Christ, Reign over Us!

Polish editors can now begin to revise and reprint Poland’s history books. Stanislaw Poniatowski (1732-1798) is no longer the “last king of Poland”.  

On Saturday, November 19, 2016, at the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Lagiewniki, a suburb of Cracow, a crowd gathered to welcome their new monarch. Accompanied by Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, his mother, the presidents of the Diet and Senate, by members of parliament, and all of Poland’s bishops, 100 000 pilgrims took part in the “Act of Enthronement of Christ as King and Lord of Poland”.

During the ceremony, Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, president of the Bishops Conference, exclaimed: “In this extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, we Poles, we stand before Thee to acknowledge Your Reign, to submit to You, to entrust to You our country and our nation.”

On the following day, on the feast day of Christ the King of the Universe, also the last day of the Year of the Jubilee of Mercy, the same Act of Enthronement of Jesus as King and Lord of Poland was read in all the cathedrals and churches of the country.

According to the Polish Bishops Conference, this Act “is not the conclusion but rather the beginning of the Enthronement of Jesus Christ in Poland”. The bishops have stressed that this «enthronement» was a national recognition of Jesus’s sovereignty over the universe.

This Act draws its origin from the revelations received by the servant of God, Rosalia Zelkova (1901-1944), a nurse from a Cracow hospital to whom Our Lord asked, beginning in 1930, that He be officially consecrated King of the Polish nation as a whole and not only in the hearts of Poles, and this, in a special manner. This would save Poland from the war that was coming.

The meaning of those revelations may be summarized as follows: “If Poland wants to save herself, she must proclaim Jesus as her King through the Act of Enthronement. It must be carried out by the whole nation, and in particular by the state and church authorities who should conduct the ceremony on behalf of the nation. Other nations should follow the Polish example and they, also, should enthrone Jesus as their King. Any nation who would not recognize Jesus as their King should perish.”

Act of enthronement of Christ as King and Lord of Poland

O Immortal King of ages, Lord Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour! In this jubilee year of the 1050th anniversary of Poland’s Baptism, in this year of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, we Poles stand before You together with our authorities, clergy and laity to acknowledge Your reign, to submit ourselves to Your law, to entrust and consecrate to You our homeland and our entire nation.

We confess before heaven and earth that we need Your law. We acknowledge that You alone have a holy and perennial law for us. Therefore, humbly bowing our heads before You, the King of the Universe, we recognize Your dominion over Poland and our whole people living in the homeland and throughout the world.

Desirous to worship the majesty of Your power and glory, with great faith and love, we cry out to You: Christ, reign over us!

In our hearts – Christ, reign over us!

In our families – Christ, reign over us!

In our parishes – Christ, reign over us!

In our schools and universities – Christ, reign over us!

In our means of social communication – Christ, reign over us!

In our governments, in our workplaces, places of service and rest – Christ, reign over us!

In our cities and villages – Christ, reign over us!

In the whole nation and Polish State – Christ, reign over us!

We bless You and give You thanks, Lord Jesus Christ.

For the unfathomable love of Your Sacred Heart – Christ our King, we give You thanks!

For the grace of baptism and the covenant with our people over the centuries – Christ our King, we give You thanks!

For the maternal and royal presence of Mary in our history – Christ our King, we give You thanks!

For the great Mercy that You constantly extend to us – Christ our King, we give You thanks!

For Your faithfulness despite our betrayals and weaknesses – Christ our King, we give You thanks!

Conscious of our faults and abuses inflicted on Your Heart, we ask forgiveness for all our sins, and in particular for turning away from the holy Faith, for our lack of love for You and our neighbour. We ask You to forgive the social sins of our nation, all its defects, addictions and enslavement. We renounce the devil and all his works.

We humbly submit ourselves to Your Lordship and Your law. We promise to order our entire personal, family, and public lives in accordance with Your law.

We promise to defend Your holy religion and preach Your royal glory – Christ our King, we promise!

We promise to do Your will and to protect the integrity of our consciences – Christ our King, we promise!

We promise to care for the sanctity of our families and the Christian education of our children – Christ our King, we promise!

We promise to build Your Kingdom and defend it in our nation – Christ our King, we promise!

We promise to engage actively in the life of the Church and to protect her rights – Christ our King, we promise!

You, sole sovereign of States, of nations and of all creation, the King of kings and the Lord of Lords! We entrust to You the Polish state and the Polish leaders. Make all who exercise power do so with justice and govern with rectitude in accordance with Your law.

Christ our King, with confidence we entrust to Your mercy all of Poland and especially those persons who do not follow Your ways. Grant them Your grace, enlighten them through the power of the Holy Spirit, and lead us all to eternal communion with the Father.

In the name of brotherly love, we entrust to You all the nations of the world, especially those who have made Poland bear the Cross. Make them recognize You as their legitimate Lord and King and make them use the time given to them by the Father to submit voluntarily to Your lordship.

Lord Jesus Christ, King of our hearts, make our hearts like Your Sacred Heart.

Let Your Holy Spirit come to renew the face of the earth, this earth. May He sustain us so that we may fulfill the obligations that are the consequences of this national act of enthronement, protect us from evil and carry out our sanctification.

In the Immaculate Heart of Mary we place our decisions and commitments. We confide ourselves entirely to the maternal care of the Queen of Poland and the intercession of the patron saints of our native land.

Christ, reign over us! Reign over our native land, and reign over all nations for the greater glory of the Most Holy Trinity and the salvation of the human race. Make our homeland and the whole world Your Kingdom: a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace.

Glory be to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Ghost: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.