Bless You Father Marc It is difficult to quantify the efforts of all those over the years who have contributed to the Cause of Father Ciszek and who have cultivated devotion to him. At every stage of the process—from the beginnings in and among the friends and faithful Catholics of the who initiated Father’s cause to the latest devotions of the young high school student just hearing about Fr. Ciszek for the first time—everyone has had an essential role helping to raise Father to the honors of the altar. One individual, however, is deserving of our everlasting gratitude. Fr. Marc Lindeijer, S.J., a Jesuit historian and member of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, has been working in the office of the Postulator General of the Society of Jesus in Rome since 2009. It was to his desk that Fr. Ciszek’s Cause came Rev. Marc Lindeijer, S.J. at the close of the Diocesan Phase and the beginning of the Roman Phase of process. It was under Fr. Lindeijer’s tutelage that additional evidence was gathered and additional questions answered that are required by the Congregation for the examination and determination of Fr. Ciszek’s “heroic virtue.” His painstaking work was the second phase of the work that was begun by the postulators at the diocesan level. In addition, Fr. Lindeijer breathed new life into devotion to Fr. Ciszek by conceiving the book that he and John DeJak edited, With God in America. Fr. Lindeijer now heads to Brussels, Belgium where he will take his place among the celebrated Jesuit Bollandists, the historians and hagiographers who have made the saints and their lives widely known to the faithful. He will be missed, but something tells us that we will hear from him again in the context of Fr. Ciszek’s Cause. Until then, ad multos annos, Father, and prayers for you in your important new assignment. St. Paul School’s Confirmation Class Reads He Leadeth Me For a long time Teresa Comas thought that He Leadeth Me was the perfect book for any Confirmation Class. So one Sunday after mass she approached Dr. Joseph Muscente, Principal at St Paul School in New York asking if his Confirmation Class was reading anything special. When he said no, Teresa immediately suggested He Leadeth Me and he readily agreed. That afternoon Teresa ordered twenty copies and had them sent to the school. Teresa is rereading He Leadeth Me and prays the Confirmation Class of St. Paul School will receive many spiritual blessings. Students from the Confirmation Class of St. Paul School

Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League 7 THE FATHER WALTER CISZEK PRAYER LEAGUE Non-Profit Org. Official Organization for the Promotion of the Cause of Canonization of Father Walter Ciszek, S.J. U.S. POSTAGE Phone: (570) 462-2270 Fax: (570) 462-2274 PAID 18 East Oak Street, Shenandoah, PA 17976-2356 Pottsville, PA Permit No. 119

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October 16, 2016

Father Walter Ciszek Day

Divine Liturgy: 2:00 P.M. St. Casimir Church 229 North Jardin Street Shenandoah, PA 17976

2016 Issue II