Maria Angela Truszkowska

Blessed Maria Angela Truszkowska

Maria Angela (Sofia Camilla) Truszkowska (born May 16, 1825 in Kalisz , Poland , † October 10, 1899 in Krakow , Poland) was a religious sister of the Roman Catholic Church and founder of the order of the Sisters of St. Felix of Cantalice .

Life

Sofia Camilla Truszkowska was the eldest daughter of the couple Josef Truszkowski and Josefa Rudzinska. Her father came from a noble family and was a lawyer . Her baptismal name was set to Sofia Camilla when she was baptized on January 1, 1826. (As a religious sister she later chose the name Maria Angela.) In 1837 the family moved to Warsaw and Sofia attended the famous academy of Madame Guerin . Her teacher Jachowicz exerted further influence on her selflessness. When she fell ill with tuberculosis at the age of 16 , she spent a year at a spa in Switzerland . After her return, the thought grew in her to join the religious order of the Visitantinnen . Her father's illness prevented this step and in 1849 she drove to Salzbrunn with her father . During a visit to Cologne Cathedral , she made a silent prayer decision not to join the sisters. In Warsaw she continued to care for her father and spent a lot of time visiting the sick and the poor. Since 1854 she supported the Vincentian Sisters , rented an apartment and gave orphans a place to stay.

Life in the religious community

In 1855 she joined the Franciscan Terzian Sisters and took the name Angela. Since then she has been in close spiritual contact with her spiritual father Honorat Koźmiński (1829–1916). She moved with her cousin Klothilde into a home she had built and looked after abandoned children. On November 21, 1855, the two women decided to put their lives in the service of God, this day is also considered the foundation day of the new congregation. Sister Kunigunde followed in 1856 as the third candidate. With the help of the Capuchin Provincial , Father Benjamin Szymanski , the community received ecclesiastical approval . Mother Kunigunde was elected first superior , while mother Angela acted as novice master . On April 10, 1857, a total of 10 nuns put on their own vestments and constituted their religious community. Since all the sisters added the first name of the Virgin Mary to their religious name , she was now called Maria Angela, but was only called “Mother Angela”.

General Superior

The new religious community later gave itself the name “Sisters of St. Felix von Cantalice ”, which earned them the name“ Felizians ”. In 1860 the women's order split into an active and a contemplative branch. Mother Angela was elected Superior General of both branches and confirmed in office in 1864 and 1868. On December 16, 1864, the Russian government banned the religious community in Poland. The sisters fled to Krakow , in the part of Poland that belonged to Austria . Mother Angela found temporary accommodation with the St. Bernard sisters as an exam sister . On May 17, 1866, she returned to Cracow and in 1868, after being re-elected as Superior General, took the perpetual vows of the order .

Reliquary of Blessed Maria Angela Truszkowska

Sickness, death and beatification

In 1869 she resigned all obligations for health reasons. At the age of 44, her illness led to deafness , and from then on she lived in complete isolation in Kraków for 30 years. An emerging stomach cancer in the years 1872–1874 led her deeper and deeper into physical and psychological suffering. In 1899, three months before her death, she was still able to obtain papal approvals from the Sisters of St. Experience Felix of Cantalice. Mother Angela died on October 10, 1899 in Krakow and was buried in the Church of the Felician Sisters in Krakow. Soon afterwards, the devotion to Mother Angela began throughout Poland and the call for canonization was loud. Maria Angela Truszkowska was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 18, 1993 , her feast day was set on October 10.

literature

• Andreas Resch : The Blessed John Paul II. 1991-1995 , Resch-Verlag, Innsbruck 2008, ISBN 978-3-85382-083-4
• Maria Angela Truszkowska, Matka Angela , Edizioni Paoline, Rome, 1968 (Polish)

Web links

• Andreas Resch: The Blessed John Paul II. 1991-1995
• Entry in the dictionary of saints
• Address of John Paul II to the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Felix von Cantalice (Felizians) on the occasion of their General Chapter (June 16, 2000)
• Biography (polish)

Individual evidence

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