Małgorzata Łucja Szewczyk

Małgorzata Łucja Szewczyk (1828–1905)

Małgorzata Łucja Szewczyk (* 1828 in Szepetówka , Russian Empire , today Ukraine ; † June 5, 1905 in Nieszawa , Congress Poland ) was a Roman Catholic nun and founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of Sorrows. In the Catholic Church she is venerated as a blessed.

Life

Małgorzata Szewczyk was born in Szepetówka in today's Ukraine in 1828 . Her parents were Johann and Marianna Szewczyk. She had a half-sister from her father's first marriage, whose wife had died. She lost her parents early on, her father in 1835 and mother in 1837, which is why her half-sister, who was already married, took care of her upbringing. From her Małgorzata learned to read, write and arithmetic and was also instructed in the catechism by her. Between 1837 and 1840 she received First Communion and the sacrament of Confirmation.

Małgorzata recognized her vocation to religious life and entered the Third Order of St. Francis of Assisi in the Zasław Monastery in 1848 . Because of the political situation in occupied Poland, she could not join any sister community. In 1870 she went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Julia Sowińska to strengthen their faith and their relationship with God. First we went from Szepetówka to Odessa on foot. From Odessa they traveled on a ship to Haifa and from there to Jerusalem . For three years she took care of the poor and needy in the Franciscan monastery. She also went to Nazareth for a while and visited many places in Israel and Palestine related to the lives of Jesus and Mary. Moved and moved by the experiences in Israel, she decided to dedicate her life to the poor, the sick and the needy. During the return trip to Poland, she also visited Loreto in Italy. After arriving in Poland, she spoke to a confessor, Capuchin Father Honorat Koźmiński , who encouraged her to make a decision. This encounter took place in Zakroczym in the autumn of 1873 and since then the priest has accompanied her spiritually, while she lived and worked in an orphanage from 1873 to 1878.

The first step that Małgorzata took in 1880 was to take two poor and sick elderly women into her apartment. She looked after the two women in secret, because charitable and church activities were forbidden by order of the Russian tsar, who ruled Poland at the time. A short time later, other women joined her, so she soon rented another apartment in Warsaw. Later on, the number of women kept increasing, so she decided to buy a new house with a garden. On April 18, 1881, on the advice of Father Koźmiński, she founded a new religious community whose aim was to help the poor and most needy. So she founded the community of Sisters of the Poor and took the religious name Łucja herself. At the same time she became superior of the new community. In 1891 the community was renamed the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of Sorrows, who also call themselves Seraphic Sisters. Other houses were founded, including in Czestochowa , Hałcnów and Auschwitz , where the sisters took care of the poor and needy.

On April 27, 1904, an illness forced Mother Łucja to resign from the office of Superior General. Mother Łucja spent the last months of her life in Nieszawa. Her self-sacrificing work and service to her neighbor had depleted her health and towards the end of her life she suffered from kidney disease. She died in Nieszawa on the morning of June 5, 1905. There she was buried in the parish cemetery.

On November 16, 1931, the church authorities approved the transfer of her remains, first to the cemetery in Auschwitz and in 1951 to the monastery church of the Order in Auschwitz.

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  Exterior view of the monastery church of the Seraphic Sisters in Auschwitz

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  Interior view of the monastery church; on the left side altar is the Shrine of the Blessed

beatification

Celebration of the beatification in 2013 in the Shrine of Divine Mercy, Krakow

The beatification process began on August 25, 1993. On December 19, 2011 she received from Pope Benedict XVI. awarded the title "Venerable Servant of God". Pope Benedict XVI approved the beatification on December 20, 2012, which took place on June 9, 2013 in the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy in Krakow by Cardinal Angelo Amato.

Remembrance day

Her feast day in the liturgy of the Church is the anniversary of her death, June 5th .

Web links

• - Biography of Małgorzata Łucja Szewczyk on the website of the Congregation (pol.)
• - Biography of Małgorzata Łucja Szewczyk on santiebeati.it (ital.)