On two days in mid-July, 1943, the Nazis rounded up 120 men to be executed. The women of the town came to the sisters, desperately seeking prayers for the release of their family members. The sisters prayed on the matter, and in turn unanimously decided they would offer their own lives in sacrifice in place of the prisoners.
Sister Stella, the superior, told Father Zienkiewicz , the parish pastor, of their decision, saying: “My God, if sacrifice of life is needed, accept it from us and spare those who have families. We are even praying for this intention.” Interestingly, the German army changed their plan afterward, and the prisoners were sent to work camps instead of being killed. Later, when Father Zienkiewicz’s life was threatened, the sisters again offered their lives, saying: “There is a greater need for a priest on this earth than for us. We pray that God will take us in his place, if sacrifice of life is needed.”
On the evening of July 31, 1943 the Gestapo ordered the sisters to report to the local police station, without giving a reason. In the early morning hours of the next day, they nuns were taken by van to a secluded forest three miles outside of town. There, the soldiers lined the sisters up and executed them by gunning them down, then buried them in a mass grave.
Sister Malgorzata Bana was the only survivor from the community. Dressed in street clothes because of her job at a local hospital, Sister Stella had asked her to stay behind on the day of the summons to care for the parish and the pastor if anything bad should happen. It was three days before Sister Malgorzata or anyone else found out what had happened to the sisters. Eventually, she located their gravesite, and tended to it until she died.
In 1966, the sisters’ bodies were exhumed. They were given a proper funeral Mass and moved to the cemetery in the Church of the Transfiguration in town.
The names of the Sisters who were martyred are:
- Sister M Stella of the Blessed Sacrament, C.S.F.N., Superior; born Adelaide Mardosewicz, 54 years old
- Sister M Imelda of the Eucharistic Jesus, C.S.F.N.; born Jadwiga Karolina Żak, 50 years old
- Sister M Rajmunda of Jesus, C.S.F.N.; born Anna Kukołowicz, 50 years old
- Sister M Daniela of Jesus, C.S.F.N.; born Eleonora Aniela Jóźwik, 48 years old
- Sister M Kanuta of the Agonized Jesus in the Garden, C.S.F.N.; born Józefa Chrobot, 47 years old
- Sister M Gwidona of Divine Mercy, C.S.F.N.; born Helena Cierpka, 43 years old
- Sister M Sergia of Our Lady of Sorrows, C.S.F.N; born Julia Rapiej, 42 years old
- Sister M Kanizja, C.S.F.N.; born Eugenia Mackiewicz, 39 years old
- Sister M Felicyta, C.S.F.N.; born Paulina Borowik, 37 years old
- Sister M Heliodora, C.S.F.N.; born Leokadia Matuszewska, 37 years old
- Sister M Boromea, C.S.F.N.; born Veronika Narmontowicz, 26 years old
Go here to read the rest.
This is a sacrificial intention completely foreign to the corrupted culture of today. Would any of the pantsuited “Nuns on the Buss” types be willing to do what these women did? Their recent behavior suggests not, but I could be wrong. I am sure, however, that these martyrs are mostly forgotten in what passes for today’s institutional Church.
Blessed Martyrs of Nowogrodek, pray for us!
Indeed Frank. And I’ll add that the Church at the time has being accused, ongoing, for turning a blind eye to the Nazi regime in WW2. These nuns are a testament to the suffering the Faithful and religious endured at the hands of the Nazis. Blessed Martyrs of Nowogrodek, pray for us!
And I’ll add that the Church at the time has being accused, ongoing, for turning a blind eye to the Nazi regime in WW2
Only after the Soviets paid to have a guy make a stage play accusing that; at the time, the Church was praised for their action. Including by the head Rabbi of Rome. (Who swore his later conversion had nothing to do with it.)
It was exactly to destroy this kind of witness that the lie was born.
“I am sure, however, that these martyrs are mostly forgotten in what passes for today’s institutional Church.”
I’m 57 years old, been a practicing/active Catholic all my life and I don’t recall ever having heard of them before today so you’re probably right.
“An affectionate moniker, the prie-dieux , or ‘the kneelers’ was bestowed upon them, as the nuns could often be found in the local Church of the Transfiguration kneeling at the left side of the Altar in prayer. To watch the sisters ascend the steep hill to get to the church was an equally awe-inspiring sight, as Maria Starzynska wrote in 1992, ‘it seemed as though they were gliding along, almost as if they were flying up the hill like birds. Perhaps their wide habits, their pleated collars, and their windblown veils made them look so picturesque.’
…
These nuns of Nowogrodek, these eleven prie-dieux, were among the first Catholic martyrs to be beatified in the Jubilee Year. It is only fitting that a that a pontiff from their homeland, one who risked the wrath of the Nazis by secretly studying for the priesthood, could bestow this honor upon them and help to perpetuate the memory of their saintly sacrifice.”
– Kathryn Lively in “Saints of the Jubilee”
https://www.amazon.com/Saints-Jubilee-Tim-Drake/dp/1403310092
“at the time, the Church was praised for their action. Including by the head Rabbi of Rome.”- wouldn’t be surprised Foxfier. Will read up on this.
I’ve learned so much from reading this blog, especially “meeting” heavenly friends and advocates like these good sisters, whom I’ve never heard of otherwise. Blessed be God in His Angels and Saints
Thank you, Don!
Here’s a post with a bunch of links to start with:
https://the-american-catholic.com/2019/03/06/hitlers-pope/
I was pretty salty about nobody seeing fit to tell us this stuff when I was a kid getting hit with variations of “Catholics are evil because they didn’t stop Hitler.”
Awesome – Thanks for this Foxfier.
THE SCARLET AND THE BLACK This film was a teaching tool in the early 1990s. My son was so impressed with the film that he asked his 8th grade religion teacher if he could borrow the video to show our family. “The Scarlet and the Black is a 1983 American made-for-television historical war drama film directed by Jerry London, and starring Gregory Peck and Christopher Plummer. Based on J. P. Gallagher’s book The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican (published in 1967), the film tells the story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, a real-life Irish Catholic priest who saved thousands of Jews and escaped Allied POWs in Rome. It was directed by Jerry London. CBS distributed more than 500,000 scripts of The Scarlet and the Black to students in elementary and high schools throughout the country, to be read aloud in class to stimulate student interest in English and history. The title The Scarlet and the Black is a reference not only to the black cassock and scarlet sash worn by Monsignores and bishops in the Catholic Church, but also to the dominant colors of Nazi Party regalia”.
Fast forward to the early 2000s our resident priest at the mission screened the movie for everyone in the congregation and told us that the Chief rabbi in Rome became Catholic post WWII based on Monsignor O’Flaherty and Pope Pius XXII aiding the Jews of Rome from capture and worse by the SS.
In reading the film’s plot today to refresh my memory only Wikipedia mentioned the Jews. Other reviews only mentioned the Allied soldiers as being saved.
Re the martyred Sisters of Nowogrodek, not much detailed information was available about Catholic heroes and martyrs in Eastern Europe until some time after the Iron Curtain was lifted.