Marian Helper • Spring 2026 • Marian.org 3 Father Joseph Writes Among the many people who attended the congress was Archbishop (now Blessed) George Matulaitis. Blessed George was already well-acquainted with the U.S. and the religious-friendly principles upon which she had been established. In his work of renovating and saving the Marians, Bl. George looked to the U.S. and the freedoms that she provided as a safe place where the Marian Fathers could expand and more easily live out their mission, unhindered by any anti-religious government pressures. When he returned to Chicago for his second visit in 1926, the community in America had steadily grown to 25 members. But little could Bl. George have know how much his decision to expand westward was going to have on the history of the universal Church. For in 1939 another Marian from Eastern Europe would look to the United States as a place of refuge. It was Fr. Joseph Jarzebowski, MIC, a Marian priest from Poland, who sought to escape the tyranny of the Nazis and the Soviet Communists. While prayerfully trusting in Divine Mercy, Fr. Jarzebowksi made a vow to God that if he was able to make it to our shores he would promise to spread the Divine Mercy message and devotion for the rest of his life. Providentially, he would arrive safely at the Marian House in Washington, D.C. where those Marians agreed to help him to fulfill his promise to the Merciful Savior. Years later, it would be Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC — who played a decisive role in the canonization of St. Faustina and in the establishment of the Feast of Divine Mercy Sunday — along with other Marians from the U.S. who were instrumental in bringing the Divine Mercy message into the mainstream of the Church’s devotional life. We see how important the U.S. has been to the development of the Marian Fathers and to their eventual work of spreading the message and devotion to the Divine Mercy. Think of all the souls who have especially been touched and converted by learning the truth about God’s unfathomable mercy or who have been drawn closer to Jesus by learning about the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary. By God’s providence, the U.S. has played an indispensable role in all of it. In light of this and since we will be celebrating the 250th birthday of the U.S. this year, we decided the theme for Divine Mercy Sunday will be “USA 250: One Nation Under God’s Mercy.” We appreciate that all the blessings of our great country have come from God’s unfathomable mercy. But because we are a nation made up of sinners, we also still need to recognize where we — as a country — fall short in serving Him so that we can repent and change as a country. For God and not military might nor economic power is the true protector and sustainer of a nation. God withdrew His protection and chastised the Israelites because they sinned and turned away from Him to the worship of idols. Unfortunately, there is a lot of idol worshipping occurring in our land today. So as we look toward Divine Mercy Sunday and our nation’s 250th birthday, we can reflect that, in these times, we don’t just need to be one nation under God, but more specifically one nation under God’s Mercy. UNDER GOD’S MERCY “Father Joseph, MIC,” is the honorary title of the director of the Association of Marian Helpers, currently Fr. Mark Baron, MIC. Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet live with Fr. Mark every Friday at 3 p.m. ET on Instagram, Facebook, and DivineMercyPlus.org. In June 1926 the city of Chicago hosted the 28th International Eucharistic Congress. Even with a strong Protestant culture already in place, this event — where more than 850,000 people came together for the closing Mass — really highlighted how large and well-organized the Catholic community had grown in the United States. Blessed George Matulaitis
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