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A Freedom Within: The Prison Notes of Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski
The prison notes of the noted Polish Catholic leader offers an incisive portrait of postwar Poland, the tightening of Communist control, and the critical role of the Roman Catholic Church
355 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1982
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About the author
Stefan Wyszyński
54 books4 followersStefan Wyszyński was a Polish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of Lublin from 1946 to 1948, archbishop of Warsaw and archbishop of Gniezno from 1948 to 1981. Appointed cardinal on 12 January 1953 by Pope Pius XII, he assumed the title of Primate of Poland. Stefan Wyszyński was often called the Primate of the Millennium.
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April 24, 2020
During this period of enforced isolation because of the health threat posed by the Corona virus, I have had a chance to read books that I had wanted to read for a long time. One book that I found both inspirational and prescient is A Freedom Within – The Prison Notes of Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski (translated by Barbara Krzywicki-Herburt and Reverend Walter J. Ziemba, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, 1984). Obviously, this is not a new book, but the lessons that can be drawn today make the words of the esteemed churchman just as relevant today as when they were put to paper.
Ordained in 1924, Wyszynski obtained his doctorate in sociology and ecclesiastical law from the Catholic University of Lublin, and furthered his studies in France, Italy and Belgium. He was named a cardinal in 1952, but was prevented to travel to Rome for the formal investiture until 1957. From 1953 to 1956, he was put under house arrest, presumably for violating a pledge that the church would punish priests engaged in political activities. In 1978, he played a significant role in the election of Saint John-Paul as pope.
As Cardinal Primate of Poland, he became the conscience of Poland, and his was the voice of truth and inspiration during those dark times of communist rule. Saint John-Paul II called him the “defender of human rights and of the Church, the protagonist of so many pages of history of his country.” Lech Walęsa, leader of the Solidarity movement, said, “He impressed me more than the Holy Father – isn’t that strange?” Stewart Steven, author of The Poles, wrote, “His funeral compared with those of Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, and Charles de Gaulle in modern times.” He had been referred to as the Primate of the Millennium. Cardinal Wyszynski’s beatification is scheduled for June 7th, 2020 in Warsaw.
The aforementioned book is a result of his three-year period of incarceration. The many entries in the book give us a glimpse of his life during that time, including his exchanges with various communist officials, as well as his correspondence with his father and sister. Others take the form of prayers and petitions, and still others are reflections of his role as priest and bishop.
Cardinal Wyszynski had a lifelong devotion to the Virgin Mary. Many of the prayers and petitions he wrote during the time were directed towards our Holy Mother. The words of his prayers are beautiful, filled with humility and reverential, the utterances of man who trusts and surrenders himself totally to God. Here is only a brief excerpt. It is perhaps a good reminder that these are words of a man whose worldly freedom had been taken away from him entirely.
"I surrender myself to you, Mary, into total slavery, and as your slave I dedicate to you my flesh, my soul, my internal and external possessions, even the merit of my good deeds, past as well as present and future ones, leaving you a complete and full right to dispose of me and all that is mine as you see fit – without exception – according to your wish for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity."
There are also words of exhortation, to himself perhaps, as well as to the Church in Poland. These are words we can take to heart today, in these times of uncertainty.
"The greatest shortcoming of an apostle is fear, because it inspires doubt in the power of the Master, cramps the heart, and strangles the voice. The apostle no longer professes. Is he still an apostle? The disciples who abandoned the Master no longer professed faith in Him. They encouraged the executioners. An apostle’s fear is the primary ally of an enemy’s cause."
In his many interactions with his jailers, the various communist apparatchiks sent to “reason” with him. Many of their conversations reminded me of the exchange between Jesus and Pontius Pilate. The cardinal treated them with absolute courtesy, and yet always stood as an equal, and never gave away any of his power. The officials held all the worldly power, and yet it is patently obvious who was in charge. Yet, he reminds us, and himself, how we should treat our enemies.
"The shortest way to an internal reconciliation with those who wrong us is to remember the question posed by Christ to Judas: “My friend, for what purpose hast thou come?” Still “friend”! Christ always used a word that revealed the essence of the matter. The traitor a “friend” of the Saviour! Because the Saviour wishes to redeem the world and Judas helps Him by his treachery, he becomes an involuntary instrument in the plans of Christ, he cooperates with Him. A collaborator in the Redemption. All of our enemies, against their will, cooperate with us, and contribute to the release of divine power in us."
Throughout the period of his incarceration, Cardinal Wyszynski lived his life simply, and with dignity, never once forgetting his priestly duties. He ordered his days in thinking, writing, as well as prayer, and according to the liturgical cycle of the Church, and celebrated Mass accordingly. His meditations on the special days of the Church also offer us much food for thought, such as an excerpt from this following one on Good Friday of 1955, on his role as priest.
"Proprio Filio suo non pepercit [He did not spare His own Son]. When he forgave Abraham, taking into consideration the feelings of the faithful heart of the Father of Faith, he did not forgive His own Son, since He did not reckon with the feelings of His own Heart. God has the right to ask from his Highest Priest the ultimate sacrifice for the people, even the sacrifice of his life…It befalls us to bear the sins of the people placed in our care, befalls us to protect them, befalls us to sacrifice everything for them – even our own life."
We live in a time of great uncertainty, as well as great suffering for many people. We might feel that we are “imprisoned” at home because of the threat of the corona virus. All of us can draw many lessons and inspiration from Wyszynski’s words, words that ponder upon the real meaning of personal suffering.
"Suffering is diluted in the experience of love. Punishment ceases to be retaliation, because it is a medicine administered with fatherly gentleness. Sadness that torments the soul becomes the plowing of fallow ground for new seed. Loneliness becomes the act of gazing at You more closely."
Cardinal Wyszynski’s prison notes should serve more than just historical interest. Cardinal George Pell, who had just been released from more than four hundred days in jail, after Australia’s highest court quashed his sexual abuse conviction. It seems ironic that such a miscarriage of justice should happen in our times, and in ostensibly democratic Australia.
Moreover, for those who think that communism is dead, we should be reminded that China operates today in exactly the same way the communist rulers in Poland did, perhaps even more ruthlessly. Priests and religious are arrested, and children and young people are “discouraged” from attending church. Catholics in China sacrifice much just in order to practice their faith. We keep hearing of this very secret “deal” between Rome and the Chinese Communist Party, an accord whose chief architect was no less than the now disgraced Theodore McCarrick. While we do not yet have a towering figure like Wyszynski within the church in China, we have in our midst Cardinal Joseph Zen, who reminds the Holy See and the rest of the world constantly of the dangers of dealing with Communist China. Let us take heart and draw one last time upon the words of Cardinal Wyszynski, a man who lived through both the evils of Nazism and communism.
Mighty empires fell more quickly as they increased the intensity of their violence. Police states are violent states. In conditions such as these, only a priest can find a way to defend the citizens. This defense is not a reaction against the authorities, it is not rebellion.
Communism fell in Poland, at least partly because of the leadership and moral authority of the Church. Can we honestly say that the Church today stands with the same moral authority when faced with the Behemoth of China’s police state?
Ordained in 1924, Wyszynski obtained his doctorate in sociology and ecclesiastical law from the Catholic University of Lublin, and furthered his studies in France, Italy and Belgium. He was named a cardinal in 1952, but was prevented to travel to Rome for the formal investiture until 1957. From 1953 to 1956, he was put under house arrest, presumably for violating a pledge that the church would punish priests engaged in political activities. In 1978, he played a significant role in the election of Saint John-Paul as pope.
As Cardinal Primate of Poland, he became the conscience of Poland, and his was the voice of truth and inspiration during those dark times of communist rule. Saint John-Paul II called him the “defender of human rights and of the Church, the protagonist of so many pages of history of his country.” Lech Walęsa, leader of the Solidarity movement, said, “He impressed me more than the Holy Father – isn’t that strange?” Stewart Steven, author of The Poles, wrote, “His funeral compared with those of Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, and Charles de Gaulle in modern times.” He had been referred to as the Primate of the Millennium. Cardinal Wyszynski’s beatification is scheduled for June 7th, 2020 in Warsaw.
The aforementioned book is a result of his three-year period of incarceration. The many entries in the book give us a glimpse of his life during that time, including his exchanges with various communist officials, as well as his correspondence with his father and sister. Others take the form of prayers and petitions, and still others are reflections of his role as priest and bishop.
Cardinal Wyszynski had a lifelong devotion to the Virgin Mary. Many of the prayers and petitions he wrote during the time were directed towards our Holy Mother. The words of his prayers are beautiful, filled with humility and reverential, the utterances of man who trusts and surrenders himself totally to God. Here is only a brief excerpt. It is perhaps a good reminder that these are words of a man whose worldly freedom had been taken away from him entirely.
"I surrender myself to you, Mary, into total slavery, and as your slave I dedicate to you my flesh, my soul, my internal and external possessions, even the merit of my good deeds, past as well as present and future ones, leaving you a complete and full right to dispose of me and all that is mine as you see fit – without exception – according to your wish for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity."
There are also words of exhortation, to himself perhaps, as well as to the Church in Poland. These are words we can take to heart today, in these times of uncertainty.
"The greatest shortcoming of an apostle is fear, because it inspires doubt in the power of the Master, cramps the heart, and strangles the voice. The apostle no longer professes. Is he still an apostle? The disciples who abandoned the Master no longer professed faith in Him. They encouraged the executioners. An apostle’s fear is the primary ally of an enemy’s cause."
In his many interactions with his jailers, the various communist apparatchiks sent to “reason” with him. Many of their conversations reminded me of the exchange between Jesus and Pontius Pilate. The cardinal treated them with absolute courtesy, and yet always stood as an equal, and never gave away any of his power. The officials held all the worldly power, and yet it is patently obvious who was in charge. Yet, he reminds us, and himself, how we should treat our enemies.
"The shortest way to an internal reconciliation with those who wrong us is to remember the question posed by Christ to Judas: “My friend, for what purpose hast thou come?” Still “friend”! Christ always used a word that revealed the essence of the matter. The traitor a “friend” of the Saviour! Because the Saviour wishes to redeem the world and Judas helps Him by his treachery, he becomes an involuntary instrument in the plans of Christ, he cooperates with Him. A collaborator in the Redemption. All of our enemies, against their will, cooperate with us, and contribute to the release of divine power in us."
Throughout the period of his incarceration, Cardinal Wyszynski lived his life simply, and with dignity, never once forgetting his priestly duties. He ordered his days in thinking, writing, as well as prayer, and according to the liturgical cycle of the Church, and celebrated Mass accordingly. His meditations on the special days of the Church also offer us much food for thought, such as an excerpt from this following one on Good Friday of 1955, on his role as priest.
"Proprio Filio suo non pepercit [He did not spare His own Son]. When he forgave Abraham, taking into consideration the feelings of the faithful heart of the Father of Faith, he did not forgive His own Son, since He did not reckon with the feelings of His own Heart. God has the right to ask from his Highest Priest the ultimate sacrifice for the people, even the sacrifice of his life…It befalls us to bear the sins of the people placed in our care, befalls us to protect them, befalls us to sacrifice everything for them – even our own life."
We live in a time of great uncertainty, as well as great suffering for many people. We might feel that we are “imprisoned” at home because of the threat of the corona virus. All of us can draw many lessons and inspiration from Wyszynski’s words, words that ponder upon the real meaning of personal suffering.
"Suffering is diluted in the experience of love. Punishment ceases to be retaliation, because it is a medicine administered with fatherly gentleness. Sadness that torments the soul becomes the plowing of fallow ground for new seed. Loneliness becomes the act of gazing at You more closely."
Cardinal Wyszynski’s prison notes should serve more than just historical interest. Cardinal George Pell, who had just been released from more than four hundred days in jail, after Australia’s highest court quashed his sexual abuse conviction. It seems ironic that such a miscarriage of justice should happen in our times, and in ostensibly democratic Australia.
Moreover, for those who think that communism is dead, we should be reminded that China operates today in exactly the same way the communist rulers in Poland did, perhaps even more ruthlessly. Priests and religious are arrested, and children and young people are “discouraged” from attending church. Catholics in China sacrifice much just in order to practice their faith. We keep hearing of this very secret “deal” between Rome and the Chinese Communist Party, an accord whose chief architect was no less than the now disgraced Theodore McCarrick. While we do not yet have a towering figure like Wyszynski within the church in China, we have in our midst Cardinal Joseph Zen, who reminds the Holy See and the rest of the world constantly of the dangers of dealing with Communist China. Let us take heart and draw one last time upon the words of Cardinal Wyszynski, a man who lived through both the evils of Nazism and communism.
Mighty empires fell more quickly as they increased the intensity of their violence. Police states are violent states. In conditions such as these, only a priest can find a way to defend the citizens. This defense is not a reaction against the authorities, it is not rebellion.
Communism fell in Poland, at least partly because of the leadership and moral authority of the Church. Can we honestly say that the Church today stands with the same moral authority when faced with the Behemoth of China’s police state?
July 18, 2020
I was tempted to rate it a four because parts came across as disjointed. But I realize that's more due to the editor rather than the author.
The book details the unsuccessful dry martyrdom of the primate of Poland, Cardinal Wyszynski, by the Communists during the early to mid 1950s.
His devotion to the Virgin Mary (he was nicknamed the Marian Primate) had an impact on future Pope John Paul II, and the Polish nation as a whole. To be fair the Polish nation venerated our lady of Jasna Gora (Czestochowa) for hundreds of years before that point, but Wyszynski had a way of explaining her importance. An example of which follows (paraphrased): When God made woman out of man (Eve out of Adam's rib) it was not a success, as it quickly led to original sin. But on his second attempt, when God brought forth man out of woman (Jesus Christ out of Mary) it was such a stunning success that it led to the redemption of the world.
If nothing else this book is a very good example of how the atheistic communists tried to suppress Catholocism in Poland.
The book details the unsuccessful dry martyrdom of the primate of Poland, Cardinal Wyszynski, by the Communists during the early to mid 1950s.
His devotion to the Virgin Mary (he was nicknamed the Marian Primate) had an impact on future Pope John Paul II, and the Polish nation as a whole. To be fair the Polish nation venerated our lady of Jasna Gora (Czestochowa) for hundreds of years before that point, but Wyszynski had a way of explaining her importance. An example of which follows (paraphrased): When God made woman out of man (Eve out of Adam's rib) it was not a success, as it quickly led to original sin. But on his second attempt, when God brought forth man out of woman (Jesus Christ out of Mary) it was such a stunning success that it led to the redemption of the world.
If nothing else this book is a very good example of how the atheistic communists tried to suppress Catholocism in Poland.
May 16, 2022
Przenikliwe spostrzeżenia na temat wolności, totalitaryzmu, myślenia o religii. Warto przeczytać.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews