Dear friends and family:
The parishioners of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church invite you and your guests to attend the 86th Annual Homecoming Festival and “Dozynki” Mass celebration at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Chappell Hill, Texas on Sunday, September 3, 2023. This marks the 134nd anniversary of the establishment of the parish. We are asking that each of you help inform friends, family and decedents of St. Stanislaus about the upcoming “Dozynki Mass” and Homecoming Festival. Mass will begin at 9:00 a.m. with a harvest procession and Polish hymns (organist – Dr. Linda Zientek, Soloist – Elli Kline and Hubert Pralitz, International Violinist) . Following mass, lunch will be served at 10:30 a.m. in in the parish hall or to go. Polish Folk Music will be provided during lunch by Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz and Polska Kapela (Leonard, Bernard, Hubert, James, CJ, and Charlie) and following lunch the live auction will begin at 1:30 p.m. Please join us in helping make this year’s festival a huge success. This event is the major fund raiser for the parish and we are asking for your support.
Attached you will find a copy of the 2023 Program and festival flyer. Our special guest will be Mr. Andrzej Fąfara, Vice Consul at the Polish Consulate in Houston. Please share with you family and friends.
The Polish tradition of ”Dozynki” dates back several centuries giving thanks to God for the year’s harvest. “Dozynki” means harvest and this tradition celebrates the end of the crop season thanking God for the bountiful yields. In Poland, “Dozynki” or Harvest Festival is celebrated after the wheat harvest at the end of August. There is no doubt, this is why the festival was started 86 years ago on Labor Day Sunday at the end of harvest. In our region of Texas, the corn and grain sorghum harvest is finished with cotton underway.
We would like to invite anyone to participate in the mass procession if you wish to join us. Those in procession are encouraged to wear a Polish costume and if you do not have a Polish folk costume, a white blouse or shirt with a red necklace or red ribbon with black pants or red skirt is very Polish. Please come and witness this beautiful tradition and celebrate our Polish Heritage. Everyone is invited to attend the festival even if you chose not to wear a Polish costume.
Please share the attached flyer and we ask you to attend with your friends and family to give thanks celebrating the many blessings we have. We want to provide an opportunity for everyone to learn more about our Polish culture and traditions honoring the courage and leadership of our ancestors. There is no doubt our ancestors instilled in each of us the importance of faith, family and friends! God bless!
Dziękuję bardzo!
Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz
P.S. On this day, let’s be proud to be Polish and if you are not Polish, we can all be Polish on this day!! Just like St. Patrick’s Day, we are all Irish on this day!!!
