SOURCE: http://saints.sqpn.com/saintp3x.htm

Bl. Edward Joannes Maria Poppe was born on 18 December 1890 in Moerzeke, Belgium, to a baker's family of modest means. From his mother he learned generosity and a devotion to prayer, and from his father a dedication to work and a love of the poor. In May 1909 Edward Poppe, a brilliant student, decided to become a priest to serve "poor Flanders". As a seminarian he was distinguished for his desire to fulfil the will of God perfectly by following the example of Jesus and Mary and by being open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

After ordination he was assigned as a curate to St Colette's, a working-class parish in Ghent. His special concern was for children, the poor and the dying. Leading a life of great personal poverty, he devoted particular attention to catechesis and Eucharistic associations, and was very concerned over the increasing dechristianization of society.

For reasons of health he was transferred to the rural area of Moerzeke and appointed rector of a religious community (1918-22). They would be four years of contemplation and study, half of which were spent in bed because of his poor health. He began writing about the problems affecting Flanders: Marxism, secularism and materialism. He wrote 10 short works, over 284 articles and thousands of letters. His visit in 1920 to the tomb of Therese of Lisieux had a deep impact on his spiritual life: from then on her "little way" became his way too.

He mobilized all educators for a re-evangelization campaign, whose starting point and goal was the Eucharist and whose watchword was: "First yourself, then others". During this period he perfected his forward-looking apostolic methods and promoted a priestly association, catechesis, education in the faith through a Eucharistic campaign, liturgical renewal, the lay apostolate and the Flemish social movement. His home became a place of prayer and encouragement.

In October 1922 he was sent to Leopoldsburg to serve as spiritual director to clerics fulfilling their military service. During these last 15 months of his life, he was happy to share his message not only with future priests but with countless people who were touched by his words and writings.

Flander's most beloved priest died on the morning of 10 June 1924 with his eyes fixed on the image of the Sacred Heart, on the merciful love to which he had totally entrusted himself.

SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/bios99.htm#e

Blessed Luigi Boccardo, 1861 - 1936

Diocesan Priest, Founder of the Order of Sisters of Christ the King

Luigi Boccardo was born on 9 August 1861 in Moncalieri, Italy. He was the seventh of nine children born to Gaspare Boccardo and Giuseppina Malerba. The firstborn of the family, Giovanni Ottavio, who at age 13 became Luigi's godfather, was to have a decisive role in his younger brother's future.

Although Luigi's parents were farmers, they took into consideration his desire to study and enrolled him with the Barnabite Fathers, where Giovanni had also studied. Influenced by his brother's good example and the religious atmosphere he encountered, Luigi thought he might want to be a priest. He received additional good example of dedication to God when his sister Giacinta entered a cloistered convent in 1874.

When Luigi expressed his desire to study for the priesthood, his parents were reluctant to comply, and it was his older brother Giovanni who again interceded for him, also taking upon himself the financial burden of all Luigi's seminary studies. The young man entered Turin's archdiocesan seminary in October 1875, and on 23 September 1877 received the clerical cassock.

It was at this time that he contracted a severe typhus fever which brought him to the brink of death. As a last resort to save his life he was given some water from Lourdes to drink. This event deepened within Luigi a filial devotion to the Mother of God, to whom he consecrated himself. On a holy card of the Blessed Virgin he wrote: "This is she who saved me and stole my heart".

In addition to the protection of the Virgin Mary, Luigi was once again in the good company of his brother Giovanni, who was assigned as spiritual director of the seminary philosophy students. Holy companions continued to surround him in the theological seminary, where he received spiritual direction from the future Bl. Giuseppe Allamano.

Luigi Boccardo was ordained a priest on 7 June 1884. He held a few temporary assignments, including parochial vicar in the parish where his brother, Fr. Giovanni Maria Boccardo, was assigned as parish priest at Pancalieri, Turin. During this time the area was struck with a cholera epidemic and Fr. Luigi again witnessed his older brother's virtuous life through the pastoral care he gave his flock.

In fact, as a result of the epidemic, which left several orphans and abandoned elderly in its wake, Fr. Giovanni founded a Congregation of Sisters to assist them, the Poor Sisters of St. Cajetan, which later became his younger brother's priestly responsibility.

New roads to travel

In 1886 Fr. Luigi was named vice-rector and spiritual director for the young priests at the Ecclesiastical Boarding School of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Turin, where he served for the next 30 years alongside the rector, Bl. Giuseppe Allamano. Fr. Luigi worked with patience and humility in the shadow of this holy man of God, taking on various tasks according to the needs of the institution.

The school was also a place where recently ordained priests, before being assigned as parochial vicars, came to study for two years to further their education, especially in moral theology. Most priests of the Archdiocese of Turin attended this formation school, and it was Fr. Luigi Boccardo who guided the overall formation of generations of diocesan priests.

On 9 January 1914, Fr. Luigi was appointed Superior General of the Congregation of the Poor Sisters, which had already spread to many parts of Italy. A new chapter thus began in his life, and rather than the relatively tranquil one he had enjoyed thus far, he had to adapt himself to frequent travel throughout Italy. Certainly the demands were many in directing an institute comprised of dozens of convents, several hundred Sisters and the thousands of sick, elderly, children and aging priests who received their care. It is equally certain that it required personal growth on his part, because most his life had been spent in a male seminary environment.

His ability proved great and earned him yet another burden, which he received in 1919. On 3 December of that year Fr. Luigi was appointed Director of the Institute for the Blind, begun some 25 years earlier and now in grave debt.

When space and distance constraints made it necessary to move the General House of the Poor Sisters of St. Cajetan, Fr. Luigi found a suitable site next to the Institute for the Blind in Turin. He took up residence there on 12 June 1928.

However, even in his new place of residence the prematurely aging and hunchback priest, who was never in the best of health, was not allowed to rest. For love of God and neighbour he acceded to the insistence of those who asked for a church to be built next to the Sisters' home. He then began work on the Shrine of Christ the King, which was consecrated on 24 October 1931,the first in Piedmont to spread this Papal devotion.

Constant Kingdom building

But even with all this, Fr. Luigi was not finished.

As spiritual director of the Institute of the Blind, which he saved from closing and actually made flourish, he met some people who wanted to consecrate their lives to God. While he tried directing them to monastic life, they were refused due to their blindness.

Taking all this to heart, he decided on 18 January 1932 to consecrate some of them to God with the title of "Sisters of Christ the King", thus becoming a contemplative branch of the Poor Sisters of St. Cajetan. The vesting of the first "Sisters of Christ the King" took place on 29 October 1932; their work was to pray for the Church, the Pope, priests and especially the most needy.

On 5 June 1934 Fr. Luigi celebrated his 50th anniversary of priesthood and enjoyed the well-deserved recognition and thanks of many. Among his accomplishments are the 1,027 letters gathered into seven volumes from 1901-36 addressed to lay people, priests and Religious and in which is expressed all the spirituality and trust in God of this humble priest who said of himself: "Three things I would never have thought of doing: writing books, founding a religious institute for women and building churches. And I have done all three!".

Fr. Luigi Boccardo celebrated his final Mass on 26 April 1936 at the altar of Our Lady of Good Counsel in the Shrine he built to Christ the King, and he died peacefully on 9 June of the same year.

SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/bios2007.htm#Luigi%20Boccardo

Bl. Nicholas of Gesturi was born on 5 August 1882 in Gesturi (Sardinia), Italy, to a family of modest means. Given the name Giovanni at Baptism, he was orphaned at a young age and raised in the home of his older, married sister. After receiving his First Communion in 1896, he began to pray in a remarkable way, frequently receiving Holy Communion, mortifying himself and cultivating the spiritual life with rigorous detachment from even the licit attractions of his surroundings. From his love of nature he developed an uncommon nobility of spirit and refined sense of judgement. He seemed inclined towards the priesthood, but his family's poverty proved an insurmountable obstacle.

After being cured of a painful rheumatic illness at the age of 29, Giovanni entered the Capuchins in Cagliari as a third order oblate. Two years later he received the habit, taking the name of Bro. Nicholas. After a year of novitiate he made his first profession in 1914 and his solemn profession on 16 February 1919. He spent his first 10 years of religious life in various friaries, where he served mostly as cook. In 1924 he returned to Cagliari, where he spent the next 34 years begging for the community.

Every day of the year, from 1924 to 1958, Bro. Nicholas would walk modestly and silently through the streets of Cagliari, without asking for anything. But people soon realized that he was an exceptional soul and gifts of money or in kind would be offered spontaneously. Many confided in him or asked him to pray for spiritual or material favours. He was frequently called to the bedside of the sick at home or in hospitals.

Extraordinary cures took place and it became known that God's powerful hand was working through this poor friar.

He gave more than he received. His life, his way of walking and of presenting himself invited everyone to conversion, to prayer, to love and to the service of God and neighbour. They said of him: "He was more sought than a seeker". His holiness was one of silence, which he only broke to point out the will of God.

His conduct was marked by a lively sense of God's presence and by continuous union with the Lord. Through a Gospel life lived in penitence, Bro. Nicholas bore witness to Christ's message on the streets of a distracted and troubled city. He died on 8 June 1958.

SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/bios99.htm#n

Blessed Pope John XXIII, 1881 - 1963

Bl. Pope John XXIII was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli at Sotto il Monte, Italy, in the Diocese of Bergamo on 25 November 1881. He was the fourth in family of 14. The family worked as sharecroppers. It was a patriarchal family in the sense that the families of two brothers lived together, headed by his great-uncle Zaverio, who had never married and whose wisdom guided the work and other business of the family. Zaverio was Angelo's godfather, and to him he always attributed his first and most fundamental religious education. The religious atmosphere of his family and the fervent life of the parish, under the guidance of Fr Francesco Rebuzzini, provided him with training in the Christian life.

He entered the Bergamo seminary in 1892. Here he began the practice of making spiritual notes, which he continued in one form or another until his death, and which have been gathered together in the Journal a Soul. Here he also began the deeply cherished practice of regular spiritual direction. In 1896 he was admitted to the Secular Franciscan Order by the spiritual director of the Bergamo seminary, Fr Luigi Isacchi; he made a profession of its Rule of life on 23 May 1897.

From 1901 to 1905 he was a student at the Pontifical Roman Seminary. On 10 August 1904 he was ordained a priest in the church of Santa Maria in Monte Santo in Rome's Piazza del Popolo. In 1905 he was appointed secretary to the new Bishop of Bergamo, Giacomo Maria Radini Tedeschi. He accompanied the Bishop in his pastoral visitations and collaborated with him in his many initiatives: a Synod, management of the diocesan bulletin, pilgrimages, social works. In the seminary he taught history, patrology and apologetics, He was an elegant, profound, effective and sought-after preacher.

These were 'the years of his deepening spiritual encounter with two saints who were outstanding pastors: St Charles Borromeo and St Francis de Sales. They were years, too, of deep pastoral involvement and apprenticeship, as he spent every day beside "his" Bishop, Radini Tedeschi. When the Bishop died in 1914, Fr Angelo continued to teach in the seminary and to minister in various pastoral areas.

When Italy went to war in 1915 he was drafted as a sergeant in the medical corps and became a chaplain to wounded soldiers. When the war ended, he opened a "Student House" for the spiritual needs of young people.

In 1919 he was made spiritual director of the seminary, but in 1921 he was called to the service of the Holy See. Benedict XV brought him to Rome to be the Italian president of the Society for the Propagation of the, Faith. In 1925 Pius XI named him Apostolic Visitator in Bulgaria, raising him to the episcopate with the titular Diocese of Areopolis. For his episcopal motto he chose Oboedientia et Pax, which became his guiding motto for the rest of his life.

On 19 March 1925 he was ordained Bishop and left for Bulgaria. He was granted the title Apostolic Delegate and remained in Bulgaria until 1935, visiting Catholic communities and establishing relationships of respect and esteem with the other Christian communities. In the aftermath of the 1928 earthquake his solicitude was everywhere present. He endured in silence the misunderstandings and other difficulties of a ministry on the fringes of society, and thus refined his sense of trust and abandonment to Jesus crucified.

In 1935 he was named Apostolic Delegate in Turkey and Greece. The Catholic Church was present in many ways in the young Turkish republic. His ministry among the Catholics was intense, and his respectful approach and dialogue with the worlds of Orthodoxy and Islam became a feature of his tenure. When the Second World War broke out he was in Greece. He tried to get news from the prisoners of war to their families and assisted many Jews to escape by issuing "transit visas" from the Apostolic Delegation. In December 1944 Pius XII appointed him Nuncio in France.

During the last months of the war and the beginning of peace he aided prisoners of war and helped to normalize the ecclesiastical organization of France. He visited the great shrines of France and participated in popular feasts and in important religious celebrations. He was an attentive, prudent and positive observer of the new pastoral initiatives of the Bishops and clergy of France. His approach was always characterized by a striving for Gospel simplicity, even amid the most complex diplomatic questions. The sincere piety of his interior life found expression each day in prolonged periods of prayer and meditation. In 1953 he was created a Cardinal and sent to Venice as Patriarch. He was filled with joy at the prospect of ending his days in the direct care of souls, as he had always desired since becoming a priest. He was a wise and enterprising pastor, following the model pastors be had always venerated and walking in the footsteps of St Laurence Giustiniani, first Patriarch of Venice. As he advanced in years his trust in the Lord grew in the midst of energetic, enterprising and joyful pastoral labours.

At the death of Pius XII he was elected Pope on 28 October 1958, taking the name John XXIII. His pontificate, which lasted less than five years, presented him to the entire world as an authentic image of the Good Shepherd. Meek and gentle, enterprising , and courageous, simple and active, he carried out the Christian duties of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy: visiting the imprisoned and the sick, welcoming those of every nation and faith, bestowing on all his exquisite fatherly care. His social magisterium in the Encyclicals Pacem in terris and Mater et Magistra was deeply appreciated.

He convoked the Roman Synod, established the Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law and summoned the Second Vatican Council. He was present as Bishop in his Diocese of Rome through his visitation of the parishes, especially those in the new suburbs. The faithful saw in him a reflection of the goodness of God and called him "the good Pope". He was sustained by a profound spirit of prayer. He launched an. extensive renewal of the Church, while radiating the peace of one who always trusted in the Lord. Pope John XXIII died on the evening of 3 June 1963, in a spirit of profound trust in Jesus and of longing for his embrace.

SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/bios2000.htm#08

BL. JOHN BAPTIST SCALABRINI was born and baptized at Fino Mornasco near Como, Italy, on 8 July 1839, the third of eight children. He belonged to a modest but deeply religious family. He studied philosophy and theology at the seminary in Como and was ordained a priest on 30 May 1863. During his first years of priestly ministry he was a professor and later became the rector of St Abundius Seminary. In 1870 he was made pastor of St. Bartholomew's Church, and on 30 January 1876, at the age of 36, he was consecrated Bishop of Placenza.

His pastoral and social activity was limitless. He personally conducted the visitation of his Diocese five times, visiting all 365 parishes, Half of them could be reached only on mule-back or on foot. He celebrated three Synods, one of which was dedicated to the Eucharist. He encouraged frequent Holy Communion and perpetual adoration. He reorganized the seminaries and reformed their curricula, anticipating the Thomistic reform of Leo XIII. He was tireless in administering the sacraments, in preaching, in teaching people ardently to love the Pope and the Church, and in practicing truth, unity and love.

He gave a heroic example of charity in assisting cholera victims, in visiting the sick and prisoners, in aiding the poor and bankrupt noble families. He saved thousands of farmers and workers from famine, depriving himself of everything, selling his horse, the chalice and the pectoral cross Pius IX had given him. He founded and institute to assist hearing and speech-impaired women, organized the assistance of the young single women employed in rice fields, established societies of mutual aid, en him He founded an institute to assist hearing- and speech-impaired women, organized the assistance of the young single women employed in rice fields, established societies of mutual aid, workers' associations, rural banks, cooperatives and Catholic Action groups.

Called by Pius IX the "Apostle of the Catechism", he gave directives that it be taught in all parishes. He planned and presided over the first National Catechetical Congress in 1889

He was convinced that devotion to religion and to one's country could and should be reconciled in the hearts of the Italian people. He endured many hardships to promote reconciliation between Church and State and thus to solve a painful moral dilemma for Italian Catholics, But the times were not yet ripe. Thus he aimed at preparing this religious reconciliation on a practical level, combining religious belief and patriotic love in his work with migrants.

Struck from the beginning of his episcopate by the dramatic growth of Italian emigration, Scalabrini became an apostle for the millions of Italians forced to emigrate, often in dire conditions, always in danger of losing their faith and their attachment to religious practice.

With the approval of Leo XIII, on 28 November 1887 he founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of St Charles (today known as Scalabrinians) for the religious, moral, social and legal care of migrants. He convinced St Frances Xavier Cabrini, the Mother of Migrants, to leave for America in 1889, to care for children, orphans and sick Italian migrants. In 1895 he himself founded the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of St Charles for migrants. Even the Sisters Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus were encouraged to care for migrants. His spirituality and his love for migrants recently inspired the birth of a new secular institute, the Scalabrinian Lay Missionary Women.

Bishop Scalabrini was fervently devoted to the Eucharist and used to spend many hours in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Another mark of his spirituality was his devotion to Our Lady and he expressed his love for Mary in his homilies and Marian pilgrimages. It was dawn on 1 June 1905, the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, when he died. His last conscious words were, "Lord, I am ready, Let us go".

SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/bios97.htm#scalabfini

Blessed Nicolas Barrè, 1621 - 1686

Bl. Nicolas Barré was born in Amiens, France, on 21 October 1621. Educated by the Jesuits, he joined the Minims of St Francis of Paola at the age of 19. While still a deacon he was asked to teach philosophy, and after ordination he became a theology teacher while continuing as preacher and as director of the famous library at the convent of Place Royale, Paris.

After falling ill, he was sent to the friary in Amiens and then to Rouen, where he carried out his apostolate mainly with the Third Order of Minims. Here he first met the young women who were to join him in the popular missions as teachers in the "Little Charitable Schools" for poor children. He had been praying and reflecting on this project for 15 years. In his view, the root cause of all social evils was the lack of education and training for young people.

He began a movement offering popular education. The little charitable schools multiplied in the parishes, where first women and then men were called upon by the parish priest or Bishop. The "trade schools" soon developed, enabling young people earn some income.

Gradually, he felt drawn by the Holy Spirit to suggest to both the men and women teachers that they form their own community, without vows or cloister, for the purpose of educating ordinary people. Called by Canon Roland to Rheims, then to Lisieux and later to other towns in France, "the Charitable Teachers" gave rise to several foundations inspired by the same apostolic spirit. Nicolas Barré was consulted several times by the young John Baptist de la Salle, thus playing a decisive role in the foundation of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.

As the number of teachers increased, Nicolas Barré was also spiritual director to many people, especially those suffering interior trials. With extraordinary discernment, he taught them the way of abandonment in faith that he had learned from his own experience. His wisdom and holiness became so famous that it was often said that "hopeless cases must be sent to Fr Barré".

Nicolas Barré tirelessly sought to lead both the people he directed and the charitable teachers to the prayer of the heart inspired by contemplation of the inexpressible mystery of God, who out of love became man and "even a little child". Nicolas Barré, the spiritual master, was both an apostle and a mystic and expressed this magnificently in his Spiritual Canticle, a mystical poem of abandonment to God. His life was marked by the message and charism of St Francis of Paola: humility, charity and evangelical penance, which bore fruit in the education and formation of youth, fostering each individual's growth in their journey of faith. He died in Paris on 31 May 1686.

SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/bios99.htm#Nicolas

“If only I knew how to love, to burn and consume oneself in love” – so the 24 year old Giulia Ledóchowska wrote before taking religious vows, novice in the Ursuline convent of Krakow. On the day of the religious profession she took the name ‘Maria Ursula of Jesus’, and the words stated above became the guide lines of her entire life. In her mothers’ family (of Swiss nationality and of the dynasty of the Salis), as well as in her fathers’ (an old Polish family) there were many politicians, military men, ecclesiastics and consecrated people, who were involved in the history of Europe and of the Church. She was raised in a family of numerous brothers and sisters where affectionate and disciplined love was dominant. The first three children, including M. Ursula, chose the consecrated life: Maria Teresa (beatified in 1975) founded the future ‘Society of S. Peter Claver’ and the younger brother Vladimiro became the general Preposito of the Jesuits.

M. Ursula lived in the convent at Krakow for 21 years. Her love for the Lord, her educational talent and sensibility towards the needs of youngsters in the changing social, political and moral conditions of those times put her at the centre of attention. When women earned the right to study in Universities, she succeeded in organising the first boarding-house in Poland for female students where they not only found a safe place to live and study, but also received a solid religious preparation. This passion, together with the blessing of Pope Pio X, gave her the strength to move into the heart of Russia which was hostile towards the Church. When, in civilian dress, she left with another Sister for Petersburg (where religious life was prohibited) she did not know that she was headed towards an unknown destination and that the Holy Spirit would lead her upon roads she had not foreseen. 

In Petersburg the Mother with the steadily growing community of nuns (soon established as an autonomous structure of the Ursulines) lived secretly, and even though under constant surveillance by the secret police, they brought forward an intense educational and religious project which was also directed towards the encouragement of relationships between Polish and Russians.

When war broke out starts in 1914, M. Ursula had to leave Russia. She headed for Stockholm and during her Scandinavian travels (Sweden, Denmark, Norway) her activity concentrated not only on education, but also on the life of the local Church, on giving aid to the war victims and on ecumenical work. The house where she lived with her nuns became a point of reference for people of different political and religious orientation. Her strong love for her country was the same as her tolerance towards ‘diversity’ and towards others. Once asked to speak of her political orientation, she promptly answered ‘My policy is love’.

In 1920 M. Ursula, her sisters and a vast number of orphan children of immigrants returned to Poland. The Apostolic Headquarters transforms its autonomous convent of the ‘Ursulines of the Sacred Agonising Heart of Jesus’ The spirituality of the congregation is concentrated on the contemplation of the salvific love of Christ and participation in His mission by means of educational projects and service to others, particularly to the suffering, the lonely and the abandoned who were searching for the meaning of life. M. Ursula educated her sisters to love God above everything else and to find God in every human being and in all Creation. She gave a particularly credible testimony to the personal bond with Christ and to being an efficient instrument of both Evangelical and educational influence by means of her smile and serenity of soul. Her humility and capacity to live the ordinary everyday routine as a privileged road towards holiness made her a clear example of this life style. 

The congregation developed quickly. The communities of the Ursuline nuns in Poland and on the eastern frontiers of the country which were poor, multinational and multi-confessional were established. In 1928 the Generalate was established in Rome along with a boarding-house for girls who were economically less well-off, in order to give them the possibility to come into contact with the spiritual and religious richness of the heart of the Church and of European civilisation. The Sisters began to work in the poor suburbs of Rome. In 1930 the nuns accompanied girls in search of work and established themselves in France. Wherever possible M.Ursula founded educational and instructional work centres. She sent the nuns to Catechise and to work in the poor parts of town. She wrote books and articles for children and youngsters.

She initiated and sustained ecclesiastical organisations for children (Eucharistic Movement), for youngsters and for women. She actively participated in the life of the Church and State thus receiving great acknowledgement and decorations from both the State and the Church. When her laborious and not easy life came to an end in Rome on May 29, 1939, people said of her: “She died a saint”.

His Holiness Pope John Paul II beatified M. Ursula on June 20, 1983 in Poznan.   

SOURCE: http://www.vatican.va

Blessed Władysław Demski, 1884 - 1940
German death camp Sachsenhausen

Courtesy of Polish Wikipeida and bad Googlematic translations:

Wladyslaw Demski (born August 5, 1884, in Straszewie - died. May 28, 1940, in Sachsenhausen) - Polish Catholic spiritual, blessed the Church katolickiegoksiądz, educational and social activist, educator.

He was the son of Francis - a farmer and activist Polish election committees. He studied at the Collegium Marianum in Pelpinie and gymnasium in Braniewie. Matura exam passed in 1906. He studied theology and philosophy in Braniewie Seminary from 1906-1910.

After the adoption of świeceń priests in Frombork February 4, 1910, he served as vicar in the Polish parishes in Sząbruku (gm. Gietrzwałd), Barczewie (1912-1917), Biskupcu (1918-1919) and the Old Market on Powiśle (1919-1922), where he ran the social and educational activities among local Poles. He was activist in the period preceding plebiscyt in 1920, then co-Union of Poles in East Prussia, and finally vice-chairman of the Polish-Catholic Association Szkolny Powiśle and a supervisor on wheels Women's Christian parish. św. St. Kingi. Drafted into the German army, he was serving in the military hospital in Königsberg. Hhe began active plebiscytowa, as guardian of folk societies and was a close collaborator of the Plebiscytowego Warminski. Zmuszony by the German authorities to leave Powiśla, so he moved to Inowrocławia, where he was prefect in the Gymnasium. J. Kasprowicza. Kasprowicz. In the meantime, he studied classical philology and philosophy at the University Poznański. After passing his examinations he was a professor in etatowym Inowrocławiu, here are cared Kółkiem Filologicznym, czytelnią uczniowską and circled samokształceniowym and worked with "Dziennikiem Kujawskim." November 2, 1939, Fr. Wladyslaw Demski was arrested by the German authorities and imprisoned in a prison in Inowrocławiu. 8 February 1940, came to the Nazi concentration camp in Stutthofie. April 10, 1940, was transported to the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen, where he was murdered on May 28, 1940 for not having tried podeptać Rosary.

He spoke before his death: "Everything must ścierpieć for the Lord and nothing will complain."

He is one of the 108 Martyrs of World War II beatified by Pope John Paul II.
He is the patron of Schools in Podstawowej Straszewie [2].

5 bob to Nan!

Memorial

21 May

Profile

Ordained in 1902 in the archdiocese of Braga, Portugal. Transferred to the diocese of Frederico Westphalen, Brazil in 1913. Known as a concerned pastor to his flock, and for his social work in the region. Martyred with his altar boy, Blessed Adilo Daronche.

Born

29 May 1877 in San José de Ribarteme, Pontevedra, Spain

Died

martyred on 21 May 1924 in Feijão Miúdo, Três Passos, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Venerated

16 December 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI

Beatified

21 October 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI

Canonized

pending; if you have information relevant to the canonization of Blessed Manuel, contact:
   Paróquia e Santuário Nossa Senhora da Luz
   Av. Rocha Loires, 340
   C. P. 22, 99600-000 Nonoai– RS, BRAZIL

SOURCE: http://saints.sqpn.com/saintmd5.htm

Blessed Luigi Talamoni, 1848 - 1926

Luigi Talamoni was born on 3 October 1848 in Monza, Italy, the second of six children to Maria Sala and Giuseppe Talamoni, a hatmaker.

As a young boy, Luigi went to daily Mass together with his father, where he exercised his "first ministry" as an altar server:  it was his constant dream to someday become a priest.

Luigi was also sustained by his peers and received encouragement from the Barnabite Servant of God, Fr Luigi Villoresi, director of the Oratory of Carrobiolo in Monza. Here, the young boy received a Christian and human formation, and his vocation to the priesthood and sense of duty to help others matured through this daily contact, all under the guidance of Fr Villoresi.

"Seminary for the poor'

During the second war of independence in Italy, the Oratory of Carrobiolo became a "Seminary for the poor":  young men who wanted to become priests but did not have the money for boarding and studies were able to live and study at Carrobiolo. They were taught by qualified professors who volunteered their service and together lived a simple community life while carrying out their pastoral work at the Oratory.

Example of silence, humility

It was at Carrobiolo that Luigi lived and studied until 1865, when he was transferred to the Theological Seminary of Milan. On 4 March 1871 he was ordained a priest and celebrated his first Mass at Carrobiolo.

He began his ministry as a teacher at St Charles College in Milan; a short time later he was transferred to the Archdiocesan Seminary, where he would remain until the end of his life.

During his years at the seminary, Fr Luigi was prone to "mistreatment" and was misunderstood by many of his students and priest-colleagues. The clergy at that time were divided between the "liberal" and the "traditional" priests, and Fr Luigi was considered by some to be "too strict". When certain seminarians "made fun" of him or he received some kind of humiliation from other priests, Fr Luigi always responded with silence and respect, patience and forgiveness.

Priestly ministry, "political charity'

Fr Luigi's daily schedule was meticulously divided between his dedication to preparing lessons for the seminarians and duties at the Seminary, and his long hours given to hearing Confessions at the Cathedral. People in long lines would expectantly wait their turn to receive the sacrament of Penance through the hands of this "holy priest", discovering in him an "uncommon" divine wisdom.

Fr Luigi was also sought after to preach retreats for priests and to carry out parish missions in other dioceses of Northern Italy. Likewise, he was active in local politics, serving on the communal council of Monza (from 1893-1916 and then from 1923-1926), all as a means to fostering "political charity" and defending the rights and dignity of the poor.

The "Misericordines'

Fr Luigi was particularly concerned with making house visits to the sick and elderly. To further this apostolate, on 25 March 1891, together with Maria Biffi Levati, he founded the "Congregation of the "Misericordines' of St Gerard", a community of Sisters with the mission of visiting and assisting the sick and elderly. The Religious provided assistance to the ill persons especially during the night so that their family members could sleep and go to work the next day.

The spirit of the Institute, as defined by Fr Luigi and Maria Biffi, was to "provide charitable and maternal assistance to the sick, to have care over their souls and aid in their salvation... to bring the love of Christ into their homes". Fr Luigi would often recommend to the Sisters: "Be humble, docile and burn with love".

Until the end of his life, Fr Luigi continued to be faithful to his duties and teaching at the seminary, to his role as confessor at the Cathedral, and to the formation of the Misericordine Sisters through written correspondence and counsel.

Fr Luigi Talamoni died in Milan on 31 January 1926.

SOURCE: http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20040321_talamoni_en.html

Blessed Pina Suriano, 1842 - 1916

Bl. Piety of the Cross (1842-1916)
Virgin, Foundress of the Congregation of the Salesian Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Tomasa Ortiz Real was born on 12 November 1842 in Bocairente, Valencia, Spain, the fifth of eight children to José and Tomasa Ortiz. As a child, she was known for her piety as well as her musical and acting talents.

When she made her First Holy Communion at 10 years of age, she received the grace to understand that Jesus was calling her to Religious life. This desire remained with her over the years, and after she completed her studies at Loreto College with the order of the Religious of the Holy Family of Burdeos, she asked to enter their novitiate.

Her father, however, considering Tomasa's young age and the political situation of the time, forced her to remain at home.

The 'Grace' of First Communion

Tomasa continued to grow spiritually and humanly, dedicating much of her time to prayer and to helping poor children, the sick and the elderly. She was earnestly searching out God's will and kept alive in her heart the grace she received on the day of her First Communion: to belong completely to God.

Although Tomasa tried on two occasions to enter the cloistered community of Carmelite nuns in Valencia, her health would not permit her to remain. She took this as a sign that God was not directing her to monastic life, and continued to pray for the light to understand his will.

It was after a mystical experience of the Sacred Heart of Jesus during prayer that Tomasa realized God wanted her to begin a new congregation, and to do this she sought guidance from her confessor, Fr Gualtero de Castro.

Third Order Carmelite

In March 1884, with the authorization of the Bishop, Tomasa and three of her companions began living together as the "Community of the Third Order of Our Lady of Mt Carmel", establishing their residence near Alcantarilla. Tomasa took the name "Piety of the Cross" and together with her Sisters, she began to assist the sick and orphaned children in a small, nearby hospital.

With the entry to the Community of other young women, the living quarters became too small and Sr Piety of the Cross decided it was necessary to open another community in Caudete.

Man cannot destroy God's work

It was not long, however, before a certain "tension" grew between the two communities of Alcantarilla and Caudete, and in August, the Sisters in Caudete went to "claim" those of Alcantarilla in order to begin their own institute, leaving Sr Piety alone with one other resident, Sr Alfonsa. This was an extremely dark moment for Sr Piety, but she lived it in prayer and faith, saying that "if this is God's work, man can do nothing to destroy it".

In this time of trial and desolation, Sr Piety sought light and discernment from Bishop Bryan y Livermore, who suggested that she and Sr Alfonsa participate in a month-long spiritual retreat at the Salesian Convent of the Visitation in Orihuela, and during it to consider a new foundation. This retreat helped Sr Piety understand much more fully the charism God had given her, and also inspired the name of the new congregation that she was to found, under the protection of St Francis de Sales.

Foundress of Salesian Order

On 8 September 1890, the "Congregation of the Salesian Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus" was born, with the mandate to help orphaned children, the sick and the elderly and thus "making known to men and women, especially the poor, the Father's Providential Love as it is manifested in the merciful Heart of Jesus on the Cross".

Mother Piety invited her "daughters" to "give good example, to teach the 'Our Father' to those who are unfamiliar with this prayer, to stretch out their hands to those who have fallen and to have charity for the entire world".

The Salesian Congregation grew rapidly, and Mother Piety, who did not attribute this foundation or her work to her "poor" efforts but to God alone, would often say: "I am poor and when I have nothing to give to the poor I give them my soul, my heart and my love, since love is worth much more than money offerings".

Mother Piety of the Cross died on 26 February 1916.

SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/bios2004.htm#Piety

Blessed Antonia Mesina, 1919 -1935

Blessed Antonia Mesina

1919-1935

Antonia was born in Sardinia, the second-born of ten children. She was forced to leave elementary school, only after taking four years of classes, in order to take over the household duties from her mother, Grazia. She often called Antonia "the flower of my life."

Her mother developed a heart condition that precluded her from continuing to perform her domestic chores. Grazia claimed that Antonia "never once went against me". Antonia was obedient and hard working. She willingly and diligently performed her duties and took on responsibilities as if she were already an adult. For instance, she cooked, baked, cleaned, washed clothes, cared for the children, carried water into the house, and gathered wood for baking.

When she was ten years old, she joined a youth group called "Catholic Action". She thought it was a beautiful experience and said that it "helps one to be good". She was well-liked by her peers and encouraged others to join Catholic Action(even on the day of her death) because they received spiritual benefits from good works and received good catechesis. It is no wonder, she renounced her personal pleasures and sacrificed her wants for that of her family members needs and others.

While coming home from gathering wood in a forest with a friend, Antonia was attacked by a teenage boy from behind. The attacker grabbed her by her shoulders and tried to force her to the ground while her friend screamed and ran for help. Antonia managed to escape twice but was knocked down the third time and severely beaten on the head and face with a rock. Though mortally wounded, Antonia resisted the would-be rapist. At autopsy, the doctors determined that Antonia's body had not been sinfully violated. The beautiful and virtuous, Antonia, died a martyr of holy purity at age 16 similar to St. Maria Goretti who died at age twelve. Pope John Paul II beatified Antonia Mesina on Sunday, October 4, 1987. Pope John Paul II also beatified two other twentieth century laymen and martyrs, Blessed Marcel Callo and Blessed Pierina, during that same ceremony.

SOURCE: http://www.savior.org/saints/antonia.htm

Also known as

 Vitalii Bairak
 Vitalij Bajrak
 Volodomyr Bairak

Memorial

2 April

Profile

Greek Catholic. Joined the Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat monastery on 4 September 1924. Ordained on 13 August 1933. Prior of Drohobych in 1941. Arrested for his faith on 17 September 1945 by the NKVD. On 13 November 1945 his property was confiscated, and he was sentenced to eight years in a forced labour camp. Died in prison; martyr.

Born

24 February 1907 at Shvaikivtsy, Ternopil’s’ka oblast’, Ukraine

Died

beaten to death on 21 April in 1946 in prison at Drohobych, L’vivs’ka oblast’, Ukraine

Blessed Anna Rosa Gattorno, 1831 - 1900

From SQPN:

One of six children born to the wealthy, pious family of Francesco Benedetta and Adelaide Campanella Benedetta. Baptized the day after her birth, and confirmed at age 12. Educated at home, she was familiar with the politics and anti-clerical arguments of her day. Married to Gerolamo Custo on 5 November 1852. The couple first moved to Marseilles, France, but financial difficulties forced them to return to Genoa, Italy. Their oldest child was rendered deaf and mute by illness. Gerolamo died of natural causes on 9 March 1858, leaving Rose Maria a widow with three children; the youngest died a few months later of natural causes. While these miseries may have caused some to become angry with God, Rose Maria instead took them as a lesson, and an indication of vocation - she knew pain, poverty and trial, and was thus qualified to work with others experiencing them. Though she continued to provide for her children, she took private vows of chastity and obedience in 1858, a vow of poverty in 1861, and became a Franciscan tertiary. In 1862 she received the hidden stigmata.

Though she preferred silence and solitude, Catholic associations in Genoa began soliciting her help. President of the Pious Union of the New Ursuline Daughters of Holy Mary Immaculate, and revised its Rule. While working on it, she received a call to form her own congregation. Though she was encouraged by everyone, including the archbishop of Genoa, but she hesitated, fearing it would take her away from her children. She approached Pope Pius IX about it on 3 January 1866, hoping he would discourage the idea; he told her to begin work on it immediately. With Father Giovannio Battista Tornatore, she co-founded the Institute of the Daughters of Saint Anne, Mother of Mary Immaculate in Piacenza on 8 December 1866 with a mandate to work with the poor and sick. She took the habit of the Institute on 26 July 1867, and on 8 April 1870 she and twelve sisters made their solemn profession, during which she took the name Anna Rosa. The Institute received official approval in 1879, and its rule was approved in 1892. Worked with Blessed John Baptist Scalabrini. By her death there were 368 houses in Italy, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Eritrea, they had built hostels, schools and kindergartens, had 3500 sisters, and worked in a ministry to the deaf and mute. Today they are associated with the Movement of Hope, the Contemplative Order of the Daughters of Saint Anne, and the Sons of Saint Anne.

Born: 14 October 1831 at Genoa, Italy as Rose Maria Benedetta

Also known as

Edward Joseph Rosaz

Memorial

3 May

Profile

Ordained in 1854 at Nice, France. Worked in prison ministry at Seelsorger. Wrote a catechism. Founded a home for abused and abandoned children in 1856. Founded the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis of Susa. Bishop of Susa, Italy on 24 February 1878.

Born

15 February 1830 in Susa, Piedmont, Italy

Died

3 May 1903 in Susa, Piedmont, Italy

SOURCE: http://saints.sqpn.com/sainte4c.htm

Blessed Kliment Septyckyj, 1869 - 1951 

Blessed Archimandrite Clement Sheptytsky, the younger brother of Blessed Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky, was born on 17 November 1869 in the village of Prylbychi, Lviv Region. In 1911, at the age of 40, he entered the monastery of St Theodore the Studite; by so doing he renounced a promising secular career. He received his theological education in Innsbruck. On 28 August 1915 he was ordained to the priesthood. For a long time he was the Hegumenos (Prior) of the Studite monastery at Univ, and in 1944 he became the Archimandrite (Abbot). During World War II, he gave refuge to persecuted Jews. On 5 June 1947, he was arrested by the NKVD (KGB) agents and sentenced to eight years of hard labour. He died a martyr for the faith on 1 May 1951 in the Vladimir prison.

SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/bios2001.htm#Clement

A Sketch of the Life of the 
Life of Pauline von Mallinckrodt

Blessed Jozef Cebula, O.M.I.
Born: March 23, 1902, Malnia, Poland
Ordination: June 5, 1927
Ministry: Taught in Minor Seminary, Lubliniec, 1923-1931, where he was Superior, 1931-1937; Superior & Novice Master, Markowice 1937-1941.
Death: Arrested by Nazi SS April 2, 1941; shot “while trying to escape” May 9, 1941
Beatification: June 13, 1999, Warsaw, Poland

Unconditional love for God was demonstrated by the life – and death – of Blessed Jozef Cebula, a Polish Oblate killed in the Mauthausen concentration camp near Austria during World War II.

His priestly ministry was his life’s work, even if his final 21 days on Earth were lived in misery. On April 18, 1941, he was taken by the Nazis to the Mauthausen concentration camp, where he was harassed simply because he was a priest.

Fr. Cebula was forced to carry 60-pound rocks from a quarry to a camp two miles away. He had to climb a 144-step staircase called the Death Stairs, while being beaten and insulted by his tormentors. Two arduous trips were all he could make.

Summoning his remaining strength, Fr. Cebula suddenly raised his voice and said: “It is not you who are in charge. God will judge you.” He was ordered to run with the rock on his back, towards the camp’s barbed wire fence. A guard fired with his submachine gun and declared that Jozef “was shot while attempting to escape.” His body was taken to the crematorium and burnt. It was Friday, May 9, 1941.

Blessed Cebula was born into a modest family on March 23, 1902. As a youth, he suffered from tuberculosis and was in fact declared incurable. After an unexpected recovery, he visited an Oblate shrine where he shared his story with Fr. Jan Pawolik, O.M.I., who later died in Auschwitz. Fr. Pawolek advised Jozef to study with the Oblates at a newly established Oblate seminary.

Following ordination to the Oblate priesthood in 1927, Fr. Cebula spent much of his ministry teaching Oblate seminarians. In 1937, he became novice master at Markowice where his humility and gentleness were noteworthy. When the Nazis occupied Poland, they declared loyalty to the Church illegal. All Church associations were forbidden, and many priests were arrested.

On May 4, 1940, the Oblate novices at Markowice were arrested by the Nazis and sent to the concentration camp at Dachau, Bavaria. Fr. Cebula was able to continue his priestly ministries in secrecy, despite the ban on it, for nearly a year before being arrested and detained at the Mauthausen camp.

Known for his humility, Fr. Jozef was a man of quiet prayer with a deep spiritual life. He radiated peace in the very middle of the death camp, even when tormented by the Nazis. In recognition of his heroic life and death, Fr. Cebula was beatified by Pope John Paul II during a ceremony held in Poland on June 13, 1999.

Today, Fr. Cebula’s Oblate Cross and a stone from the quarry at Mauthausen, a testament to his forced labor, rest in the church at Markowice. It is the same church where, near the end of his life, Cebula celebrated the sacraments in secret. It is also the site of the novitiate where he spent the last four years of his life as novice master. We know his spirit rests there, in the place he once called home.
 

SOURCE: http://www.oblatesusa.org/images/oblates/2005/Oblate%20Profileso.htm

Blessed Maria Antonia Bandrés y Elósegui, 1898 - 1919

... born in Tolosa (Guipuzcoa), Spain, on 6 March 1898, the second of 15 children of the attorney Ramon Bandres and Teresa Elosegui. From her earliest years she went to the school of the Daughters of Jesus (Hijas de Jesus) in Tolosa, founded by Mother Candida Maria de Jesus. To her younger brothers and sisters she was an exemplary model of virtue. She belonged to a well-to-do family, but she reached out to the poor and needy in the suburbs of Tolosa. With women workers she carried out an apostolate of evangelization and social assistance, something rarely done in those times.

She entered the Congregation of the Daughters of Jesus on 8 December 1915 in Salamanca, and on 31 May 1918 she made her religious vows. Never of robust health, she began to weaken and soon was taken very ill. During her sickness she was treated by Dr Filiberto Villalobos, who later testified that he was "deeply moved by her faith and serenity of spirit, which made her very happy in the last moments of her life". This doctor, a friend of Miguel de Unamuno and Indalecio Prieto, commenting to them about the attitude of Maria Antonia, exclaimed: "How mistaken we are about life! This, yes, this is what dying means...".

Maria Antonia's death profoundly touched the heart of these intellectual agnostics and stirred in them disquieting questions. Seeing the 21-year-old Maria Antonia Bandres die with the security of "knowing where she was going", according to Unamuno's expression, made a tremendous impact, and all of them have left oral or written testimonies about it.

God accepted the offering that this young Daughter of Jesus made of her life for the conversion and eternal salvation of her uncle and godfather, Antonio Bandres, who was I living contrary to Christian faith and morals. She died in Salamanca on 27 April 1919, the feast of Our Lady of Montserrat, while singing and calling upon Mary as "Mother of mercy".

Maria Antonia Bandres, a woman endowed with deep humanity, was sensitive to the love of her family and friends in the world and in religious life. Always open to the grace and love of God, she was able to suffer with a smile. Then God permeated the deepest core of her littleness and ushered her into the mystery of the Father's love.

The life of this young religious is a marvellous witness to divine grace, which seeks out the simple-hearted. In her shines forth the beauty of a life totally consecrated to God.

Source: http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/bios96.htm#elosegui

Blessed Julio Junyer Padern, 1892-1938

A native of Vilamaniscle, Spain, Father Julio Junyer Padern was a Salesian priest known for his zealous and energetic dedication to his priestly duties. He provided spiritual direction to numerous religious of the various congregations dispersed by the Spanish Civil War. It was Father Junyer’s very active apostolate that exposed him to the danger of being arrested by the forces of the anti-Catholic Popular Front. For a time, he took refuge with two other Catholic “fugitives” in the home of a sympathetic Catholic woman in Gerona. Eventually, Father Junyer was captured and condemned to death under the false charges of espionage and high treason. He was brought to a fortress at Montjuic to be executed there. Just before dying on April 26, 1938, Father Junyer blessed the marriage of a couple condemned to die with him.

Source: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5763

 

Blessed Giovanni Piamarta, 1841 -1913

A priest of the diocese of Brescia; founder, Congregation of the Holy Family. Born November 26, 1841 in Brescia, Italy.

Comment:
Blessed John Piamarta (1841-1913) was born in Brescia on November 26, 1841 and, after an adolescence made difficult by the economic conditions of the family, he was ordained priest on December 24, 1865. He is known as the founder of Artigianelli, a work dedicated to youth. He was born, in fact, to meet the material and spiritual needs of young people who went to work in Brescia. Raccoglieva the legacy of the Children of Mary Immaculate founded by Blessed Lodovico Pavoni. Piamarta and his friend Pedro Kids - with whom he shared the pastoral experience nell'oratorio Brescia - put the work under the protection of Saints Philip Blacks and Luigi Gonzaga. To continue the work, Pia Piamarta founded a society of priests, clerics and brothers and a congregation of women, the Poor Servants of the Holy Family of Nazareth. In 1926 his body was translated in the church of Artigianelli, and its Opera has also expanded abroad, has many homes and hundreds of members. He was beatified by Pope John
Paul II on October 12, 1997.

Blessed Enrico Rebuschini, 1860 - 1938

BL. ENRICO REBUSCHINI was born on 25 April 1860 in Gravedona, on Lake Como, Italy, to a wealthy family. He was sensitive to the needy and was so generous that he would give away all he had, to the last penny. He felt called to the priesthood and the consecrated life but was firmly opposed by his father. After a year studying at Pavia University, he could no longer tolerate the anti-clerical environment and returned to Como. Military service, a diploma in accountancy and two years' in his brother-in-law's silk factory could not deter him from following his vocation. The Diocese sent him to Rome where he attended the Pontifical Gregorian University and made an excellent impression there. But becoming gravely ill he had to return home. He recovered and embarked on a life of rigorous asceticism. He clearly perceived his objective: the gift of himself to God, a life constantly oriented to the Lord. He also became aware of his neighbours' needs, and for them resolved to develop the virtues of listening and service, seeing in them God himself. Enrico had always had a strong inclination to care for the sick, so in 1887 he joined the novitiate of the Camillians, Servants of the Sick, in Verona. He was ordained a priest by the future Pope St Pius X on 14 April 1889. He was sent to Verona's civil and military hospital (1891-1899) and then to the Cremona community where he lived until his death. From 1903 to 1937 he was administrator of the new St Camillus clinic and for 11 years, superior of his house. In all his free moments he would retire to pray; God had blessed him with the gift of contemplative prayer. As he walked through the streets of Cremona, people "saw" that he was holy and called him the "mystic of the streets". During his 49 years as a priest, Fr Rebuschini served the sick, even to the very end. After celebrating Mass for a sick person he felt ill, and he died a few days later on 10 May 1938, from bronchial-pneumonia

SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/bios97.htm#rebuschini

He was born in Dwikozy in 1898. He went to school in Sandomierz and Janów Lubelski. He took holy orders in the Sandomierz Cathedral on 12 October 1921. He was a journalist, writer, columnist and translator. He died on 9 May 1941. He was beatified on 13 June 1999. SOURCE

I believe he and Blessed Kazimierz Grelewski were brothers - but I am not sure... Anyone?

Blessed Antonin Jan Eugenius Bajewski, 1915 - 1941

From SQPN's entry on the 108 Martyrs of Poland:

Jan Antonin Bajewski, friar, priest (1915-1941 KL Auschwitz); Franciscans of Niepokalanow. These were the closest collaborators of St Maximilian Kolbe in the fight for God’s cause and together suffered and helped each other spiritually in their offering their lives at Auschwitz