September 4--Bl. Martyrs of the Holy Family, Maria Stella Mardosewicz and Ten Companions

 Feast of Blessed Mary Stella & 10 Companions.

“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn. 15:12-13). The Church has venerated the martyrs from her very beginnings, starting with St. Stephen and continuing even to today. Today’s blesseds were sisters who started a convent in Nowogródek, Poland, modern Belarus. They started a school, looked after the local church, and did works of charity.

At the start of World War II, Nowogródek was occupied by Soviet, then later, Nazi forces. The Gestapo then came and arrested 120 men. The sisters prayed that they may be accepted as an offering for the men. “Mother Stella led their prayers, in which the nuns asked God: ‘If sacrifice is needed, accept it from us and spare those who have families.’” They were arrested on July 31, 1943 with the intent to execute them that night. The sisters then offered themselves in place of the men, but were denied. On August 1 they “were taken to a large pine forest where an open pit had been prepared for them. They were shot to death and immediately dumped into the mass grave.” Their bodies were exhumed in 1945.

In his beatification homily, Pope St. John Paul II stated: “We thank you, O blessed martyrs of Nowogródek, for your witness of love, for your example of Christian heroism and for your trust in the power of the Holy Spirit. ‘Christ chose and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit in your lives and that your fruit should abide’ (cf. Jn 15: 16). You are the greatest inheritance of the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth. You are the inheritance of the whole Church of Christ for ever!” Blessed martyrs, pray for us!

July 24--St. Kinga (Cunegunda), Holy Woman

Grzegorz Czarnic, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Can a woman both be married and a virgin and be dedicated to loving both husband and God? Yes! We have two excellent examples of that unique calling: Our Blessed Mother Mary and St. Kinga. St. Kinga’s story is one of devotion to God through her role as Queen of Poland. Born in Hungary in 1224 to the King of Hungary, St. Kinga had many saintly relatives. St. John Paul II, in his canonization homily said, when “she was to marry Prince Boleslaus, she convinced him to live a life of virginity for the glory of God, and after a waiting-period of two years the spouses made a vow of perpetual chastity….

“This way of life, perhaps difficult to understand nowadays, yet deeply rooted in the tradition of the early Church, gave Saint Kinga that inner freedom which enabled her to be concerned first of all with the things of the Lord and to lead a profound religious life. Today let us reconsider this great testimony. Saint Kinga teaches us that both marriage and virginity lived in union with Christ can become a path to holiness. Today Saint Kinga rises to safeguard these values. She reminds us that the value of marriage, this indissoluble union of love between two persons, cannot be brought into question under any circumstances. Whatever difficulties may arise, one may not abandon the defence of this primordial love which has united two persons and which is constantly blessed by God. Marriage is the way of holiness, even when it becomes the way of the Cross. …

“[S]he esteemed chastity and virginity, rightly seeing in this state an extraordinary gift whereby man experiences in a special way his own freedom.” We need both holy marriages to raise godly families and consecrated virgins dedicated completely to serving God.

July 7--The Blessed Ulma Family, Martyrs

The Ulma Family

The Church has beatified and canonized married couples, as well as members of the same family, but only one family has been beatified together as martyrs, the Blessed Ulma Family. Pope Francis spoke of them on the day of their beatification:

“Today in Markowa, Poland, the martyrs Józef and Wiktoria Ulma, and their seven children, were beatified: an entire family exterminated by the Nazis on 24 March 1944 for having given shelter to a number of persecuted Jews. They opposed the hatred and violence that characterized that time with evangelical love. May this Polish family, which represented a ray of light in the darkness of the Second World War, be for all of us a model to imitate in the zeal for goodness and service to those in need.…”

Jesus said: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn. 15:13). The Ulmas gave the ultimate sacrifice of love, their lives, in order to protect and save eight Jews. However, they were all denounced so that the lands of the Jewish family could be taken away. All were killed by immediate and summary execution as a sign to the Polish people to not hide Jews. The Jews were executed first, then, in front of their children, Józef and Wiktoria, who was pregnant, and finally the other six children aged eight, seven, six, four, three, and two. They were buried in front of their house, but later, relatives exhumed and reburied the bodies, including the unnamed infant boy, who was born during the execution.

This is a terrible and tragic story, except that it is not! True, the execution of both Jews and Catholics is horrific. But the love and sacrifice shown by such martyrdoms is heroic. Blessed Ulmas, pray for us!

April 16--Divine Mercy Sunday

Divine Mercy. Painting in Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Vilnius byEugeniusz Kazimirowski licensed under CC0.

"O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of Thy Mercy. Amen." (Fatima Prayer)

This message of mercy was also given to St. Faustina Kowalska by Jesus himself on the night of Sunday, February 22, 1931: "Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: 'Jesus, I trust in You' (in Polish: 'Jezu, ufam Tobie'). I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish" (Notebook I, Items 47 and 48).

Pope St. John Paul II promoted this devotion and, on the canonization of St. Faustina in 2000, promulgated the celebration of the Sunday of the Divine Mercy to be celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter. On Divine Mercy Sunday in 2001 Pope St. John Paul stated: "Jesus said to St. Faustina one day: 'Humanity will never find peace until it turns with trust to Divine Mercy'. Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the risen Christ and offers to humanity."

We are blessed to have this devotion to turn us to God's Divine Mercy. He wants us to turn from our sins and, like a loving father, throw his arms around us to shelter us in his forgiving love. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16). Pope Francis declared an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2016 to emphasize God's merciful love. We are also called to be merciful: "Be merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful" (Lk. 6:36).

December 23--St. John of Kanty, Priest and Professor

 

COLLEGIUM MAIUS W KRAKOWIE, fot. S. Woźniak (MIK, 2015) by mik Krakow under license CC BY-SA2.0

Superman's secret identity and alter-ego was Clark Kent, a mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet.  Superman got all the praise, while Clark just wrote news stories.  Well, today's saint is like both Superman and Clark Kent, but without having a secret identity or alter-ego.  

St. John of Kanty was a priest and professor of theology in Kraków, Poland in the 15th century.  He taught Sacred Scripture and was director of the theology department of the university he graduated from, which eventually became the Jagiellonian University, where St. John Paul II studied.  He would spend hours copying manuscripts on Scriptures, theology, and even physics!  He was mild-mannered in every way, thus a Clark Kent.

But he was also holy!  He was well known for his kindness, compassion, and humility, especially towards the poor and his students.  Thus, he was a model for others, a Superman, or as we call him, a SAINT!  He died on December 24, 1473, at the age of 83.  He is patron of Poland and Lithuania.

St. John of Kanty was precisely what Clark Kent/Superman was, a hero who lived an everyday, normal kind of life.  There are heroes/saints among us today; men and women who live lives of faith, hope, and charity in the events of everyday, normal life.  Who could they be?  

They could be members of your family who love, serve, and are good and kind.  They could be people we meet in the grocery store who are trying to find food to feed their families or supplies to keep their homes clean.  They could be people in the mall who are trying to find a gift as an expression of joy in knowing another child of God.  What better saint could we have this Christmas season?  St. John of Kanty, pray for us.

December 23--St. John of Kanty, Priest

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It’s Christmas! Let’s celebrate! Wait, we have two days left and today’s a saint’s feast day! But why is there a feast day right before Christmas? Let’s look at the saint and find out. Our saint is St. John of Kanty, also known as St. John Cantius, a priest, philosopher, physicist, and theologian. He was born in 1390 in Kanty, Poland, became a priest and then a professor of theology at his alma mater at what would later be called the Jagiellonian University, where St. John Paul II graduated. As a physicist, he helped develop a theory of falling objects. He made pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Rome. He died on December 24, 1473 at the age of 83. This doesn’t speak a whole lot to sainthood! 

But wait, there’s more. Sainthood is based on holiness, not on achievement! St. John Cantius became “well known in the city for his generosity and compassion toward the poor, especially needy students at the university. He subsisted on what was strictly necessary to sustain his life, giving alms regularly to the poor.” His first biographer pointed out his extreme humility and charity by citing his motto: “Beware disturbing: it’s not sweetly pleasing,/Beware speaking ill: for taking back words is burdensome.” He became a popular saint in Poland, which was transferred to America by Polish immigrants. 

So, what we have here is a man who lived his life, did his work, ministered to others, and followed Jesus in the way Jesus called him. Thus, what we have here is a disciple of Christ, a saint! Humility and charity could be our watchwords to becoming “hidden” saints, those who are not necessarily famous, but are holy in all we think, say, and do. He’s a perfect saint for two days before Christmas! Have a blessed Christmas!

By image/photo was taken by Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons user Ludwig Schneider.I would appreciate being notified if you use my work outside Wikimedia.Do not copy this image illegally by ignoring the terms of the license below, as it is not in the public domain. If you would like special permission to use, license, or purchase the image please contact me to negotiate terms.When reusing, please credit me as: Ludwig Schneider / Wikimedia. - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11934694

October 5—St. Faustina Kowalska, Virgin

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“Lord, let your mercy by on us, as we place our trust in you” (Ps. 33: 22). “Mercy” is the watchword of today’s saint. St. Faustina Kowalska was born in the Russian Empire on August 25, 1905, in what is now Poland. As a child she loved prayer, work, obedience, and had a sensitivity to the poor. She received little formal education but wanted to enter the convent at an early age. She eventually joined the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925 and took the name Sr. Maria Faustina of the Most Blessed Sacrament. She lived in different convents and worked as a cook, gardener, and porter. She did not exhibit any extraordinary gifts or talents, but she was graced with an ongoing union with God that gave rise to her writings in her diary. 

“The Lord Jesus chose Sr. Maria Faustina as the Apostle and ‘Secretary’ of His Mercy, so that she could tell the world about His great message, which Sr. Faustina recorded in a diary she titled Divine Mercy in My Soul. In the Old Covenant He said to her: ‘I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to My people. Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart.’” (Diary, 1588) 

Through her, we have the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, a prayer that uses the five decades of the rosary to pray: “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” She died in 1938 and was canonized by St. John Paul II in 2000. Divine Mercy Sunday is the Second Sunday of Easter. We are grateful for her. St. Faustina, pray for us.

*https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/200px-Faustina.jpg

July 28--Blessed Maria Teresa Kowalska, Religious and Martyr

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What happens when someone sins? An injury has been committed. How does one repair the injury? By sorrow and reparation. Sorrow is the key to forgiveness; reparation is the key to reconciliation. Today’s saint offered herself and her life in reparation to God for the sins of her family. Bl. Maria Teresa Kowalska was born in Poland in 1902. After the Russian Revolution in 1917 “her father and other relatives had embraced atheistic Communism and enthusiastically supported the new Soviet Union.” She entered the Capuchin Poor Clares in Poland in 1923 making her Solemn Perpetual Profession in 1928. She became a model nun, respected by her community. In 1941 the Germans arrested the thirty-six nuns at the convent and sent them to a concentration camp. She had tuberculosis while in the monastery and her illness worsened in captivity. One day she said, “I will not leave here alive. I offer my life for the sisters so that they may return to the monastery.” She died on July 25, 1941. Her sisters were released by the Germans two weeks later on August 7. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in June 1999 with a group of 107 martyrs of WWII.

Reparation of sins is a holy purpose of prayer. Jesus made reparation for our sins through his death, but we can also make reparation for the sins of others through our prayers and sufferings.

The Morning Offering prayer states:

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day
for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart,
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world,
for the salvation of souls, the reparation of sins, the reunion of all Christians,
and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father this month.
Amen.

*https://www.capdox.capuchin.org.au/saints-blesseds/maria-teresa-kowalska/

November 12--St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr

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In 1995, Pope St. John Paul II declared: “The Church must breathe with her two lungs!” (Ut Unum Sint, 54) What he meant was that the Church was only breathing with one lung, namely the Western Church. He declared that we needed the Eastern Church as well. The Catholic Church has been separated from her Eastern Orthodox sister churches since 1054. However, since then, there have been efforts at union. One prominent event toward union was the Union of Brest in 1596. Seven Orthodox bishops in Lithuania/Poland/Ukraine came into full communion with the pope, while still retaining their Eastern Rites.

Why is this important for our saint? He became an archbishop in one of these dioceses after 1596. St. Josaphat was born in 1580 to Ruthenian Orthodox Catholic parents. After the Union of Brest he became a monk in 1604 in the Ruthenian Rite. His zeal for his faith led him to write catechisms and apologetics, defenses of the Church. He defended the rights of the Eastern Rite Churches, but some opposed him on the grounds that he was trying to “go Latin” and not be faithful to the Eastern traditions.

In 1623, an Orthodox priest insulted St. Josaphat and tried to force his way into the archbishop’s residence. St. Josaphat had him removed, but he had assembled a mob, which then attacked St. Josaphat, shooting him and hitting him in the head with a battle axe, killing him. He was canonized in 1867 as a martyr.

The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches have the same sacraments, the same faith, and the same love of God. However, the difference between the two is the role of the pope. Pope St. John Paul II wrote about the need for unification. May the prayers of St. Josaphat bring us into communion with each other.

*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Josaphat_Zbarazh.jpg

October 16--St. Hedwig, Religious

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For many people today, the name Hedwig summons images of a snowy owl from the Harry Potter movies. However, the name Hedwig has a more sacred connection, St. Hedwig. She was born in Bavaria around 1174, married Henry, Duke of Silesia and together they had seven children. They lived in Silesia, which is part of present-day Poland and founded religious houses and hospitals. She took an active role in serving the poor. She was a peacemaker in a time of war. She attempted to reconcile her sons so they would not fight. She succeeded in keeping her husband and another duke from going to war. Henry died in 1238, over 50 years after their marriage. St. Hedwig then moved into the convent she helped found, although she did not take religious vows so that she could share her property with the poor. She died in 1243 and was canonized in 1267.

St. Hedwig was wealthy by virtue of being a duchess. However, she was not attached to her wealth, giving to the poor, being a benefactor to religious communities as well as to her country. Most of us have more than what we need and far more than what our recent ancestors had to live on. How well do we share our wealth? Are we attached to the “things” we have? Bl. Charles de Foucald wrote: “If God allows some people to pile up riches instead of making themselves poor as Jesus did, it is so that they may use what he has entrusted to them as loyal servants, in accordance with the Master’s will, to do spiritual and temporal good to others.” Our riches need to be shared so that we may bring about good as a matter of charity and of justice. St. Hedwig, pray for us.

* https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MOs810_WG_2_2018_(Wloclawek_Lake)_(Saint_Hedwig_church_in_Stara_Bia%C5%82a)_(6).jpg

June 17—St. Albert Chmielowski, Religious

Saints come from many ways of life; soldiers, such as St. Martin of Tours and St. Sebastian; aristocratic families and wealth, such as St. Francis Borgia and St. Katherine Drexel; artists, such as St. Catherine of Bologna and St. Luke; or even celebrities, such as St. Bernadette of Lourdes and St. Catherine of Siena. Today’s saint had all those characteristics: St. Albert Chmielowski. St. Albert was born into an aristocratic family near Krakow, Poland in 1845. As Poland had been partitioned three times in the 18th century, many Poles rebelled, including St. Albert. He was part of the January Insurrection of 1863-1864 and lost his leg during a battle. After the uprising, he became a painter and was celebrated as one of the premier artists of Poland.

However, he wanted more from life, namely, to grow closer to God. He became a Third Order Franciscan and was allowed to run Krakow’s homeless shelter. He sold his paintings to pay for improvements. He banned alcohol from the shelter, asked residents to work, taught them working skills, and taught them the Catechism. He set up two religious orders, the Albertine Brothers and Sisters, who were dedicated to serving the poor. St. Albert died in 1916. Pope St. John Paul II was deeply impacted by St. Albert, writing a play about him in 1949, Our God’s Brother, which is about a legendary meeting between St. Albert and Vladimir Lenin.

God calls us wherever we are and in whatever state we are. He calls us to be holy and to come closer to him through our brothers and sisters who are dependent on our efforts. God saves us through others and he calls us to save others through our service to them and our love of them. 

June 12--108 Blessed Martyrs of Poland

Today, we remember the men and women of Poland who offered their lives in witness to their faith. Between 1939 and 1945, 108 bishops, priests, brothers, sisters, and laity were martyred due to the hatred of the faith, odium fidei, the Nazis held toward Catholics. In 1999, when Pope St. John Paul II beatified these faithful, he said:

“Today we are celebrating the victory of those who, in our time, gave their lives for Christ, in order to possess life forever in his glory. This victory has a special character, since it was shared by clergy and laity alike, by young people and old, by people from different classes and states. Among them are Archbishop Antoni Julian Nowowiejski, Pastor of the Diocese of Plock, tortured to death at Dzialdowo; Bishop Wladyslaw Goral of Lublin, tortured with particular hatred simply because he was a Catholic Bishop. There are diocesan and religious priests who died because they chose not to abandon their ministry and because they continued to serve their fellow prisoners who were sick with typhus; some were tortured to death because they defended Jews. In the group of Blessed there are religious brothers and sisters who persevered in the service of charity and in offering their torments for their neighbor. Among the blessed martyrs there are also lay people. There are five young people formed in the Salesian oratory; a zealous activist of Catholic Action, a lay catechist tortured to death for his service and an heroic woman, who give up her own life in exchange for that of her daughter-in-law who was with child. These blessed martyrs are today inscribed in the history of holiness of the People of God on pilgrimage for over a thousand years in the land of Poland.

“If we rejoice today for the beatification of one hundred and eight martyrs, clergy and lay people, we do so above all because they bear witness to the victory of Christ, the gift which restores hope. As we carry out this solemn act, there is in a way rekindled in us the certainty that, independently of the circumstances, we can achieve complete victory in all things through the One who has loved us (cf. Rom 8:37). The blessed martyrs cry to our hearts: Believe in God who is love! Believe in him in good times and bad! Awaken hope! May it produce in you the fruit of fidelity to God in every trial!”

March 4—St. Casimir, Holy Man

Most saints on the Roman calendar are priests or religious or martyrs.  Today’s saint was a layman and a Polish prince as well.  The second son of the king of Poland lived in the fifteenth century.  When he was fifteen his father, Casimir IV, sent him to conquer Hungary and become king there.  Reluctantly, but dutifully, he followed his father’s request.  However, he was outnumbered and his officers suggested he withdraw.  He did and the king was so upset that he imprisoned Casimir for three months.  Casimir decided never to become involved in war again and he returned to a life of prayer and study.  He also chose a life of celibacy, even when urged to marry the emperor’s daughter.  He died at the age of 23 from lung disease.  He is the patron saint of Poland and Lithuania.

Doing God’s will is not always easy, especially if it conflicts with the will of those we love.  Casimir attempted to do his earthly father’s will, but ended up deciding to do his heavenly father’s will.  Our families are here to guide us to heaven, but when they guide us wrongly, we need to turn to God even more closely.  Our parents may do wrong, our children may do wrong, our siblings may do wrong, but God will never do wrong and will always strengthen us in the virtues of faith, hope, and love if we but focus on him first, last, and always.  Then we may turn to our children, our parents, and our siblings to guide them on the right path by our own example, our fortitude, and our prayers on their behalf.  St. Casimir can be our model to follow.