Memorial of Blessed Michael Sopocko
Father Michael Sopoćko, the Confessor and Spiritual Director of Saint Sister Faustina, was personally involved in the mystery of the revelations of the Merciful Jesus. God assigned to him the very important role of fulfilling the mission given to Sister Faustina. Father Sopoćko dedicated almost his entire life to this work.
In June 1933, Fr. Michael Sopoćko met Sister Faustina Kowalska for the first time. It was in Vilnius, where he was the regular confessor of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady ofMercy. “At the very beginning she told me that she knew me because of a vision. She also toldme that I was to be her spiritual director, whowas to fulfill some of God’s plans which were tobe conveyed by her” – he recalled years later. Father Sopoćko was Sister Faustina’s confessor and spiritual director till March 21,1936, that is, till she left Vilnius. Later he corresponded with her many times and, in thisway, he gave her advice and directions for her spiritual life and the fulfillment of the mission, while he was in Krakow, he visited her in the convent or in the hospital in Prądnik. At his request, Sister Faustina started to write the Diary. He was the person who took care of painting the first image of the Merciful Jesus inVilnius in 1934 and of the public veneration, which took place during the celebrations of theJubilee Year of the Redemption on April 26 -28,1935 in Ostra Brama (the “Dawn Gate”). Still before World War II he made efforts to get the Church authorities to institute the Feast of Divine Mercy. He wrote a number of works on the truth of the Divine Mercy. Until the end of his life he strove for the institution of the feast and approval of the Divine Mercy Devotion.
Father Michael Sopoćko was born in Juszewszczyzna, in Oszmiański district, onNovember 01, 1888. In 1910 he entered the Seminary in Vilnius. In 1914 he was ordained and for four years he worked as a curate in Taboryszki. From 1919 to 1924 he was achaplain in the army in Warsaw and, at the same time, he did specialty studies at the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Theology andat the Institute of Education. In 1924 he wasmoved to Vilnius, where, until 1932, he servedas a chaplain in the army. Since 1928 he worked as an Assistant Professor in Pastoral Theology at the Faculty of Theology of StefanBatory University. From 1927 to 1932 he servedas a spiritual director in the Vilnius Seminary. In 1947 he came to Białystok and from that timetill 1962 he gave lectures in the Seminary. It is astonishing how diverse his ministry was: he was a parish priest, a religious education teacher, he organized educational courses, served as a teacher, a lecturer in theUniversity and the Seminary, a spiritual director, a confessor of seminarians, priests, and nuns. He was also a chaplain in the army, an activist who promoted sobriety and a builderof churches.
He died in Białystok on February 15, 1975. In 1987 the diocesan process towards thebeatification of Fr. Sopoćko was inaugurated andin 1993 the acts of the case were handed over to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints inRome. In 2004 Saint John Paul II promulgated a decree on the heroic virtues of the Servant of God and then a decree regarding a miracle attributed to his intercession. He was beatified in Białystok on September 28, 2008 and his relics repose in the Divine Mercy church in Białystok, which has been raised to the rank of a diocesan sanctuary. The Liturgical Memorial of Blessed Michael is celebrated on February 15 on the day of his birth in heaven.
From the Diary of Saint Faustina:
“He is a priest after My own Heart;
his efforts are pleasing to Me (...)
Through him it pleases Me to proclaim
the worship of My Mercy” (Diary, 1256).
“As a result of his efforts,
a new light will shine in the Church of God
for the consolation of souls” (Diary, 1390).
Write that by day and by night My gaze is fixed upon him,
and I permit these adversities in order to increase his merit.
I do not reward for good results but for the patience
and hardship undergone for My sake” (Diary, 86).
"There will be as many crowns to form his crown,
as there will be souls saved by this work" (Diary, 90).
God’s Servant Father Michael Sopocko wrote in His Diary: “There are the truths which are known and often heard and spoken but not understandable. It was like that with me, concerning the truth of Divine Mercy. So many times, I mentioned about this truth in my sermons, I thought about it during the retreats. I repeated it in the church prayers – especially in Psalms – but I did not understand the meaning of this truth, and I did not get to the core of its essence, that it is the highest attribute of God’s outside activity. Just as it was necessary that a simple nun Sister Faustina from the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, who was led by intuition, told me, briefly and often repeated it, stimulating me to exam, study and think often about this truth.(...)in the beginning I didn’t know what was the problem, I listened, I distrusted, I thought, I studied, I sought other’s advice – not until after several years I understood the importance of this work, the greatness of this idea.
I became convinced myself about the effectiveness of this old, but neglected and demanded in our times the renewal, the huge life-giving cult. (...) The trust in God’s Mercy, the spreading of the cult of this mercy among the others, and the boundless sacrifice of all self-thoughts, words and deeds to it, without the shadow of self-seeking, will be the general principle of the rest of my life, with the help of this immeasurable mercy” (Fr. M. Sopocko, Diary).
Until Tomorrow
fr. george