Pierogi to Prayer

Each year in early November, the atmosphere across Poland is one of deep solemnity. Poles pause to remember their deceased loved ones and friends on the consecutive Roman Catholic feasts of All Saints on November 1st and All Souls on November 2nd. As we enter into this, our third season of Pierogi to Prayer, and considering this ancient Polish tradition, we would like to also pause and reflect on some that have gone before us but in a different and creative way. As a site of Polish Heritage and Faith, we at St. Joseph’s are grateful and privileged to carry on a mission that has been taking place on our site for over a century we decided that this year we would instead pause to remember some of our sister Polish parishes across the Delaware River that are no longer with us. There are approximately a dozen Polish parishes that have existed in our area over the decades and sadly, not all of them are still with us. Of them we choose three to memorialize in this series spread across three episodes. In many ways, they typify the experiences of Polish communities, and over the next three episodes you will hear about them through the memories of those who worshiped within. Like any death, their stories are filled with pain, anger, and sorry. Yet also, as with any death, there is a professed belief in the promise of the Resurrection, and especially in our final episode, I hope you can some of that hope in the loss of each of these parish churches.

Musiccourtesy of freesounds.org and classicals.de

ChopinPieces Courtesy of classicals.de

Chopin- Grande Valse Brillante; Recorded,produced, and released to the public by: The Musopen Kickstarter Project - SetChopin Free https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/Musopen/set-chopin-free

Freesounds.org:

New YorkCity W 41 St. at 8th Ave NYC 06:2024 by eyesplice --https://freesound.org/s/759088/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Beginningof Mass with organ and choir.wav by dibko -- https://freesound.org/s/635083/ --License: Attribution 4.0

Each year in early November, the atmosphere across Poland is one of deep solemnity. Poles pause to remember their deceased loved ones and friends on the consecutive Roman Catholic feasts of All Saints on November 1st and All Souls on November 2nd. As we enter into this, our third season of Pierogi to Prayer, and considering this ancient Polish tradition, we would like to also pause and reflect on some that have gone before us but in a different and creative way. As a site of Polish Heritage and Faith, we at St. Joseph’s are grateful and privileged to carry on a mission that has been taking place on our site for over a century we decided that this year we would instead pause to remember some of our sister Polish parishes across the Delaware River that are no longer with us. There are approximately a dozen Polish parishes that have existed in our area over the decades and sadly, not all of them are still with us. Of them we choose three to memorialize in this series spread across three episodes. In many ways, they typify the experiences of Polish communities, and over the next three episodes you will hear about them through the memories of those who worshiped within. Like any death, their stories are filled with pain, anger, and sorry. Yet also, as with any death, there is a professed belief in the promise of the Resurrection, and especially in our final episode, I hope you can some of that hope in the loss of each of these parish churches.

Musiccourtesy of freesounds.org

foghorn.wavby stevebob69 -- https://freesound.org/s/81869/ -- License: Sampling+

Crowdof 30,000 People with Whistles, Applause and Cheering V9 by sophia.hussain --https://freesound.org/s/729994/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Accordion-music-reverb.wavby eyenorth -- https://freesound.org/s/482212/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

EmotionalGuitar by Migfus20 -- https://freesound.org/s/559845/ -- License: Attribution4.0

HopefulCinematic Emotional Orchestra Background Music by EvanBoyerman --https://freesound.org/s/753968/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Warsaw-church-chant-2.wavby xserra -- https://freesound.org/s/115233/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Each year in early November, the atmosphere across Poland is one of deep solemnity. Poles pause to remember their deceased loved ones and friends on the consecutive Roman Catholic feasts of All Saints on November 1st and All Souls on November 2nd. As we enter into this, our third season of Pierogi to Prayer, and considering this ancient Polish tradition, we would like to also pause and reflect on some that have gone before us but in a different and creative way. As a site of Polish Heritage and Faith, we at St. Joseph’s are grateful and privileged to carry on a mission that has been taking place on our site for over a century we decided that this year we would instead pause to remember some of our sister Polish parishes across the Delaware River that are no longer with us. There are approximately a dozen Polish parishes that have existed in our area over the decades and sadly, not all of them are still with us. Of them we choose three to memorialize in this series spread across three episodes. In many ways, they typify the experiences of Polish communities, and over the next three episodes you will hear about them through the memories of those who worshiped within. Like any death, their stories are filled with pain, anger, and sorry. Yet also, as with any death, there is a professed belief in the promise of the Resurrection, and especially in our final episode, I hope you can some of that hope in the loss of each of these parish churches.

Musiccourtesy of freesounds.org and classicals.de

ChopinPieces Courtesy of classicals.de

Chopin- Grande Valse Brillante; Recorded,produced, and released to the public by: The Musopen Kickstarter Project - SetChopin Free https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/Musopen/set-chopin-free

Freesounds.org:

221029_2225_FR_MaleChoir.wavby kevp888 -- https://freesound.org/s/657761/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Warsaw-church-chant-2.wavby xserra -- https://freesound.org/s/115233/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

EmotionalGuitar by Migfus20 -- https://freesound.org/s/559845/ -- License: Attribution4.0

steam-train-leaving-moor-st-station.wavby keithpeter -- https://freesound.org/s/125211/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Workingwith hammer on anvil #1 by arnaud coutancier -- https://freesound.org/s/388056/-- License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0

ChurchBells, Borgweg, Hamburg, Germany 25th December Christmas by vonfleisch --https://freesound.org/s/212037/ -- License: Attribution 3.0

HopefulCinematic Emotional Orchestra Background Music by EvanBoyerman --https://freesound.org/s/753968/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

231221_2608_FR_Organ_in_cathedralby kevp888 -- https://freesound.org/s/718691/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

For the fourth and final part of “With God in Camden”, wewere pleased to welcome John DeJak. A Catholic educator by profession, John isalso the co-editor of the book “With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of anUnlikely Jesuit.” This book brought together many of Father Walter’s archivedwritings and give a look at the life he led as a priest, spiritual director,and confidant following his return to the United States.

Yet John’s experience with Walter isn’t just academic as youwill soon hear-And the place that Ciszek has had in his own spiritual life as asource of inspiration is both fascinating and moving. Going forward we consider what makes a saint in light of the ending of his cause, yet also in the knowledge that canonization takes place in our own hearts.

We also wish to send out an enormous thank you to all ofour guests, listeners, supporters, and friends who have accompanied us throughthis our second season. We hope that you will continue to seek us out bothonline and in person at our home in Camden into our third season.

Music courtesy of freesounds.org and classicals.de

ChopinPieces Courtesy of classicals.de

Chopin- Grande Valse Brillante; Recorded,produced, and released to the public by: The Musopen Kickstarter Project - SetChopin Free https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/Musopen/set-chopin-free

Freesounds.org:

Beginning of Mass with organ and choir.wav by dibko --https://freesound.org/s/635083/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Emotional Flashbacks by ViraMiller --https://freesound.org/s/745458/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Emotional Guitar by Migfus20 --https://freesound.org/s/559845/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Stardust, Minimalist Piano Background Music ThatEvokes Emotion by kjartan_abel -- https://freesound.org/s/546087/ -- License:Attribution 4.0

Warsaw-church-chant-2.wav by xserra --https://freesound.org/s/115233/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Accordion-music-reverb.wav by eyenorth --https://freesound.org/s/482212/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Most of us don’t often think about saints havingfamilies. Nor do we usually think we would ever meet someone who is related to them in everyday life. As the 7th of 13 children, Walter Ciszek certainly had many such witnesses to his formative years and after his return it was this family that again would play a part in the remainder of his life. SueAnn Leighty is the grandniece of Father Walter. Even though he was her uncle,she also gained inspiration and wisdom from his life and books as have so many countlessothers. Sue Ann is an inspiring figure in her own right, with a pivotal role inHabitat for Humanity locally and nationally. For the third installment of ourseries, Sue Ann related her personal experiences with him but also what hisstory meant to her as well.

Music courtesy of freesounds.org and classicals.de

ChopinPieces Courtesy of classicals.de

Chopin- Grande Valse Brillante; Recorded,produced, and released to the public by: The Musopen Kickstarter Project - SetChopin Free https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/Musopen/set-chopin-free

Freesounds.org:

Hopeful Cinematic Emotional Orchestra Background Musicby EvanBoyerman -- https://freesound.org/s/753968/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Emotional Guitar byMigfus20 -- https://freesound.org/s/559845/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

In October of 2024, early on in the development of ourpodcast, I was fortunate to interview Jesuit Father Michael DesJardins, about his memories of a fellow Jesuit, Polish-American Father Walter Ciszek. Ciszek’s life story of arrest, torture, and imprisonment for some 30 years in the SovietUnion as told in his two books: With God in Russia published in 1964 and He Leadeth Me published in 1973 have become spiritual classics giving words of strength in adversity to generations since. Shortly after his death in 1984 His cause for sainthood was inaugurated. His cause and story was also whya year later in October of 2025 we created a four-part workshop entitled: “With God in Camden” focused on “He Leadeth Me” with four guest presenters who had their lives touched directly or indirectly by Father Ciszek. Such was thesuccess and spiritual graces gathered from this program that we thought we had been able to contribute to the reputation for sanctity of his cause. For this our final month of Season Two of our podcast, we decided to release these four presentations over the next four weeks to close our season. Each episode will drop on every Monday of this month Our second guest of “With God in Camden” was the Mother Marija, Hegumena (Mother Superior) Emeritus. As a spiritual directee of Father Ciszek, hers is an amazing personal story of encounter with this remarkable Servant of God.

Music courtesy of freesounds.org and classicals.de

ChopinPieces Courtesy of classicals.de

Chopin- Grande Valse Brillante; Recorded,produced, and released to the public by: The Musopen Kickstarter Project - SetChopin Free https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/Musopen/set-chopin-free

Freesounds.org:

Accordion-music-reverb.wav by eyenorth --https://freesound.org/s/482212/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

russian church Karelia.wav by heroman --https://freesound.org/s/508072/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0

St. John Cathedral female choir 001.wav by klankbeeld-- https://freesound.org/s/398218/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

007A_100111_0127_FR_Music_Holy_Mass_La_Lucerne bykevp888 -- https://freesound.org/s/842798/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

In October of 2024, early on in the development of ourpodcast, we were fortunate to interview Jesuit Father Michael Desjardins, SJ abouthis memories of a fellow Jesuit, Polish-American Father Walter Ciszek. Ciszek’s life story of arrest, torture, and imprisonment for some 30 years in the SovietUnion as told in his two books: With God in Russia published in 1964 andHe Leadeth Me published in 1973 have become spiritual classics givingwords of strength in adversity to generations since. Shortly after his death in1984 His cause for sainthood was inaugurated. His cause and story was also why ayear later in October of 2025 we created a four-part workshop entitled: “WithGod in Camden” focused on “He Leadeth Me” with four guest presenters who hadtheir lives touched directly or indirectly by Father Ciszek. Such was thesuccess and spiritual graces gathered from this program that we thought we hadbeen able to contribute to the reputation for sanctity of his cause. Recently, his cause for canonization was ended by the Vatican, but the impact of Ciszek's story and legacy continues. For thisour final month of Season Two of our podcast, we decided to release these fourpresentations over the next four weeks to close our season. Each episode willdrop on every Monday of this month Our first guest of “With God in Camden” wasthe Most Reverand Jeffery J. Walsh, Bishop of the Diocese of Gaylord, Michigan.His encounter with Ciszek is one that is similar to so many lives that hisstory has touched.

Music courtesy of freesounds.org and classicals.de

ChopinPieces Courtesy of classicals.de

Chopin- Grande Valse Brillante; Recorded,produced, and released to the public by: The Musopen Kickstarter Project - SetChopin Free https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/Musopen/set-chopin-free

Freesounds.org:

Hopeful Cinematic Emotional Orchestra Background Musicby EvanBoyerman -- https://freesound.org/s/753968/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Emotional Guitar by Migfus20 --https://freesound.org/s/559845/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

This September we bring the two topics of Music andWorld War II together with our returning guest, Dr. Michael Klein of TempleUniversity. Long time listeners may remember him from last season’s two partepisode on Fredrich Chopin which if you haven’t, I would encourage you to goback and listen to when you have a moment. As an expert in music and film, heinstructs on various subjects from music theory to Lord of the Rings. One ofhis particular research interests however, is the music and career of anotherPolish composer that certainly isn’t as familiar to many as the great Chopin.

Witold Lutoslawski wasborn in 1913 and lived until 1994. Born in Partition Poland, coming of age inthe Second Polish Republic, enduring the Communist State of Poland and passingaway in the current Third Republic, Lutosławski had a front row seat to thedefining elements of Polish History in the tumultuous 20th century.His choice to express this life through his musical brilliance, which was oftencurtailed by the expectations and censorship of the times he lived in.Regardless of your tastes in music, We hope you will very much enjoy thefascinating story of this remarkable man as told through our discussion.

Music courtesy of freesounds.org and classicals.de

ChopinPieces Courtesy of classicals.de

Chopin- Grande Valse Brillante; Etude Op. 25 no.1 in A-flat major,Mazurka B.85 in E flat major Recorded,produced, and released to the public by: The Musopen Kickstarter Project - SetChopin Free https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/Musopen/set-chopin-free

Classicals.de- Bartok - Romanian Folk Dances - 04 - Bucsumi tanc Buciumeana (Dance fromBucsum)

Recorded,produced and published by: Gregor Quendel

https://www.gregorquendel.com

CreativeCommons - Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International

CC BY-NC 4.0

CreativeCommons - Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal

CC PDM 1.0

Freesounds.org:

WW II.mp3 by LPLeon96 --https://freesound.org/s/171918/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Short piano with calm swell by mariannadeoliveira --https://freesound.org/s/738818/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Sad Emotional Piano for Documentaries Films byUniversfield -- https://freesound.org/s/726893/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

This September we bring the two topics of Music andWorld War II together with our returning guest, Dr. Michael Klein of TempleUniversity. Long time listeners may remember him from last season’s two partepisode on Fredrich Chopin which if you haven’t, I would encourage you to goback and listen to when you have a moment. As an expert in music and film, heinstructs on various subjects from music theory to Lord of the Rings. One ofhis particular research interests however, is the music and career of anotherPolish composer that certainly isn’t as familiar to many as the great Chopin.

Witold Lutoslawski wasborn in 1913 and lived until 1994. Born in Partition Poland, coming of age inthe Second Polish Republic, enduring the Communist State of Poland and passingaway in the current Third Republic, Lutosławski had a front row seat to thedefining elements of Polish History in the tumultuous 20th century.His choice to express this life through his musical brilliance, which was oftencurtailed by the expectations and censorship of the times he lived in.Regardless of your tastes in music, We hope you will very much enjoy thefascinating story of this remarkable man as told through our discussion.

Music courtesy of freesounds.org and classicals.de

ChopinPieces Courtesy of classicals.de

Chopin- Grande Valse Brillante; Etude Op. 25 no.1 in A-flat major,Mazurka B.85 in E flat major Recorded,produced, and released to the public by: The Musopen Kickstarter Project - SetChopin Free https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/Musopen/set-chopin-free

Classicals.de- Bartok - Romanian Folk Dances - 04 - Bucsumi tanc Buciumeana (Dance fromBucsum)

Recorded,produced and published by: Gregor Quendel

https://www.gregorquendel.com

CreativeCommons - Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International

CC BY-NC 4.0

CreativeCommons - Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal

CC PDM 1.0

Freesounds.org:

WW II.mp3 by LPLeon96 --https://freesound.org/s/171918/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Short piano with calm swell by mariannadeoliveira --https://freesound.org/s/738818/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Sad Emotional Piano for Documentaries Films byUniversfield -- https://freesound.org/s/726893/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Welcome to Part II

Few individuals have had such an impact on Europeanhistorymore than Napolean Bonaparte. And for the Pole we just met through his200 yearold words, it wasn’t always for their personal best. The image of thedeterminedgaze in the diminutive Corsican, a hand regally tucked into thebreast of hisshirt is iconic to say the least. And where history leaves off,pop culturepicks up. Often parodied, instantly recognizable, impossible toduplicate:Napoleon, a name synonymous with ambition and military genius, yet handin handwith authoritarianism and a cult of personality.

For Poles, the mark Napoleon left on theirhistory has beenone tinged with the standards of mythology and disappointment thatwe’ve come toknow all too well from our history. Inspired with the promise ofa reestablishednation after the disaster of the partitions, Poles looked atNapolean’s rise inthe chaos of the French Revolution as an opportunity. One toestablish freedomin defiance of the old order of autocracy which had seen themsubjugated bytheir imperial neighbors. Instead, a group of them foundthemselves on the otherside of the world fighting for Napoleon’s colonialambitions in Haiti.

Today we hear from Historian and prolific authorJonathanNorth, who has studied a great deal about Poles during the NapoleonicEra andhis book “War of Lost Hope: Polish accounts of the NapoleonicExpedition toSaint Dominque, 1801-1804” provides a gripping window into theexperiences ofthese Poles.

For more on Jonathan North, visit his website: ⁠https://www.jpnorth.co.uk/ ⁠

ChopinPieces Courtesy of classicals.de

Chopin- Grande Valse Brillante & Nocturne Op. 15 no. 1in F major,Recorded, produced, andreleased to the public by: The MusopenKickstarter Project - Set Chopin Free ⁠https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/Musopen/set-chopin-free⁠

CreativeCommons - Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal

⁠CCPDM 1.0⁠

Other sounds and music courtesy of freesounds.com

VOC_220925-2129-2_FR_FrenchNationalAnthem.wav bykevp888 --https://freesound.org/s/654004/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Music: “[Violin Concerto No. 2 in E Major - 1.Movement - BWV1042]” by Gregor Quendel / Classicals.de  Source: ⁠https://www.classicals.de⁠