There has been no mistaking the sense of spiritual solidarity of the Polish communities of the Trenton Diocese in the days since the tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of Polish President Lech Kaczysnki, his wife Maria and 94 others April 10.

From impromptu candlelight vigils, to the spontaneous cancellation of gala spring events, to memorial Masses, Polish Americans – whether newly arrived or descendants of earlier waves of immigration – have joined together at area parishes for prayer, consolation and commiseration.

Their immediate reaction to turn to the Church was no surprise to a leader of the large Polish community of Lakewood. “It’s pretty automatic in the Polish community to turn to the Church in a time of sorrow,” said Caesar T. Gaza.

Gaza, who has been deeply involved in numerous Polish organizations since his discharge from the Army Air Force at the end of World War II, was one of nearly 300 parishioners at a Polish language memorial Mass in St. Mary of the Lake Church, Lakewood, celebrated by Father Marian F. Kokorzycki, himself a native of Poland.

The atmosphere at the Mass was deeply sorrowful with all eyes focusing on a small catafalque situated at the foot of the altar draped with the Polish flag and black ribbons and flanked by red roses and candles.

For those who didn’t speak Polish, the word catastrophe needed no translation as it emerged clearly time and again through the language barrier during Father Kokorzycki’s homily.

And at the conclusion of the Mass, recognition of the word by one and all settled into hugs and sad smiles.

As they departed, people left quietly, not wanting, as Kasia Pawka put it, to break the atmosphere of prayer.

“Honestly,” said Pawka, a parishioner and principal of the area’s large Polish cultural school, “there are no words that can describe the feelings of the Polish people who are experiencing such loneliness and emptiness right now.”

In the rectory later, Father Kokorzycki and Gaza spoke about the fact that those who were lost represented the flower of Polish civic and religious life and how so many had been heroes of the Solidarity movement that brought the nation its freedom from communism.

Not since World War II, indeed, not since the infamous Katyn massacre 70 years ago which the passengers on the plane were traveling to memorialize, had Poland suffered such a loss, they said.

Father Kokorzycki, upon learning the news of the crash, moved quickly to cancel a gala spring dinner dance scheduled for the night of the crash.

He said the period of mourning in Poland and in the Polish community abroad will be marked by “meditation and silence.”

“There’s a need to pay respects,” he said. “You could see that with the great outpouring in Poland,” which, both he and Gaza agreed, echoed the great respect accorded Pope John Paul II in his homeland at his death.

Both saw a terrible irony in the timing of the crash which coincided not only with the fifth anniversary of the pope’s death but the anniversary of the Katyn massacre and Divine Mercy Sunday.

The Polish community at St. Hedwig Parish, Trenton, commemorated the tragedy with an impromptu candlelight prayer vigil April 10, and then with a memorial Mass celebrated by Father Jacek Labinski, pastor, the evening of April 11.

“We had a full house” at the Mass, said Father Labinski. “The church was packed.”

One passenger on the plane that Father Labinski said he knew was a woman who was a parishioner of Christ the King Parish in West Poland, where Father Labinski was assigned during his early years of priesthood.

The woman, who was 82 years old, and her grandson were traveling for the first time to visit and pray at the grave of her father who was killed by the Communist regime.

“They never made it,” said Father Labinski, “What a tragedy.”

Though the people of St. Hedwig Parish are united in prayerful solidarity with their brethren in Poland, Father Labinski reminded his parishioners that “now during the Easter season, we pray and hope that the resurrected Jesus will keep them and their families in his care.”

Longtime parishioner Paul Bosse was especially saddened to hear about the death of Archbishop Tadeusz Ploski, Poland’s military archbishop who held the rank of division general.

“I knew him personally,” said Bosse, recounting the years he served as first vice president for the American Council for Polish Culture.

“This is a very tragic thing for the people of Poland and of the world because the current administration was doing a super job in helping Poland to revive after 50 years of communism,” Bosse said.