On September 8, 2026, the 25th anniversary of the papal crowning of the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Mościska, Ukraine, brought together a large crowd of residents of the city and surrounding areas, as well as clergy. The Eucharistic celebration was presided over by Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki, Metropolitan Archbishop of Lviv. The Warsaw Province of the Redemptorists was represented by Fr. Mariusz Mazurkiewicz, C.Ss.R., Provincial Vicar.
The anniversary celebrations were held in an atmosphere of thanksgiving for the coronation that took place a quarter of a century ago, especially for those who distinguished themselves for their great commitment at the time: Cardinal Marian Jaworski, Father Władysław Ziober, C.Ss.R., and Father Mieczysław Frytek. They were a source of strengthening hope and encouraging trust, as the Metropolitan of Lviv emphasized in his bilingual homily.
As a vow of gratitude to the shrine, Archbishop Mokrzycki donated the papal rosary of St. John Paul II, which will be placed near the image of Our Lady.
The Holy Mass was preceded by a solemn novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, while at the end of the liturgy a rosary procession took place through the city, for peace in Ukraine and for those fighting at the front.
The local church dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Catherine, as well as the old convent, now transformed into a hospital, are the “cradle of the Polish Redemptorists”[*], while the sanctuary itself has been a source of worship of this Marian icon in our homeland since 1883. After several years of absence, on 8 September 2023 the Redemptorists returned to Mościska to carry out the pastoral care of the sanctuary in this sacred place, spread Marian worship, and proclaim the Word of God through missions and spiritual retreats.
The Holy Mass is celebrated in the church twice on Sundays and once on weekdays in Polish, and once a week in Ukrainian. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the novena in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and the recitation of the Rosary are also held. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is always available. After years, the Redemptorists are once again conducting sacred missions and spiritual retreats, accepting invitations for future ones, and responding to the long-term pastoral needs of the Archdiocese of Lviv.
Source: redemptor.pl
Photo: archive of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Mościska
[*] Mościska (now in Ukraine, near Przemyśl, on the border with Poland) is called “the cradle of the Polish Redemptorists” because it is the place where, in 1883, the Redemptorists returned to Polish lands thanks to the work of the Servant of God Fr. Bernard Łubieński, C.Ss.R. On that occasion they brought from Rome a copy of the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, thus beginning, right in Mościska, the spread of this Marian devotion in Poland. The sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Catherine of Alexandria, together with the annexed monastery, became a very active missionary center, and in 1906 a Redemptorist major seminary was also opened there. The Redemptorists had to leave Mościska in 1945 for political reasons, but returned briefly in 1990 thanks to Fr. Władysław Ziober, and finally — after another interruption — they returned a third time in September 2023, resuming the pastoral care of the sanctuary.
