Joined: Nov 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 860 Location: southwestern VA, USA
Polish Saints « Thread Started on Apr 11, 2009, 10:59am »
Good Morning!
Here it is April 11 - Easter Saturday - and also the Feast Day of St. Stanislaus.
Stanislaus, the saintly but tragic bishop of Kraków, patron of Poland. He is remembered with Saints Thomas More and Thomas Becket for vigorous opposition to the evils of an unjust government.
Born in Szczepanow near Kraków on July 26, 1030, he was ordained a priest after being educated in the cathedral schools of Gniezno, then capital of Poland, and at Paris. He was appointed preacher and archdeacon to the bishop of Kraków, where his eloquence and example brought about real conversion in many of his penitents, both clergy and laity. He became bishop of Kraków in 1072.
During an expedition against the Grand Duchy of Kiev, Stanislaus became involved in the political situation of Poland. Known for his outspokenness, he aimed his attacks at the evils of the peasantry and the king, especially the unjust wars and immoral acts of King Boleslaus II. http://www.questia.com/library/encyclopedia/boleslaus_ii.jsp.
The king first excused himself, then made a show of penance, then relapsed into his old ways. Stanislaus continued his open opposition in spite of charges of treason and threats of death, finally excommunicating the king. The latter, enraged, ordered soldiers to kill the bishop. When they refused, the king killed him with his own hands.
Forced to flee to Hungary, Boleslaus II supposedly spent the rest of his life as a penitent in the Benedictine abbey in Osiak(Hungry).
Happy Easter to you. How great you came to the forum today. What a surprise! You probably know in my hometown Krakow there is a big procession on St. Stanislaus day
Jaga PolishSite Nothing is black and white. One country's terrorist is another country freedom fighter. Spy is either a hero or a traitor - depending where.
Happy Easter to you. How great you came to the forum today. What a surprise! You probably know in my hometown Krakow there is a big procession on St. Stanislaus day
No, Jaga, I din't know about the procession on St. Stanislaus Day...but what a grand way to celebrate spring!
My home parish of St. Stanislaus in MA merged with another parish during the winter to form the new parish of Holy Family. However, I would imagine since I haven't been back there in over a year, that a painting of St. Stanislaus in heaven in all his bishop's regalia is still the backdrop over the main altar
I've missed this Forum... and I'll miss my biennial trip to Poland this summer still have a house to clean out and sell in MA. However, I do drop in here once-in-a-while even though I may not write anything.
how wonderful that you found time to visit us. I understand that you miss St. Stanislaus church. Here in Idaho Falls we have two Catholic churches but they do not have saints as patrons. One is devoted to Christ the King and another is Holy Rosary. I wish I also had St. Stanislaus church here in town. He is one of my favorite saints.
Jaga PolishSite Nothing is black and white. One country's terrorist is another country freedom fighter. Spy is either a hero or a traitor - depending where.
Joined: Nov 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 860 Location: southwestern VA, USA
Re: Polish Saints « Reply #4 on May 4, 2009, 9:56am »
4 May 2009
Feast Day of Blessed Michael Giedroyc
Born near Vilnius, Lithuania, he completed life as an Augustinian hermit in Cracow.
Michael suffered from physical and permanent handicaps from birth. He was a dwarf who had the use of only one foot. Because of his delicate physical condition, his formal education was frequently interrupted. But over time, Michael showed special skills at metalwork. Working with bronze and silver, he created sacred vessels, including chalices.
He traveled to Cracow Poland, where he joined the Augustinians. He received permission to live the life of a hermit in a cell adjoining the monastery. There Michael spent his days in prayer, fasted and abstained from all meat and lived to an old age. Though he knew the meaning of suffering throughout his years, his rich spiritual life brought him consolation. Michael’s long life ended in 1485 in Cracow.
Five hundred years later, Pope John Paul II visited the city and spoke to the faculty of the Pontifical Academy of Theology. The 15th century in Cracow, the pope said, was “the century of saints.” Among those he cited was Blessed Michael Giedroyc.
More information can be found at [url]http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintofDay/[url]
Joined: Nov 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 860 Location: southwestern VA, USA
Re: Polish Saints « Reply #5 on Jun 12, 2009, 11:46am »
June 12, (some sources say June 11,; others June 15)2009 Blessed Jolenta (Yolanda or Helen) of Poland, also Helen of Hungary (b. 1235?; d. Gniezno 1298)
Jolenta was the daughter of Bela IV, King of Hungaryand Maria Laskarina. Her sister, St. Kunigunde (Kinga or Cunegunda)was married to the Duke of Poland. Jolenta was sent to Poland where her sister was to supervise her education.
She then married to Boleslaus, the Duke of Greater Poland in 1257. Jolenta was able to use her material means to assist the poor, the sick, widows and orphans. Her husband joined her in building hospitals, convents and churches so that he was surnamed "the Pious."
Upon the death of her husband in 1279 and the marriage of two of her daughters, Jolenta and her third daughter entered the convent of the Poor Clares. War forced Jolenta to move to Gniezno and found? another convent where, despite her reluctance, she was made abbess.
So well did she serve her Franciscan sisters by word and example that her fame and good works continued to spread beyond the walls of the cloister. Her favorite devotion was the Passion of Christ.
Indeed, Jesus appeared to her, telling her of her coming death. Many miracles, down to our own day, are said to have occurred at her grave (supposedly at Gneizno).
Interestingly, She was also the sister of Saint Margaret of Hungary. One of her father's sisters was the great Franciscan saint, Elizabeth of Hungary.
« Last Edit: Jun 12, 2009, 11:48am by gardenmoma »
Joined: Nov 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 860 Location: southwestern VA, USA
Re: Polish Saints « Reply #6 on Jun 14, 2009, 1:12pm »
June 14, 2009 St. Albert Chmielowski (1845-1916)
Born in Igolomia near Kraków as the eldest of four children in a wealthy family, he was christened Adam. During the 1864 revolt against Czar Alexander III, Adam’s wounds forced the amputation of his left leg.
His great talent for painting led to studies in Warsaw, Munich and Paris. Adam returned to Kraków and became a Secular Franciscan. In 1888 he took the name Albert when he founded the Brothers of the Third Order of Saint Francis, Servants to the Poor. They worked primarily with the homeless, depending completely on alms while serving the needy, regardless of age, religion or politics. A community of Albertine sisters was established later.
Pope John Paul II beatified him in 1983 and canonized him six years later.
Jaga PolishSite Nothing is black and white. One country's terrorist is another country freedom fighter. Spy is either a hero or a traitor - depending where.
Joined: Nov 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 860 Location: southwestern VA, USA
Re: Polish Saints « Reply #8 on Jun 14, 2009, 11:00pm »
Jaga,
Thanks for your "thank-you."
I guess I'm trying to "build up a list," and this is an easy way to do it. It's fun and an easy thing for me to do. Besides, some people out in the web-sphere may just enjoy looking at this information.
I still plan to write, one of these days, an article for your site about Polish saints.
July 14, 2009 Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680)
Why include a native North American woman among a list of Polish saints? Many Poles venerate Kateri Tekakwitha because they compare her spiritual struggles with their own.
I have visited the simple tomb of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha in the unadorned parish church of St. Francis-Xavier in Kahnawake, Qc. Canada. The tomb is to the right of the main altar.
Following from American Catholic.org:
"The blood of martyrs is the seed of saints. Nine years after the Jesuits Isaac Jogues and John de Brébeuf were tortured to death by Huron and Iroquois Indians, a baby girl was born near the place of their martyrdom, Auriesville, New York. She was to be the first person born in North America to be beatified.
Her mother was a Christian Algonquin, taken captive by the Iroquois and given as wife to the chief of the Mohawk clan, the boldest and fiercest of the Five Nations. When she was four, Kateri lost her parents and little brother in a smallpox epidemic that left her disfigured and half blind. She was adopted by an uncle, who succeeded her father as chief. He hated the coming of the Blackrobes (missionaries), but could do nothing to them because a peace treaty with the French required their presence in villages with Christian captives. She was moved by the words of three Blackrobes who lodged with her uncle, but fear of him kept her from seeking instruction. She refused to marry a Mohawk brave and at 19 finally got the courage to take the step of converting. She was baptized with the name Kateri (Catherine) on Easter Sunday.
Now she would be treated as a slave. Because she would not work on Sunday, she received no food that day. Her life in grace grew rapidly. She told a missionary that she often meditated on the great dignity of being baptized. She was powerfully moved by God’s love for human beings and saw the dignity of each of her people.
She was always in danger, for her conversion and holy life created great opposition. On the advice of a priest, she stole away one night and began a 200-mile walking journey to a Christian Indian village at Sault St. Louis, near Montreal.
For three years she grew in holiness under the direction of a priest and an older Iroquois woman, giving herself totally to God in long hours of prayer, in charity and in strenuous penance. At 23 she took a vow of virginity, an unprecedented act for an Indian woman, whose future depended on being married. She found a place in the woods where she could pray an hour a day—and was accused of meeting a man there!
Her dedication to virginity was instinctive: She did not know about religious life for women until she visited Montreal. Inspired by this, she and two friends wanted to start a community, but the local priest dissuaded her. She humbly accepted an “ordinary” life. She practiced extremely severe fasting as penance for the conversion of her nation. She died the afternoon before Holy Thursday. Witnesses said that her emaciated face changed color and became like that of a healthy child. The lines of suffering, even the pockmarks, disappeared and the touch of a smile came upon her lips. She was beatified in 1980."
Joined: Nov 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 860 Location: southwestern VA, USA
Re: Polish Saints « Reply #10 on Oct 6, 2009, 8:34am »
St. Faustina - (1905-1938) October 5
St. Mary Faustina's name is forever linked to the annual feast of the Divine Mercy (celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter), the divine mercy chaplet and the divine mercy prayer recited each day by many people at 3 p.m.
Born in what is now west-central Poland (part of Germany before World War I), Helena was the third of 10 children. After age 16 she worked as a housekeeper in three cities before joining the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925. She worked as a cook, gardener and porter in three of their houses.
She also had a deep interior life. This included receiving revelations from the Lord Jesus, messages that she recorded in her diary at the request of Christ and of her confessors.
Sister Mary Faustina knew that the revelations she had already received did not constitute holiness itself, she wrote in her diary: “Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God” (Diary 1107).
Sister Mary Faustina died of tuberculosis in Krakow, Poland, on October 5, 1938. Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1993 and canonized her in 2000.
Jaga PolishSite Nothing is black and white. One country's terrorist is another country freedom fighter. Spy is either a hero or a traitor - depending where.
Hi Nictoe, nice video, how Polish this girl really is?
I still get goosebumps every time I watch that clip. From the Polish hall of fame museum:
Quote:
Name Change Doesn’t Change Ethnic Background
Janet Lynn was only in the first grade when her skating coach, Slavka Kohout, made an interesting suggestion to her parents: “What would you think of dropping the name Nowicki as far as Janet’s skating is concerned?”
Miss Kohout was looking forward to the day when young Janet would compete as a figure skater on the international level, and she lined up the following reasons for a change: # “Nowicki” is hard for some people to pronounce as well as spell. # It’s hard to understand over a public address system during an ice show. # Skating is a very political sport with lots of unpredictable people, and let’s not distract, say, a Russian judge with a Polish name on an American skater.
“My folks agreed that on the ice I could easily use my first and middle names. Later on, some Polish-American groups frowned on that, but it was probably still the wisest move for me,” Janet explained.
And so, Janet Lynn Nowicki became just plain Janet Lynn.
Also from the same site:
Quote:
After her performance, a reporter for the London Observer wrote: “Janet Lynn’s free skating was one of those rare occasions when sport is lifted into the realms of art. She did not win a Gold medal, but that is only because the world is an unjust place. There is a moment in her program . . . when she suddenly moves backwards so that her blonde hair flies forward and her arms are outstretched and she is indeed a young girl in love with the world. She would say she is thanking God for so much happiness. Those who watch her can make of it what they will, knowing only that it is supremely beautiful.”
There really isn't enough words to describe the kind of lasting impact she had in the personal lives of others both on and off the skating arena....and an uncomparable peace and goodwill ambassador to the world as one will ever see or witness. God bless Janet Lynn Nowicki now and forever !
Re: Polish Saints « Reply #14 on Oct 9, 2009, 4:34am »
droping the name part of the story seem strange to me. how can someone do it? i have double polish and french name after both parents. my parents will kill me if i droped one even if one part is difficult in france and one part in poland.
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and I'll miss my biennial trip to Poland this summer 
still have a house to clean out and sell in MA. However, I do drop in here once-in-a-while even though I may not write anything.
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