Foundress of Dominican Congregation Told to Renounce Her Country and Family

July 21, 2011 - 12:35 PDT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY

This account is a paraphrase of part of a biography of Róża Bialecka, who became the foundress of the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception under the name Mother Kolumba Bialecka.>>

JUSTICE, IL (July 21, 2011) - Near the end of her Novitiate in Nancy, in France, Róża wrote to Father General Vincent Jandel, the head of the Dominican Order, because a bad spirit tormented her with temptations with the idea that it might be better to come back to Cracow, Poland, in order to take her vows there and stay in an enclosed convent. In response, this good priest wrote a long letter advising her to reject such temptations, saying, "like two years ago, I'm now again writing for the same reasons that Cracow is not for you, neither for your health nor your soul," and then he gave several reasons - and repeated the same thing he told her in Podkamień, a city in the Austro-Hungarian empire, about Polish people's attachment towards their country and that, by that time, he could not promise whether she would be able to come back to the country, or when.

He advised her, like before, to sacrifice her country and her family and take simple vows and after that, perpetual vows. Afterwards he wrote: "search for advice from the Lord Jesus, your Confessor and Mother, and afterwards follow what the Holy Spirit will inspire you to do." In the end, Father General sent a letter to her mother, Mrs. Białecka so that she could read it and afterwards write to Sister Kolumba.

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A Prophetic Spirit

The Most Reverend Father General Jandel knew, as if he was informed by a prophetic spirit, that Róża would become a Foundress and that, through her, God would resuscitate the Third Order of active Dominican Sisters in Poland, and for that reason he wanted her to stay with the Dominican Sisters in Nancy, live out her Novitiate there and observe well the Third Order; possibly for the merits of this chosen soul. However, he hid these plans from her, keeping her thinking that she might never come home. That is why she needed to make a whole sacrifice without looking back at her country and family.

This is what we read in a biography about this turn of events, written later by Father Jacek Maria Cormier, who afterwards became the Dominican General:

In 1856, Father Jandel got to know a young girl named Róża Białecka in Poland who was anxious to do something for the Lord, yet in vain did she seek a way in which she could do that. She was noble, shy, weak and a bit dreamy. However, in this weakened health, in this calm soul there were capacities revealing a foundress: pure heart and sensitive towards divine matters, a bright and modest spirit, a zealousness the more feverish the more withheld - a special mystery of controlling others; and finally, love for St. Dominic's Order radiating from her countenance which made her capable of undertaking everything for the benefit of the Order. All of those beautiful features, in order to be revealed throughout her life, were awaiting the sign of the Lord's will, whose interpreter was Father Jandel.

Asked to Renounce Her Country and Family

Sister Kolumba obeyed him faithfully and took the vows in 1859 in Nancy, renewing her difficult sacrifice of renouncing her country and family. She did not have a premonition that the Lord had prepared for her any special work in Poland with the intention of sanctifying a believing nation.

But God prepared for her an unexpected consolation for her sensitive heart. That happened in the following way: Mrs. Białecka, Sister Kolumba's mother, thought it very important, for the sake of the family's finances, for Sister Kolumba to return to the country; at the same time she was assured that Sister Kolumba's presence would hasten and facilitate the founding of the Third Order in the country, which she desired beyond any words. Her motherly love and great longing for her daughter intensified this wish.

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Sister Maria Kolumba, with the permission of her superiors in Nancy, obtained through Father General's clear instructions, that she return from Nancy to her country with an intention to return once again to the Nancy convent in order to take permanent vows and stay there in case the foundation in Galicia turned out to be unfeasible. In his communications, Father Jandel acknowledged that he had no power over the Dominican Sisters of the Third Order, since they are ruled by the local bishop and by their own Mother Superior. This is why the prudent priest could not promise Sister Kolumba that she would be able to return to Poland.
* * *
Do you have a vocation to become a Dominican Sister of the Immaculate Conception? Contact Sr. Leonarda at http://sistersop.com/blog/contact.

Contact

Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception
http://sistersop.com/blog/2011/07/16/roza-told-to-renounce-her-country-and-family/
IL, 60458 US
Kevin Banet - Promotion Agent,

Keywords

Poland,Dominican,Sister,Roza,Bialecka,Kolumba

Category

Catholic Vocations

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