JMJ

Dear Devotees of Saint Andrew Bobola, Patron of Poland, America, and the Whole World

In the small town of Dudley, Massachusetts, Saint Andrew Bobola saved his only parish in the USA from closure through miraculous signs, healings, and material intervention. He elevated the church to the status of sanctuary in the Jubilee Year on May 2, 2025.

The First Church of St. Andrew Bobola in America.

The history of the church in Dudley is very rich. In 1954, the famous Jesuit Fr. Louis Gallagher, brought first-class relics to the only St. Andrew Bobola Church in the United States. He was nicknamed the “American Cossack” because he saved St. Andrew’s relics from the Soviet Russians.

The American people played a major role in the recovery of the relics of then Bl. Andrew Bobola in 1923. Thanks to the efforts of Pope Pius XI, two American Jesuits, Fr. Edmund Walsh and Fr. Louis Gallagher went on a papal mission to Moscow to recover the relics of the greatest martyr in the history of the Catholic Church. Fr. Gallagher, was acquainted with the pastor of St. Joseph's Parish in Webster, Massachusetts, Monsignor Andrzej Lekarczyk, who at the time was building a new church in Dudley. Fr. Gallagher convinced him to make St. Andrew Bobola the patron saint of the church. After the church was completed, Fr. Gallagher was invited to Dudley by Bishop John Wright, Ordinary of the Diocese of Worcester, for the consecration of the first St. Andrew Bobola Church in America on February 21, 1954.

Thanks to his efforts, the relics of St. Andrew Bobola, hand-carved altars, and a statue of the parish patron saint made by renowned sculptors working for the Vatican, were brought to this church.

Encyclical of Pope Pius XII on St. Andrew Bobola, “The Invincible Athlete of Christ”

Pope Pius XII, seeking support from Heaven during a period of increasing persecution of the Church in Europe, decided to write an encyclical about St. Andrew Bobola, INVICTI ATHLETAE CHRISTI, which he proclaimed on May 16, 1957, the 300th anniversary of his martyrdom. The Pope gave St. Andrew Bobola to all Christians as an example to follow in preserving the Catholic faith during times of persecution. Based on this encyclical, we can call St. Andrew the Patron Saint of the whole world.

The Miracles of St. Andrew Bobola in America

It is extraordinary and admirable how St. Andrew Bobola runs his only parish in the USA! He continues to show signs and confirm with new miracles that he is indeed present here, interceding graces for those who pray by his relics. First, through a miracle in Chicago, he gave a sign that his only church in America is located in Dudley. Then, he confirmed the will to establish a sanctuary in Dudley through the miracle of healing a parishioner from colon cancer during the first Novena. A few months after the sanctuary was established, he performed three more miracles: the healing of an American woman from brain cancer, the healing of a Polish woman from lung cancer, and the healing of a 12-year-old Polish girl from a blood clotting disorder. This is only the beginning of St. Andrew's miracles in America, as I wrote in the appendix to Fr. Józef Niżnik's new book, St. Andrew Bobola Appears After Death, published in the USA in both Polish and English. St. Andrew Bobola performs miracles because he wants to lead us to God. He wants to be known and loved not only by Poles and Americans, but he also wants to be the patron saint of the whole world. He wants to help Christians in these difficult times.

The Shrine in Dudley is a Spiritual Beacon for Believers in America

The presence of the relics of St. Andrew Bobola in his only sanctuary in America is a sign of God's Providence for Christians living here. It has become a spiritual beacon for the development of their faith and its courageous profession in times of difficult challenges and persecution. He continues to manifest himself and remind us of himself through signs and wonders now in America. He says, “Begin to honor me, and I will help you!” Let us pray that this shrine in Dudley will become a stronghold of faith, source of spiritual growth, and evangelical action for Christians concerned with preserving their faith amid the many storms of different ideologies that are sweeping across the world.

I invite you to visit this new shrine and pay homage to St. Andrew Bobola in a spirit of thanksgiving and prayer for Poland and the United States.

I sincerely thank all devotees of St. Andrew Bobola for their help in spreading the devotion of the Patron Saint of Christian Unity, and people of good will for their prayerful and material support of this great work, which was created for the glory of God. I commend you all in my prayers and ask St. Andrew Bobola to intercede for God's graces.

With Christ's Blessing

Fr. Krzysztof Korcz

Custodian of the Shrine of St. Andrew Bobola in Dudley

The Shrine in Dudley is an Expression of St. Andrew Bobola's Gratitude to America

The presence of the relics of St. Andrew Bobola at the Shrine in Dudley is a gift to America and all Catholics living on this land. St. Andrew wanted to repay Americans, so he came here to help and inspire them to act courageously in professing their faith and passing it on to the next generation. The Jubilee Year was a year of grace for the entire Catholic Church, especially for the Church in America, with the election of Pope Leo XIV and the establishment three days later in Dudley of the first Shrine of St. Andrew Bobola, Patron Saint of Christian Unity and Pioneer of Evangelization. St. Andrew Bobola, called the “Soul Catcher,” established this new shrine on American soil, wanting it to become a spiritual beacon, place of prayer, and spiritual renewal for all believers and non-believers. It is significant that in the Holy Year, the image of St. Andrew Bobola from this sanctuary was placed in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican and was blessed by the American Pope Leo XIV on June 25, 2025. The Papal Blessing received is a great gift for pilgrims coming to this sanctuary.

In this way, St. Andrew Bobola began his evangelization anew. His image began its pilgrimage to Polish parishes, visiting Christian families, and interceding for them before God. Just as in his own time, St. Andrew knocked on the doors of believers and non-believers, so today he continues to evangelize, reminding us of God's Commandments. His message and mission is currently proclaimed by Fr. Józef Niżnik, custodian of the St. Andrew Bobola Shrine in Strachocina, Poland who himself received apparitions of this magnificent saint. St. Andrew also invited him here to Dudley during the Church Jubilee to help build the spiritual foundations of his new shrine. It is very interesting what happened in Dudley years ago thanks to St. Andrew Bobola. It was he who invited Jesuit Fr. Louis Gallagher, who saved his relics, to the consecration of his church in Dudley on February 21, 1954. In the year of the elevation of this church to the rank of sanctuary on May 2, 2025, St. Andrew invited his witness to the apparitions in Strachocina, Fr. Józef Niżnik, to Dudley.

Shrine of St. Andrew Bobola

54 West Main Street Dudley, MA 01571 USA

P: 508-943-5633

E: rectory@standrewbobola.net

www.standrewbobola.com

On the website, under the tab: donate online/shrine funds, you can make a donation for the development of our shrine.

Please make checks payable to: “St. Andrew Bobola Shrine”

God bless you!

St. Andrew Bobola Shrine 

Dudley, MA

“I am St. Andrew Bobola—Begin to honor me.”