Marcelina Darowska

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Marcelina Darowska in traditional costume

Marcelina Darowska (also written Marcellina , born January 16, 1827 in Szulaki (then Poland under Russian occupation, now Ukraine ); † January 5, 1911 in Jazłowiec (now Yazlovets , Ukraine)) was a Polish nun who was born in 1996 by Pope John Paul II. on the St. Peter's Square in Rome beatified was. She was the co-founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary ( abbreviation : CSIC), a Catholic women's order ( Congregation of Papal Law ) that is active today in Poland, Belarus and the Ukraine.

Childhood and marriage

Marcelina Kotowicz was born in Szulaki, which was then occupied by the Russians, as the daughter of the wealthy landowners Jan and Maksymilia Kotowicz. Even as a child, she is said to have been very religious. At the age of twelve she was sent to a school in Odessa for three years . Later she worked in her father's estate management. Since her father did not share his daughter's piety, legend has it that he made her promise to marry and start a family before his death. On October 2, 1849, after a long and serious illness, they married Karol Darowski, a landowner from the then Podolia governorate . But as early as 1852 Darowski died of typhus , leaving behind a 25-year-old widow with the children Josef and Karolina. After her son died a few months later, Darowska is said to have promised herself to Saint Mary by swearing that he would no longer belong to a person (in Italian: "a creature" - di non appartenere più ad alcuna creatura ).

For health reasons, she first went to Berlin, later to Paris and finally she reached Rome on April 11, 1853.

Life as a religious

In Rome she met the priest Hieronym Kajsiewicz , a resurrectionist who became her spiritual mentor. On May 12, 1854, Darowska took the vow before him. Kasjewicz also mediated the acquaintance of the nun Józefa Karska , who was to become a close friend. The two came up with the idea of ​​founding a congregation dedicated to the education and support of Polish women. The new organization, the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary , was founded in Rome in 1857 and initially consisted of only four members. After Karska died of typhus in 1860, Darowska took over the management of the community. In 1863 she moved to her Polish homeland, to Jazłowiec in the diocese of Lemberg , and opened the monastery convent and a first secondary school for girls in the castle ruins that had been left to her . The community received the Pope's Decretum laudis in 1863 and final approbation in 1874. In 1889 the constitutions were approved. The statue of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady in the monastery chapel in Jazłowiec was blessed by Archbishop Sigismund Felix Feliński in 1883 and crowned in 1939 by the Polish primate August Hlond .

In the course of her 50 years as head of the order, Darowska was able to expand the range of activities to kindergartens and primary schools in rural areas in addition to founding further monasteries. Marcelina Darowska, who suffered from severe circulatory problems and headaches in old age, died on January 5, 1911. At the time, the community she founded had seven branches and consisted of 350 sisters.

Approach and Importance

The idea of ​​training girls and young women was based on Darowska's idea that the woman and mother are the driving force behind the creation and maintenance of the family and thus a functioning society. The life of the nuns as well as the pupils should therefore be determined by the divine commandments to love the truth, trust and selflessness. The young people trained in the religious institutions (today both sexes) should and should be brought up to be pious, compassionate and conscientious members of society.

In 1904 the Polish poet Henryk Sienkiewicz paid tribute to Darowska on the occasion of the jubilee of the order in a letter to Darowska: "... you are praised for your wise work and honor is due to your achievements and your piety". She replied: "... I do not pay attention to the (good) results of our work, because they do not belong to us. Should they exist, they belong to God for the good of our beloved and torn fatherland ".

“ ... to carry the Kingdom of God into the souls of men and thus to bring it into the world - that was the idea of ​​their apostolic work, which grew out of prayer in the quiet of one heart. She wanted to do everything possible to let truth, love and godliness triumph in human life and thus change the face of the nation she loved (meaning Poland, author's note) . Together with her religious sisters, she worked tirelessly to realize the goal of creating the kingdom of Jesus on earth; with a focus on the Christian education of the younger generations, especially girls. She formulated the outstanding role of Christian women as wives, mothers and citizens of a country .... The now blessed is an example of the apostolic faith, which in the name of the Catholic Church new ways of being in the world and creating a more just and humane society Christ enables ... "

- Pope John Paul II, excerpt from the proclamation for the beatification of Marcelina Darowska on October 6, 1996

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ a b according to Entry in Heiligenlexikon.de
  2. ↑ according to Edmundrice.net ( Memento of the original from August 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / edmundrice.net
  3. ↑ according to Bernhard Stasiewski, A Thousand Years of Polish Church History , in: Church in the East (10th volume), Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1967, p. 60
  4. ↑ Polish: Zgromadzenie Sióstr Niepokalanego Poczęcia Najświętszej Marii Panny ; Latin: Congregatio Sororum Immaculatae Conceptionis Beatae Virginis Mariae (CSIC)
  5. ↑ a b according to Antonio Borrelli, Beata Marcellina Darowska (Maria Marcellina dell'Immacolata Concezione) Fondatrice at Santiebeati.it (in Italian)
  6. ↑ Józefa Karska (religious name: Maria Józefa of the crucified Jesus , born April 7, 1823 in Olchowiec in the Lublin Voivodeship (Poland); † October 11, 1860 in Rome)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Darowska, Marcelina
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish nun and founder of the order
DATE OF BIRTH January 16, 1827
PLACE OF BIRTH Szulaki , Poland, now Ukraine
DATE OF DEATH January 5, 1911
Place of death Jazłowiec , today Yazlovets, Ukraine