Another Missionary Oblate celebrating his priesthood jubilee this month is Fr. Jan Wądołowski OMI. Born in 1949 in Targonie-Krytuły near Łomża, Fr. Jan was ordained a priest on June 17th, 1979 in Obra at the hands of Bishop Tadeusz Etter of Poznań.

As for many Oblates at the time, Fr. Jan's path to the priesthood led through Markowice. Fr. Jan recalls it this way:

"In my region, where I was born, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate were not known. After elementary school, I planned to go to the Minor Seminary. In 1963, I sent documents to the Minor Seminary (NSD) of the Capuchin Brothers in Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą. The Capuchin Brothers are in Łomża, so they were familiar to me. I was admitted to their Minor Seminary, but at the end of August of that year this seminary was closed. I received a reply that they could not accept me and that I should look for another seminary.  I found out that a friend from a nearby village was in the Minor Seminary. I decided to find out something about it. He gave me the address to Markowice near Inowroclaw and told me the name of the Congregation - Missionaries Oblates of Mary Immaculate. I wrote a letter, sent the documents and after the preliminary exam I was accepted".

Why did Fr. Jan decide to become a Missionary Oblate and not, for example, a Capuchin Brother, whom he knew from his hometown?

"I learned that the Oblates are a Missionary Congregation. From a young age, my desire was to go the Holy Missions to distant countries. I also liked to pray. After I was ordained a priest, I served for one year as an associate pastor in the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Katowice. Then I received an obedience to Madagascar, where I was for 10 years (1980-1990). Due to attacks of malaria disease, I decided to leave Madagascar. In 1990, I arrived in Canada and was accepted into the Assumption Province. Since then I have been ministering on Canadian soil".

45 years of priestly life is sometimes more than the entire life of many young Oblates. What advice would you give, to us young priests, to also persevere to these Jubilees?

"The first place in my priestly life is prayer. Prayer, prayer and more prayer ... This is the remedy for all difficulties in priestly and religious life. "Through Mary to Jesus," so said Fr. Antoni Matura OMI, Superior of the Minor Seminary in Markowice at my time. Mary Immaculate and the prayer of the rosary, is the way to her Son the Lord Jesus".

(text: TJ/DJ; Fr. Jan Wądołowski OMI; photos: Fr. John's private album, courtesy of St. Stanislaus Parish in Hamilton)

Ordination mass June 17th, 1979, Obra, Poland.

Perpetual Vows, Obra, Poland.

45th Anniversary Mass, Hamilton, ON.