Marcelina Darowska
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 in 1996 by Pope John Paul II was beatified in St. Peter's Square in Rome. She was the co-founder of the Order of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a Catholic order of nuns, who has worked in Poland, Belarus and Ukraine today.
Childhood and marriage
Marcelina Kotowicz was born in what was then Russian-occupied Szulaki as the daughter of a wealthy landowner couple Jan and Maksymilia Kotowicz. Even as a child she was said to be very religious. At the age of twelve, she was sent for three years at a school in Odessa. Later she worked in his father's estate administration. As her father did not share the devotion of his daughter, he is said to have taken her in legend before his death, the promise to marry and to found a family. On 2 October 1849, then closed after a long and severe illness with Karol Darowski, a landowner from the former province of Podolia, marriage. But in 1852, died of typhoid Darowski and left a 25 - year-old widow with children Joseph and Karolina. After a few months later her son died, Darowska to the Holy Virgin with the oath, no longer to belong to a people ( in Italian: " a creature " - di più non appartenere ad alcuna creatura ) have promised.
For health reasons, she took a trip to Berlin and later to Paris, and finally she reached on April 11, 1853 Rome.
Life as a nun
In Rome, she met the priest Hieronym Kajsiewicz, a Resurrection, who became her spiritual mentor. On May 12, 1854 Darowska laid before him the vows. Kasjewicz mediated also met a nun Józefa Karska that should be a close friend. The two developed the idea of founding a congregation that should be devoted to the training and support of Polish women. The new organization, the Order of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was founded in 1857 in Rome and initially consisted of only four members. After Karska 1860 died of typhoid fever, Darowska took over the leadership of the Order. 1863 she moved the Order in their native Poland, after Jazłowiec in the Diocese of Lviv on, and opened there in her ruined castle surrendered the monastery convent and a first secondary school for girls. After the Order in 1863, the Decretum Laudis received the Pope, 1874, the final approval of the Order constitution was granted in 1889 and approved. Built in Jazłowiec statue of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin in the convent chapel was consecrated in 1883 by Archbishop Sigismund Felix Feliński and 1939 topped by the Polish Primate August Hlond.
During her 50 - year ministry as a religious leader Darowska could expand the scope of activity to kindergartens and primary schools in rural areas in addition to the establishment of other monasteries. Marcelina Darowska who suffered from severe circulatory problems and headaches in age, died on 5 January 1911. At the time possessed the Order she founded seven monasteries and consisted of 350 nurses.
Recognition and significance
The idea for the religious purpose of the education of girls and young women based on the consideration Darowskas that the wife and mother was the driving force for the formation and preservation of the family and thus a functioning society. The life of the nuns as well as the students should, therefore, be determined by the divine commandments to love of truth, trust and selflessness. The educated in religious institutions (now girls and boys) should and should be educated to god leanings, and compassionate and conscientious members of society.
1904 paid tribute to the Polish poet Henryk Sienkiewicz on the occasion of a religious anniversary in a letter to Darowska their work: " ... blessed art thou for example your work and glory to your achievements and faith ." She replied: ". ... I do not pay on the ( good ) results of our work, since it does not belong to us Should they give, they belong to God for the good of our beloved father and torn country."
" ... To carry the Kingdom of God in the souls of men, and so to bring into the world - that was the idea of their apostolic work, which grew in the silence of a heart in prayers. She wanted to do everything to make triumph in human life truth, love and fear of God, and ( it is meant Poland author's note ) as to change the face of her beloved nation. Along with her sisters, she worked tirelessly in the realization of the objective to create the Kingdom of Jesus on earth; with a focus on the Christian education of the young generations, and above all by girls. They formulated the prominent role of Christian women as a wife, mother, and citizen of a country .... The Blessed now is an example of the apostolic faith which the Catholic Church new ways of being in the world and creating a more just and humane society in the name allows Christ ... "