To Honor the Institution on Our Lenten Journey

This year on March 8, 2026, the Second Sunday of March, the Polish National Catholic Church takes a pause in the series of Lenten Sundays to celebrate the Solemnity of the Institution of the Polish National Catholic Church.  There are some who say that to celebrate it in this way is a distraction, because there is a pause in the solemnness of the Lenten season to celebrate this day, which certainly has a joyful note to it.  Others note that it is important that we continue to remember this day, which did fall during the second week of March to commemorate what God has accomplished in the organization of the Polish National Catholic Church.

To look at the argument concerning the progression of the Lenten season.  There are in fact other days which break the solemnness of the Lenten season with some celebration.  On March 19, the Church honors the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and on March 25 we honor the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as well.  Since this last celebration can fall within Holy Week, it is then moved to the day after the Second Sunday of Easter. Holy Week is too solemn a time to have this celebration intervene.

In the same way, the Solemnity of the Institution is suppressed in any year when it would fall on the First Sunday of Lent or on Passion Sunday, the Fifth Sunday of Lent.  Lent as a season is certainly of great importance, and it must get off to the right start on the Ash Wednesday and the First Sunday, and likewise as we approach Passiontide, the last two weeks of Lent, we must be singularly focused on the Passion of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  In both these cases, the Solemnity of the Institution is only commemorated on the Lenten Sunday.

All this being said, there is certainly an aspect of the Solemnity of the Institution that fits well with the Lenten journey.  Since the celebration is within our Lenten journey it would certainly be appropriate to consider the Lenten aspects of this celebration.

During that Holy Mass we hear the Gospel from the 15^th chapter of John.  Jesus says, I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinegrower.  He removes every branch in Me that bears no fruit.  Every branch that bears fruit He prunes to make it bear more fruit.  You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me as I abide in you.  Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches.  Those who abide in Me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from Me you can do nothing.  Whoever does not abide in Me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become My disciples. (John 15:1-8)

We see here the importance of remaining with and joining our own lives to that of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We are to abide in Him, and also with this is expressed the goal, that we bear much fruit.  Our relationship with our Lord is to be directed outward to others, not inwardly for ourselves.  This is certainly one of the pillars of the Lenten season, charity or love.  It is important too that we acknowledge that the love we speak of here is not just a feeling, it is rather charity, the love which shows itself in action.

We also see within this reading that our Lord speaks about the action of Penance.  He tells us, “Every branch that bears fruit God prunes to make it bear more fruit.”  There are a number of aspects to this pruning.  It is the action of taking away the barren parts of a branch, so that the sap is not wasted on a part that will not bear fruit.  But there is another aspect as well.  It is the trimming back even the fruit bearing parts so that more fruit will come forth.  This too reminds us of the Lenten actions of fasting and doing penitential acts.  Within our action of fasting, we deny ourselves something which, of itself, is good, for something greater. 

If we would go a little further in the Gospel of Saint John, we hear our Lord tells His disciples, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  You are My friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:12-14)  Again here we remind ourselves that the word for love is the Greek word, agape, which might be translated as “all self-sacrificing love.”  Jesus here invites us to join Him in His Passion, offering our own lives for the service of others.

The main theme of Lent is the Passion and Death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, and during this season we strive to grow closer to our Lord and His Passion.  As we celebrate throughout the Lenten season, this is accomplished in devotions like the Stations of the Cross or Bitter Lamentations.  But there is also the way in which it is accomplished on a daily basis within the life of the Church. 

This is what we honor and celebrate within the Solemnity of the Institution of the Polish National Catholic Church.  Yes, the celebration is a cause for joy, as we call to mind what was accomplished in the organization of the Polish National Catholic Church, but we also must honor the fact that the heritage of the Church has now been placed within our own hands.  Within the Church, then we must strive to grow ever closer to the life of Jesus Christ, Who is within our midst.  We must strive to offer our own lives to Christ and for each other.  We must discipline ourselves to live in union with Christ and join our lives together, within God’s Holy Church, to build the Kingdom of God.

Yes, the Solemnity of the Institution is certainly a cause for joy when we look to the past.  But for today, we unite this celebration with our Lenten journey, so that by disciplining our lives, with prayer, with fasting, with giving, with charity, with active love, we may continue to join our lives to Christ and with His Passion.  So strive to truly be the body of Christ in the World today.  As St. Paul tells us, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:12)  “And now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)  Saint Paul then tells us that all this is accomplished in love, active love.  “But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into Him Who is the head, into Christ, from Whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:15-16)