Brother Augustyn Zeytz
History of Our Blessed Lady of Czestochowa Parish, Blossburg, PA.
by JOSEPH MAJCHRZAK
![[Zeytz picture]](Zeytz_01.JPG)
Our Blessed Lady of Czestochowa, Polish speaking Catholic parish of Blossburg, Penna., owes its foundation to the wisdom
and the great devotion to the Catholic
faith of the Venerable Brother Augustine
Zeytz, and the fervent desire and yearning
for a place where they could seek God and
his Blessed Mother in their own beautiful
Polish manner of the small number of Polish
immigrants.
Blossburg was at that time commonly acknowledged as the center of all activities of the upper Tioga Valley coal basin, which included the adjoining towns of Morris Run, Arnot, Fall-Brook, Landrus, Morris, Hoytville, Antrim, and Covington.
The Venerable Brother Zeytz, the son of the Humble St. Francis of Assisi, a Friar of the Third Order of St. Francis, was exiled from Germany during the religious persecution of 1860. This noble Brother, laboring in the coal mines at Morris Run, Penna., was found there by the Polish immigrants about the year of 1870. His firm faith, his intense love of God and Apostolic zeal, soon won for him the love, respect, and confidence of his associates.
Recognizing their unfaltering loyalty to the Catholic faith and their Polish customs, the divine heritage was by them prized above anything and also their yearning for their own Catholic Church in which they could pray in their native language and their Polish pious songs.
Realizing the pressing need of preserving the Eternal Truth of the Catholic Church and their Polish customs, the good Brother undertook the difficult but satisfying work.
The early Polish settlers satisfied their religious obligation by assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of Mass on Sundays at the St. Andrew's "English speaking" Catholic Church, the only one in Blossburg, Penna.i after which they would assemble at the humble home of the Venerable Brother Zeytz and other homes of the earthy Polish settlers to hear from the good Brother the words of divine wisdom. In the course of their meetings there was also pious and prayerful exercises which kept alive that strong spirit of Catholic faith.
In the earthy 1870's, the Rev. Strupinski from Shenandoah, Penna., and later the Rev. K. Kozlowski from Cincinnati, Ohio, came here many times to administer the wants and needs, spiritually, of the Polish people, and to assist the good Brother Zeytz in his difficult work of founding Our Lady of Czestochowa Church in Blossburg, Penna.
In the year of 1873, the good Brother Zeytz, in the presence of the Rev. K. KozIowski, organized the first Polish society under the protection of Our Lady of Czestochowa for the purpose of raising funds for the foundation and erection of the church. The first offerings were made by the following:
Venerable Brother Augustine Zeytz, $5.00; Rev. K. Kozlowski, $5.00; Mr. Joseph Bejrna, $5.00; Mr. John Bejtka, $5.00. The 15th day of March, 1874, representative of the Polish settlers of Tioga County, Penna., waited upon the Rt. Rev. William 0'Hara, the then presiding Bishop of Scranton Diocese, to request his Lordship to form a Polish speaking Catholic congregation, and erect a church at Blossburg, Penna. This permission was readily and cheerfully granted by the Bishop.
With the greatest confidence in God and Our Lady of Czestochowa, the Polish settlers of Tioga County purchased a plot of land on which was erected the first parish building so arranged that it was utilized as a chapel and rectory.
The Venerable Brother Zeytz was called to Pulaski, Wisconsin, where a plot of ground was offered upon which the good Brother established a Polish speaking Church. Later the present Franciscan Monastery was erected on the very site, from where the Holy and good work of the Order has been extended to other state.
The blessed and good work began by the Venerable Brother Zeytz and the small number of Polish pioneers to instill and preserve the eternal truth of the Catholic Church among the Polish immigrants was accepted and faithfully and successfully carried on by succeeding pastors appointed by the Bishop's Office at the Scranton Diocese, and the splendid and devoted cooperation of all the Polish settlers until the present year of 1949 A. D.
Pastors of Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish:
Rev. Anthony Klawiter 1874-1875
Rev. Bonaventuro Gramlewicz 1875-1878
Rev. Lawrence Spryszynski 1878-1885
Rev. Theophilus Klonowski 1885-1893
Rev. Stanislaus Siedlecki 1893-1898
Rev. B. Dembinski 1898-1902
Rev. B. Iwanowski 1902-1906
Rev. Adam Loppato 1906-1907
Rev. John Kubacki 1907-1910
Rev. John Orlowski 1910-1921
Rev. Martin Stankiewicz 1921-1925
Rev. Francis Dominiak 1925-1927
Rev. Joseph Pilny 1927-1928
Rev. L. Bobek 1928-1930
Rev. John Suchos 1930-1938
Rev. Francis Kurkowski 1938-1942
Rev. Stanislaus Gajewski 1942-1942
Rev. Edward Makowski 1942-
From: Our Blessed Lady of Czestochowa Parish, Blossburg, PA; Diamond Anniversary Jubilee Book 1874-1949