Wow 15 Nuns Beatified in Poland who were Killed in 1945 for their Faith - a Heroic Witness for Peace from Heaven!
In Poland, the Prefect of the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, presided over the Mass for the elevation to the altars of Sr. Maria Christophora Klomfass and her fourteen companions, nuns of the congregation of Saint Catherine Virgin and Martyr, martyrs eighty years ago of the Soviet invasion of the country, in Braniewo, in the archdiocese of Warmia: "They opposed oppression with the strength of weakness".
Sister Maria Christophora Klomfass and her fourteen companions “today reaffirm with their testimony the perennial value of God and good, while their assassins are remembered only for the brutality of the evil they committed”: Cardinal Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and representative of the Pope, thus outlined the life and martyrdom of the fifteen nuns of the congregation of Saint Catherine Virgin and Martyr. On Saturday 31 May, they were beatified in Braniewo, in the archdiocese of Warmia, in Poland. This was the second beatification rite in the country in a few days: on 24 May, in fact, in Poznań, Father Stanisław Streich was raised to the honors of the altars. Among the concelebrants this morning were also Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, Archbishop Emeritus of Kraków, and the Metropolitan Archbishop of Warmia, Monsignor Józef Górzyński. Numerous faithful, despite the strong wind, attended the mass celebrated in the square in front of the Basilica of Saint Catherine.
Forgiveness and Conversion
Presiding over today's celebration, the cardinal defined the nuns, martyrs of the Soviet invasion in 1945, as "voices of conscience that cannot be silenced" and "always current prophets of peace on earth and of a reconciled and harmonious humanity." The teaching that they have handed down, Semeraro added, is contained in two words: "forgiveness and conversion. They invite us to forgive, that is, to remove from us the sadness of rancor and hatred. They urge us to convert and convert: in our living environments, choosing every day peace, brotherhood, respect for the freedom of others, serenity in human relationships," said the cardinal.
Victims of Abuse because of their Faith
Sister Klomfass and her companions were martyred for their faith. The first to die was Christophora, killed on January 21, 1945, when she was not yet 42 years old. A week later, on January 27, her fellow nuns Sekundina Rautenberg and Adelgard Bönigk were captured by Russian soldiers, the rosaries they wore tied around their waists were attached to a car and they were dragged through the streets of Rastenburg (now Kętrzyn) until they died. Violence, abuse, forced marches and fatal wounds shattered the lives of the other nuns: Mauritia Margenfeld was captured by the Red Army in Allestein, repeatedly abused by the soldiers and then forced to march to Praschnitz (now Przasnysz), to be forced the next day to reach, again on foot, Zichenau (now Ciechanów), 27 km away. From here, she was deported to Tula where she took care of typhus patients. She died from the abuse she had suffered on 7 April. The last in chronological order to die was Saveria Rohwedder, on 25 November, from the beatings inflicted on her by a Russian soldier who attacked her just because she was wearing a religious habit. While she was being mercilessly beaten, she said to her tormentor: “I forgive you”.
Eighty years later, the persecution of Christians is still there and it is real, even if “more subtle, at times, fought with the weapons of culture and social communications,” the prefect observed. It manifests itself as “an adverse, false and mocking action, which continually floods homes and families, minds and consciences.” The true daily martyrdom, then — Semeraro highlighted — is “to oppose this culture today, a commitment not without consequences for all those who carry out educational work that fully responds to the message of Christ and for the promotion of an authentic humanity.”
The strength of weakness wins over atrocities
In the story of the fifteen new blesseds, Cardinal Semeraro also identifies two significant elements: the first is the “atrocity” with which the soldiers of the Red Army inflicted on them, forcing them to violent and ferocious deaths. “An atrocity that seemed to exceed every limit,” the cardinal emphasized, “that had no qualms about trampling on the dignity of the human being and had no respect for the dignity of these women, nor for their state as consecrated women.” In contrast to all this, however, is the second element, “the strength of spirit and perseverance of these religious women, who were able to oppose oppression with the strength of their weakness,” implementing a true “pedagogy of martyrdom.”
The new blesseds could have saved themselves, but they did not, choosing to stay close to the people they cared for on a daily basis, thus demonstrating that "charity, free and selfless love for Christ and for our brothers is the fulfillment of faith - Cardinal Semeraro remarked -, it is a leap towards the future, which gives meaning to time and makes it the expectation of an encounter; it is living every circumstance with the certainty of not being alone, of being able to trust in a presence that is greater than everything and everyone".
Love triumphs over the ideology of hate
In this way, "before those who then seemed the strongest and who, intoxicated by materialism, replaced the one true God with fragile and ephemeral human idols", the fifteen nuns demonstrated that "good always triumphs over evil" and that the evangelical message of love defeats "the ideology of hatred and violence".
A Voice for Peace from Heaven
Finally, a few days before the eightieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War, celebrated on May 8, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints expressed the hope that today's beatification may represent "an invocation of peace for the entire world, with a particular thought for the war that is being fought" in Ukraine, a short distance from Poland. "Never again war!" concluded the cardinal, recalling the appeal of Leo XIV in his first Regina Caeli on May 11. "Especially where it cruelly strikes innocents, many of whom are children."
Sister Klomfass and her companions were martyred for their faith. The first to die was Christophora, killed on January 21, 1945, when she was not yet 42 years old. A week later, on January 27, her fellow nuns Sekundina Rautenberg and Adelgard Bönigk were captured by Russian soldiers, the rosaries they wore tied around their waists were attached to a car and they were dragged through the streets of Rastenburg (now Kętrzyn) until they died. Violence, abuse, forced marches and fatal wounds shattered the lives of the other nuns: Mauritia Margenfeld was captured by the Red Army in Allestein, repeatedly abused by the soldiers and then forced to march to Praschnitz (now Przasnysz), to be forced the next day to reach, again on foot, Zichenau (now Ciechanów), 27 km away. From here, she was deported to Tula where she took care of typhus patients. She died from the abuse she had suffered on 7 April. The last in chronological order to die was Saveria Rohwedder, on 25 November, from the beatings inflicted on her by a Russian soldier who attacked her just because she was wearing a religious habit. While she was being mercilessly beaten, she said to her tormentor: “I forgive you”.
Eighty years later, the persecution of Christians is still there and it is real, even if “more subtle, at times, fought with the weapons of culture and social communications,” the prefect observed. It manifests itself as “an adverse, false and mocking action, which continually floods homes and families, minds and consciences.” The true daily martyrdom, then — Semeraro highlighted — is “to oppose this culture today, a commitment not without consequences for all those who carry out educational work that fully responds to the message of Christ and for the promotion of an authentic humanity.”
The strength of weakness wins over atrocities
In the story of the fifteen new blesseds, Cardinal Semeraro also identifies two significant elements: the first is the “atrocity” with which the soldiers of the Red Army inflicted on them, forcing them to violent and ferocious deaths. “An atrocity that seemed to exceed every limit,” the cardinal emphasized, “that had no qualms about trampling on the dignity of the human being and had no respect for the dignity of these women, nor for their state as consecrated women.” In contrast to all this, however, is the second element, “the strength of spirit and perseverance of these religious women, who were able to oppose oppression with the strength of their weakness,” implementing a true “pedagogy of martyrdom.”
The new blesseds could have saved themselves, but they did not, choosing to stay close to the people they cared for on a daily basis, thus demonstrating that "charity, free and selfless love for Christ and for our brothers is the fulfillment of faith - Cardinal Semeraro remarked -, it is a leap towards the future, which gives meaning to time and makes it the expectation of an encounter; it is living every circumstance with the certainty of not being alone, of being able to trust in a presence that is greater than everything and everyone".
Love triumphs over the ideology of hate
In this way, "before those who then seemed the strongest and who, intoxicated by materialism, replaced the one true God with fragile and ephemeral human idols", the fifteen nuns demonstrated that "good always triumphs over evil" and that the evangelical message of love defeats "the ideology of hatred and violence".
A Voice for Peace from Heaven
Finally, a few days before the eightieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War, celebrated on May 8, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints expressed the hope that today's beatification may represent "an invocation of peace for the entire world, with a particular thought for the war that is being fought" in Ukraine, a short distance from Poland. "Never again war!" concluded the cardinal, recalling the appeal of Leo XIV in his first Regina Caeli on May 11. "Especially where it cruelly strikes innocents, many of whom are children."
Source: Vatican News IT
Comments