On Sunday, September 11, 2022 at the Polish National Shrine on Kahlenberg in Vienna, the faithful from Austria and Poland celebrated the 339th anniversary of battle of Vienna and the 39th anniversary of the John Paul II presence on Kahlenberg, patron of the Polish diaspora in Austria.
The Holy Mass was celebrated by Bishop Piotr Turzynski delegate of the Polish Episcopate for the pastoral care of Polish emigration.
His Homily
Venerable brothers in the priesthood! Dear representatives of the authorities of Austria and Poland!
Gentlemen and Ladies Officers, Dear scouts and Dear highlanders!
Beloved in Christ, Sisters and Brothers!
The Word of God always gives us the wisdom we need to live by. Similarly, history teaches us wisdom. So let’s read God’s Word and learn from it.
In the first reading we hear of Moses coming down from the mountain and seeing a nation that has made an idol for them. God wants to reject the infidels. And, Moses feels a RESPONSIBILITY for the people; he intercedes for Israel to God. Responsibility for others is a sign of nobility of heart. Let’s add to this word – responsibility – another one that sounded on the Polish soil – this is the word – Solidarity. Moses is part of this people. That is why he feels responsibility. With them, he made a covenant with God. Today we are celebrating another anniversary of the Battle of Vienna. King Polish Jan III Sobieski assumes responsibility for Poland, for Europe, for faith. He is in solidarity with Christian Europe. He wants to oppose evil, defend civilization and Christian roots. King Jan III Sobieski had a sense of the importance of the matter and mission. According to witnesses, he said to the soldiers:
“The same enemy whom we beat at Chocim is standing in front of us. We are in a foreign country, but we are fighting not for a foreign cause. We are fighting for our Homeland and for Christianity, we are fighting not for the emperor, but for God.”
From Moses and from King Jan III Sobieski we must learn responsibility for the good, for values, for Poland, Europe and the Church. Today we sang Psalm 51. King David, after his sin, asks for God’s mercy and asks for it that God has renewed the strength of the spirit in him. “And, renew in me the power of the spirit.”
There is the power of the spirit. In addition to the tangible, measurable world, there is also the invisible world, the world of the spirit. There is a courage that allows us to sacrifice ourselves, to persevere in difficulties. How many times have our compatriots shown power and fortitude?
Remembering the Battle of Vienna, we think of the bravery of the knights who stood up to fight. The country was devastated by the flood, and yet, according to historians, it was able to field 27,000 troops in the Crown and 11,000 in Lithuania.
It is God’s Word and history from 339 years ago that teaches us the power of the spirit.
From the second reading today, let us extract the truth about GRACE.
Paul, in his First Letter to Timothy, says that from a persecutor, a slanderer, he became a Servant of God, and grace did so. “And the grace of our Lord has proved to be abundant, together with the faith and love that is in Christ Jesus.” It is God who is the first cause of all good, it is He who blesses.
Description of the Battle of Vienna from the diary of Prince Jakub Sobieski:
“Each of the princes hastened to fulfill his duty. The king thought that the victory should be attributed not to men, but to the Lord; wanting it to come from his hand, he went to the chapel to ask God for the happy course of the matter that was about to begin. After listening to the Holy Mass, he was full of hope that after such a good beginning there would be a successful end.”
At four o’clock in the morning, the king had an altar made in the burnt Camaldolese church, where Father Marko d’Aviano, a Capuchin, celebrated Mass. The king himself served for this Mass, who, while praying, almost constantly kept his hands raised and then he received the communion – from the account of Filip Dupont, an artillery engineer at Sobieski.
In the night after the victory, King Jan III Sobieski wrote to Pope Innocent XI the well-known words: Venimus vidimus Deuc vicit.
To his wife Marysieńka he wrote:
“God and our Lord forever blessed gave victory and fame to our nation about which the past centuries have not heard.”
The king had a great devotion to MARY
Sobieski led a prayer campaign. He was in Częstochowa and prayed in front of the Image of the Black Madonna, he took a copy with him. In Krakow, he visited the most important churches in procession. And Bl. Pope Innocent XI, in memory of the victory, instituted the feast of the Name of Mary and ordered it to be celebrated every Sunday falling in the octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
We must remember that God is the first. He is the source of goodness.
To our friends in Austria, I would like to remind them to whom they owe their freedom. A great miracle was the exit of the Russian army from Austria in 1955 after 10 years of occupation. It is not a diplomatic effort, not a military force, but a prayer to Mary, Our Lady of Fatima.
Chancellor Raab claimed that the man who did the most to save Austria’s territorial integrity and liberate it from foreign troops was the Franciscan friar Petrus Pavlicek. In 1947 he founded the Penitential Rosary Crusade, the aim of which was to put into practice the message that Our Lady gave to three Portuguese shepherd children in 1917 in Fatima.
Today’s Gospel speaks of a Shepherd who remembers the lost sheep, does not calculate, but he cannot leave it. He is on the side of GOOD.
Similarly, a woman who is looking for a lost drachma. And, finally, the merciful Father, who waits for his son and knows how to rejoice in him when he returns.
All this teaches us not to underestimate the good, to take a risk in defense of the good, to seek the good and to enjoy it. It is worth it and we must recognize the good.
SEEKING THE GOOD TO ENJOY THE GOOD (prodigal son)
For King Jan III Sobieski this good was Poland, Europe, Christianity, faith. Christianity, the Church, faith.
Pope JPII said at this place:
“We wish to express our greatest gratitude to Almighty God for having given our Fathers fortitude and power. Here in Vienna, we would like to honor the memory of King Jan III Sobieski for defending the homeland that was threatened at that time. For the fact that when faced with mortal danger, Europe, the Church, Christian culture – stood up to defend them.”
The Word of God and history teach us wisdom that we must assume responsibility for people, for the Homeland, for the Church. It is necessary to stand on the side of good, to show the power of the spirit and to remember that God is the first in the good and He wins.
Amen.
