Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 4:04am

Saint of the Day Quote: Blesssed Karolina Kozka

 

 

Karolina Kózka was born on 2 August 1898 in a hamlet near the village of Zabawa, Lesser Poland, at that time occupied by Austria-Hungary. She was the fourth of eleven children born to peasant farmers, Jan Kózka and Maria BorzÄ™cka. She was baptized on 7 August at the local parish church of Saint John the Baptist.[1][3] Her childhood was spent on the family farm. From 1906 until 1912 she attended the local primary school and had further part-time schooling from 1912 to 1913.[3] She would often gather neighbours and relatives and invite them to read the Bible together under a pear tree near her home. Kózka loved reciting the rosary using beads her mother had given her. She would fall asleep praying to Mary.[1] Kózka would pray on her long walk to Mass. Her uncle Franciszek BorzÄ™cki was an inspiration to her and she would help him in his role of librarian. She also helped out teaching the catechism to children of the parish. During Lent she would lead her family in singing about the Passion of the Lord and at Christmas would intone carols. Some of the villagers referred to her home as “the little church”.[2]

Kózka received her First Communion in 1907. She was confirmed on 18 May 1914. She is said to have had a particular devotion to the Mother of God evidenced by her custom to recite the rosary deep into the night. In 1914 with the outbreak of World War I Russian forces began occupying Polish towns and cities under Austrian rule and in mid-November entered Wał-Ruda. Tensions grew as stories swirled about soldiers looting and raping women which exacerbated fear in the area. At the start of the occupation a Russian soldier come to the Kózka farm but he left after he was offered a meal.[2]

On 18 November 1914 at around 9.00 in the morning an armed Russian soldier came to the house asking questions about Austrian forces before ordering Kózka and his daughter to accompany him to the commanding officer. When the pair and the soldier reached the edge of the forest the soldier ordered the father to return home, which he did reluctantly, leaving his daughter with the Russian. Two Polish men, Franciszek ZaleÅ›ny and Franciszek Broda, were in the vicinity and witnessed from behind the bushes, the soldier’s attack on the Kózka daughter. From their account, the soldier attempted to force himself upon her but she struggled and thwarted his attempted rape. Enraged, the soldier then stabbed her with his bayonet multiple times.[2] She managed to escape and ran some 800 meters towards nearby swamps which saved her from further attacks. The soldier saw her fall and gave up the chase believing her to be dead. However it would have been too late to save her as her carotid artery had been slit and she consequently bled to death in the swamps, some time before 9.40.[1][3] In the event, it was not until 4 December 1914 that her body was found and she was buried on 6 December with around 3000 people attending her funeral.[1]

The beatification process opened in Tarnów diocese with an informative process on 11 February 1965 which later closed in 1967 before all the documents were sent to Rome for further assessment. Her writings received theological approval on 10 September 1977 before the formal introduction to the cause was given on 4 March 1981 when she was raised to a Servant of God. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints validated this informative process on 20 September 1982 before receiving the Positio in 1983. Theologians approved this on 22 January 1985 as did the C.C.S. on 7 May 1985.

On 30 June 1986 her beatification received papal approval after Pope John Paul II confirmed that Kózka was killed “in defensum castitatis” – in defence of her virginal state – and beatified her in Tarnów while visiting Poland on 10 June 1987.

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Penguins Fan
Penguins Fan
Friday, November 18, AD 2022 7:55am

Thank you for this. I was unaware of this young martyr for the faith.
Sorry to bring politics i to this, but…
Rancid behavior by Russian soldiers is not limited to any particular era.
The rapes committed by the Red Army on German women is well known. They did it to Polish women on their way to Berlin.
My grwatgrandfather told his grandchildren of the rotten Russian nobles when he was a boy in Russian controlled Poland before WWI.
TVP has daily updates of the Russian invasion, reporting the grisly human rights violations that Russians have committed against Ukrainian civilians that outlets like Breitbart, American Greatness and Townhall Media ignore because they hate Zelensky and view him as a Biden puppet.
Bog
Honor
Ojczyzna

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