Jan Beyzym, SJ (15 May 1850 – 2 October 1912) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest and a professed member of the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. He served as an educator in Jesuit boarding schools for a while after his

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

though later left

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

to work alongside lepers in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

where he remained until his death. His beatification cause started in 1985 and in 1992 he was titled as

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

, upon the confirmation of his life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

beatified him while in Poland on 18 August 2002.

Biography

Jan Beyzym was born in Stari Beizymy,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(now

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

) on 15 May 1850 as the eldest of five children to Jan Beyzym and Olga. His father served as a freedom fighter and in 1863 was sentenced to death in absentia for his activities. He moved alongside his mother and siblings to

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

and studied there from 1864 until 1871. He completed his education in Kiev before deciding to pursue the religious life; he had thought of being a diocesan

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

but his late father had moved him to learn about the

and pursue a path with them - he decided to join them after a long internal struggle. Beyzym joined the Jesuits for his

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

period on 10 December 1872 at Stara Wies and this concluded in 1874. During his novitiate there was a

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemic and he received the permission of his superior to go out into the streets to tend to the ailing victims. Beyzym received his

as a priest on 26 July 1881 in Kraków from Bishop

Albin Dunajewski Albin Dunajewski (born 1 March 1817 in Ivano-Frankivsk, Stanisławów - 19 June 1894 in Kraków) was a Bishop of Kraków, Poland, as well as charitable patron and high-profile social activist. Highlights In 1882, Albin Dunajewski ordained Brothe ...

. He served as a teacher after his ordination until 1898 at Jesuit boarding schools in both

Tarnopol Ternópil ( uk, Тернопіль, Ternopil' ; pl, Tarnopol; yi, טאַרנאָפּל, Tarnopl, or ; he, טארנופול (טַרְנוֹפּוֹל), Tarnopol; german: Tarnopol) is a city in the west of Ukraine. Administratively, Ternopi ...

and Chyrów where he taught the French and Russian languages. His students knew him for his sense of humor. In 1898 he left his native land to join the Jesuit missions to lepers near Tananariwa in

with the permission of his superiors. Father Beyzym left Poland on 17 October 1898 and arrived on the following 30 December at Red Island before being posted to Ambahivoraka near

Antananarivo Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "An ...

. He fainted several times while tending to the lepers due to the horrible smells. In October 1902 he began to see the construction of a leper hospital at Marana and it was finished and inaugurated on 16 August 1911. He became a noted figure for his activism and collaboration with the lepers and became known for his intense devotion to both the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

and the

Mother of God ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...

while being known also as a lover of all nature. Beyzym died on 2 October 1912; his health had declined and he suffered both

arteriosclerosis Arteriosclerosis is the thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of Artery, arteries. This process gradually restricts the blood flow to one's organs and tissues and can lead to severe health risks brought on by atherosclerosis ...

and sores which confined him to bed. His remains were exhumed and relocated back to his native Poland on 8 December 1993 at a Jesuit church.

Beatification

The beatification process opened in Kraków from 1984 until 1986 while a second diocesan process opened and closed in

Fianarantsoa Fianarantsoa is a city (commune urbaine) in south central Madagascar, and is the capital of Haute Matsiatra Region. History It was built in the early 19th century by the Merina as the administrative capital for the newly conquered Betsileo king ...

in 1987; the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pa ...

later validated the processes on 27 October 1989. The official start to the process came on 27 September 1985 after the C.C.S. issued the official "

nihil obstat ''Nihil obstat'' (Latin for "nothing hinders" or "nothing stands in the way") is a declaration of no objection that warrants censoring of a book, e.g., Catholic published books, to an initiative, or an appointment. Publishing The phrase ''ni ...

" to the cause and titled him as a

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...

. The C.C.S. later received the

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. Des ...

in 1990. Theologians approved this on 28 April 1992 as did the C.C.S. on 3 November 1992;

confirmed his life of

and titled the late priest as

on 21 December 1992. John Paul II decreed that a healing credited to the late priest was a miracle on 5 July 2002 and beatified Beyzym two months later on 18 August 2002 while on an apostolic visit to Poland. The current

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Obse ...

for this cause is the Jesuit priest Anton Witwer.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle

Saints SQPN

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beyzym, Jan 1850 births 1912 deaths 19th-century venerated Christians 19th-century Polish Jesuits 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century Polish Jesuits Beatified Jesuits Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Jesuit missionaries in Madagascar Leprosy nurses and caregivers Leprosy activists Polish Roman Catholic missionaries Polish beatified people Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II Roman Catholic missionaries in Madagascar Roman Catholic medical missionaries Expatriates in Madagascar Polish expatriates Polish health activists People associated with Chyrów