During this celebration of our Jubilee this year, we reflect on and celebrate the gifts of the last 150 years and the goodness God has brought forth through Nazareth. Since the start of this congregation, the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth have dedicated their lives to Christ and spreading the Kingdom of God’s love through service to families. Their work through active ministry in schools, hospitals, parishes, prisons and social service agencies coincides with their daily living in a community of prayer and commitment to God and the Holy Family.
This Catholic Sisters Week, we would like to share the Venerable Servant of God Sr. Maria Malgorzata Banas of the Heart of Jesus in Agony in the Garden. In 1934, Sister Malgorzata was assigned to the convent in Nowogrodek in the eastern part of Poland, where she worked at the local hospital. The Sisters of Nowogrodek suffered through Russian and German occupation of their village, sharing the hardships of the people and depending on their generosity during these times for a place to live.
As difficult as life was for the Sisters and the people of Nowogrodek, greater sorrow and sacrifice would be asked of the twelve Sisters who served the people with great dedication and love. On the evening of July 31, 1943, the Gestapo issued an order to Sister Stella that she and all the sisters were to be taken to police headquarters. On the way, they met the twelfth member, Sister Malgorzata, who was returning from work at the hospital and was dressed in lay clothes. Sister Stella told her to return to the house and take care of the priest and the Fara. Sister Malgorzata never saw her sisters again. On August 1, 1943, they were taken to the woods by the Nazis, shot, and buried in a mass grave.
In time, Sister Malgorzata, with the help of the villagers, discovered the Sisters’ grave in the woods and committed herself to care for and protect their burial site until such time as the bodies could be brought to the Fara, the parish church, for a proper burial in the parish cemetery. Sister came to believe that as the only survivor, her mission was to look after the people of Nowogrodek and the Fara.
During the years of Communism in Nowogrodek, Sister lived in the tiny sacristy of the Fara, and she continued to prepare children for the sacraments. When the parish priest was in hiding for his own safety, Sr. Malgorzata walked miles to ensure the presence of the Blessed Sacrament remained in the church, and helped keep the peoples’ faith alive. The townspeople referred to her as the Guardian of the Tabernacle.
Sister Malgorzata was heard to say many times, “Spiritual martyrdom is a slow death – that is what I desire”. She died April 26, 1966, and her Cause for Beatification as a spiritual martyr began February 19, 2003. On December 14, 2021, Pope Francis approved the decree on the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Sister Malgorzata, bringing her one step closer to her beatification.
As we celebrate Catholic Sisters Week, we honor Sr. Malgorzata Banas and her commitment to keeping the faith alive and supporting the people of Nowogrodek. Having just celebrated the Beatification of the Blessed Martyrs of Nowogrodek on March 5th, we continue to take inspiration and courage from their lives. In our mutual relationships, and with all God’s people, we strive every day to create communities of love and hope which foster and celebrate the oneness of the human family #LikeaCatholicSister.
We invite you to watch a short video about Sr. Malgorzata Banas, and also hope you will join us the rest of this week to see how God is calling us to support family life today. We humbly ask you to keep us in your prayers as we continue to hold all of you in prayer.
Follow us for more opportunities to meet our Sisters this week:
Website: https://www.nazarethcsfn.org
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