Polish church's survival an underdog tale

Parishioners' tenacity triumphs as church reopens on Sunday
By Paul Grondahl
Saturday, March 31, 2012

Excerpt:
St. Stan's is an underdog's tale.

On Sunday, working-class parishioners who battled the powerful Diocese of Springfield and overturned its closure decree on appeal to the Vatican will carry palms fashioned into crosses. They will enter the church in a joyous procession as part of the Roman Catholic feast day that marks the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. They will usher in Holy Week, the most important clutch of days on the Christian calendar, which culminates in Christ's crucifixion on Good Friday and resurrection on Easter.

Palm Sunday's spiritual symbolism is rich, but the secular backstory to this tenacious bunch of Polish-American septuagenarians and octogenarians who won a hard-fought victory to save their church is every bit as poignant.

As the months and years of their around-the-clock vigil inside the church ground on, four of their stalwart members died from complications of old age. They mourned the losses and prayed for the repose of their souls. Yet they refused to surrender their beloved church. the rest

She drafted a nephew, 66-year-old Joseph Rysz, a burly retired state forester who took the overnight shift and camped out in a sleeping bag for three years.

"This was the most meaningful thing I've done," Rysz said. "I came to believe in divine mercy. It all finally made sense to me once I put my faith and trust in Jesus."