During this mass, we remember, in a special way, one person who guarded the ways of the Eternal Wisdom and found the life and grace with God.
Forty five years ago, the God’s Servant, Boleslava Lament died here in Bialystok. She founded the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Family. Today, she became one of the blessed in the church. This daughter of the Łowicz city was called by God to establish Catholic dorms and other places of spiritual care in a distant Petersburg, Mogilev, and Żytomierz. After World War I, she sent her sisters to serve God in Pińsk, Białystok, and Vilnius. Many times, her work was challenged by countless obstacles. Twice, she lived through the total loss of everything the congregation had. Often, she and her sisters would go hungry and homeless. In those times, she would gain her strength through the prayer taken from Ignatius’s spirituality, “Everything for the greater Glory of God.” The last five years of her life, she spent being paralyzed, but also patient and prayerful.
During her whole life, Blessed Boleslava was extremely compassionate toward poor people. She was moved with the fate of those discriminated by society, addicts, and even criminals.
She was holding herself responsible for the whole church and felt the lack of the unity in Christ’s church. In her own life, Boleslava experienced various differences between nationalities and religions. Political situation at that time would deepen even more those differences. Therefore, the main goal of her personal as well as her congregation’s life was to work toward the unity of the church. She desired the same unity as Jesus when He prayed during the Last Supper: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one.”
Mother Lament worked toward the unity of the church especially in places where the division was extremely visible. She was not afraid of trying anything that would strengthen the faith and ignite the love of God in the hearts of people. She would do everything to bring together Catholics and orthodox Christians. She used to say: “…may we all love one another and become one… .” Mother Boleslava felt that the work toward the unity of the Church, especially on Soviet Union territories, was a special grace of Divine Providence. Her tireless service for the unity of the Church proved that, long before the Vatican Council II, Boleslava became the ecumenical servant in her everyday life through love.
Starting today, God’s people in Poland and places of Boleslava’s apostolic work may call for an intercession of Blessed Boleslava in the liturgical prayer of the Church. They should also follow the example of her life.[1]
Saint Pope John Paul II
Bialystok is in the Northeastern part of Poland very near the Russian border. Often the Tatars (Tartars) invaded and raped and sacked the towns. The Tatars were barbarians. They took some Poles as slaves or prisoners, Now, there resides in Russia many people of Polish descent.