Martyrs and Religious (d. 1942)
Their story
+ Kazimiera Wołowska was born in Lublin, Poland, in 1879, and Bogumiła Noiszewska was born in Osaniszki, Lithuania, in 1885. As young women, they entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Kazimiera became known as Sister Maria Marta of Jesus and Bogumiła received the religious name Sister Maria Eva of Providence.
+ Together with other sisters from their congregation, they dedicated their lives to caring for children in shelters, orphanages, and schools organized by their community.
+ The year 1939 found both sisters serving in the parish in Słonim, Belarus. With the help of their pastor, Father Adam Sztark, S.J., they began sheltering Jewish children in the convent, helping them escape certain death at the hands of the Nazis.
+ On December 19, 1942, these two sisters, along with Father Sztark, were arrested by the Gestapo and immediately executed. Sisters Maria Marta and Maria Eva were beatified in 1999 with 106 other Polish martyrs of the Second World War. The cause for the beatification of Father Sztark is being promoted by the Society of Jesus.
For prayer and reflection
O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.
Prayer
O God, who through the child-bearing of the holy Virgin
graciously revealed the radiance of your glory to the world,
grant, we pray,
that we may venerate with integrity of faith
the mystery of so wondrous an Incarnation
and always celebrate it with due reverence.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal—Collect for December 19)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
And today we celebrate...