[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16331]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     RECOGNIZING HOLY ROSARY CHURCH

 Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise to honor the Holy Rosary 
Church of Baltimore as it marks its 125th anniversary.
  Holy Rosary Church was consecrated on December 8, 1887. From the 
beginning, the church provided a spiritual home for new Americans who 
emigrated from Poland. My own family were parishioners from the 
beginning. The church was the center of the community. It was the 
school. It is where new Americans came to practice their faith in their 
new home. While facing all the challenges of life in a new country, 
Holy Rosary provided a place of comfort and spiritual guidance. The 
Church provided a place to practice the beloved traditions of their 
Catholic faith. It became one of the largest Polish parishes in 
Baltimore. Its priests were beloved in the community. The church also 
had a parochial school staffed by the beloved Felician nuns. They not 
only taught the three R's--religion, reading, writing--they helped 
young people get on the path of citizenship. They were a bridge between 
the old world and the new.
  My great-grandmother was one of those immigrants who worshiped at 
Holy Rosary. Like so many, she came with little money in her 
pocketbook, but big dreams in her heart for a new and better life. And 
that life was nurtured by the Polish American community at Holy Rosary 
parish. In the 1920s and 1930s, Holy Rosary parish was the largest of 
six Polish parishes in Baltimore and the largest in the Archdiocese. 
Over time, my family continued to attend Holy Rosary Church. My parents 
were married there.
  Holy Rosary Church played a part in Baltimore's history. It is where 
we prayed through two World Wars and the Great Depression. It is where 
we prayed that the Iron Curtain would be lifted and Poland would be 
liberated. It is where we organized to help the Solidarity movement. It 
is where we welcomed Pope John Paul II to Holy Rosary when he was the 
Bishop of Krakow. That was the first time I met the Holy Father.
  Holy Rosary was also where a stunning miracle occurred. It was where 
the Vatican recognized the healing of Fr. Ronald Pytel as a miracle 
through the intercession of Blessed Faustina Kowalska, one of the 
miracles that led to her canonization in 2000.
  Today I honor the past, celebrate the present and have high hopes for 
the future of Holy Rosary parish. The members continue to live their 
faith of charity and hope. One hundred and twenty-five years ago the 
people of Holy Rosary came together to forge a parish community 
anchored on the beliefs of Roman Catholicism and the values of hard 
work, neighbor-helping-neighbor and patriotism.

                          ____________________