BL. MARIA TERESA KOWALSKA, VIRGIN - 25 JULY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY

Saints celebrated on the 25th of July

WELCOME!

BLESSED MARIA TERESA KOWALSKA, VIRGIN

⬅️ 108 Martyrs of World War II

One of the Blesseds remembered by the Church on July 25 is Blessed Maria Teresa Kowalska, one of the 108 Martyrs killed during the Second World War and Beatified by Pope St John Paul II in 1999.

SHE TOOK HER FINAL VOWS IN 1927

Blessed Maria was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1902. Her father emigrated to the Soviet Union moved by socialist ideals. At the age of twenty-one Blessed Maria,remaining faithful to Poland and the Church, entered the convent of the Capuchin Poor Clares. She took her final vows in 1927. Despite being in poor health she always worked hard, as well as spending time with God in prayer. For seventeen years Blessed Maria led a austere and hidden life, trusting in the providence of God. 

THEY WERE ARRESTED

She was suffering from tuberculosis when on April 2, 1941, Nazi soldiers invaded the convent and all thirty-six sisters, including Blessed Maria, were arrested and transported to a concentration camp in Dzialdowo. At Dzialdowo the sisters were subjected to great sufferings and inhuman deprivations, with lack of hygiene, little room to move and no fresh air. Hunger and thirst were often what they had to endure. After one month in these harsh conditions many of the sisters became ill. 

THEY PATIENTLY ACCEPTED THEIR SUFFERINGS

Blessed Maria, who already had frail health, became even worse because no doctor or medicines were available. Despite all this, Blessed Maria and the other sisters continued their prayers and patiently accepted their sufferings. When Blessed Maria's physical condition deteriorated, she said to the other sisters,

"I will not leave here alive. I offer my life in sacrifice so that the sisters may one day return to the convent."

THE SISTERS EVENTUALLY WERE ABLE TO RETURN TO THE CONVENT

On this day, July 25, in 1941, Blessed Maria died of a pulmonary haemorrhage. Her body was removed and no one knows where her remains are. The sisters believed Blessed Maria's words were heard, because after their liberation the sisters eventually were able to return to their convent.

Blessed Maria Teresa Kowalska, pray for us.

From: Spiritual Thought from Father Chris

PRAYER:

May blessed Maria Teresa, Virgin and Martyr, who was ever pleasing to you by the merit of her chastity and by her trust in your power, implore for us your forgiveness, we beseech you, O God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.