Małgorzata Szewczyk (1828 – 5 June 1905), also known by her
religious name
A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts.
Christianity
Catholic Church Baptismal name
In baptism, Catholic Church, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should n ...
''Łucja'', was a
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
* Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
religious sister
A religious sister (abbreviated: Sr.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to prayer and ...
and the foundress of the Daughters of the Sorrowful Mother of God – or "Seraphic Sisters"; she was also a member of the
Third Order of Saint Francis
The Third Order of Saint Francis, or Franciscan Tertiaries, is the third order of the Franciscan tradition of Christianity, founded by the medieval Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi.
Francis founded the Third Order, originally called t ...
.
Her life was dedicated to the care of ill people and she even spent a long period to that end in
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
and
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
before returning to her native
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
where she became a close collaborator of Honorat Kozminski. Her initiatives to aid the poor and those in need included tending to elder women in her apartments or in going to hospitals and in the streets to help those that needed her charitable assistance.
Her beatification cause started on 25 August 1993 and she later became titled as
Venerable
''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom.
Catholic
In the Catholic Churc ...
on 19 December 2011; she was beatified in Poland on 9 June 2013.
Life
Małgorzata Szewczyk was born circa 1828 in
Shepetivka
Shepetivka (, ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city located on the Huska River in Khmelnytskyi Oblast (Oblast, province) in western Ukraine. Shepetivka is the Capital (political), administrative center of Shepetivka Raion (Raion, district). ...
- now modern
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
- to Jan and Marianna; her mother was her father's second wife and had a daughter with his deceased former wife.
[ In her childhood she lost her parents - her father in 1835 and her mother in 1837 - and her older half-sister oversaw her care and upbringing as a result. Her half-sister taught her basic arithmetic and had married at this point but still took good care of her. Sometime from 1837 to 1840 she made her ]First Communion
First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communion (ot ...
and received her confirmation
In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on o ...
.
Her call to the religious life was constant and so in 1848 she entered the Third Order of Saint Francis
The Third Order of Saint Francis, or Franciscan Tertiaries, is the third order of the Franciscan tradition of Christianity, founded by the medieval Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi.
Francis founded the Third Order, originally called t ...
. Due to the political situation in her occupied Poland she was not able to join a second religious order. To strengthen her faith and love for God
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
in 1870 she undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
; this moved her to a profound degree and her experience prompted her to dedicate her life to help the poor and the ill as well as the old.[ Her trip to the ]Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
was via boat to Haifa and then first to Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
; she spent time living in Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...
and left there in 1872 for Poland though making a brief detour as a pilgrim to Loreto.[ This desire to become a religious was one that she spoke of to her confessor Honorat Kozminski who approved of her decision and encouraged her to begin her work. The two first met in the autumn of 1873 in ]Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
where she visited and it was he who oversaw her Franciscan development while she lived and worked at an orphanage from 1873 to 1878; Kozminski received her Franciscan vows on 8 April 1881 after she had made her initial vows on 24 August 1878.
The first step she made was to invite two poor and sick elder women to live in her apartment in 1880 and she was taking care of them in secret because charitable or church activities were forbidden according to the decrees of the Russian Emperor
The emperor and autocrat of all Russia (, ), also translated as emperor and autocrat of all the Russias, was the official title of the Russian monarch from 1721 to 1917.
The title originated in connection with Russia's victory in the Great Nor ...
who at the time ruled over Poland. It was not too long before a few more women moved in with her and joined her in her work and so she rented another apartment in 1884 in Warsaw.[ Later to accommodate the growing number and better serve those in need she decided to purchase a new house with a garden. On 18 April 1881 - following the advice of Kozminski - she founded a new religious congregation whose aim was to help the poor and those who were most in need. The congregation became the Seraphic Sisters and Szewczyk assumed the religious name Łucja. She became the Superior General from the congregation's establishment until ill health on 27 April 1904 prompted her resignation.][
The last months of her life were spent in ]Nieszawa
Nieszawa (Polish pronunciation: ) is a town and a commune in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. As of June 30, 2014, the town has a population of 1,985 people. It is located in the historic region of Kuyavia.
History
...
. Her constant work ethic and extensive service to others took a toll on her health and towards the end of her life she developed a series of difficult health problems. Her death came on the morning of 5 June 1905 at her convent
A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community.
The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...
(she had received the Anointing of the Sick) and she had suffered from poor sight prior to her death.[ Ecclesial authorities granted special permission on 16 November 1931 for her remains to be moved to Oswiecim and interred in the congregation's corresponding church but were relocated on two other occasions on 18 January 1951 and 22 February 2013. The congregation now operates in places such as ]Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
and France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and in 2005 had 679 religious sisters in 76 houses.[ It received the papal decree of praise from ]Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...
on 12 February 1909 and pontifical approval from Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...
on 3 March 1953.
Beatification
The beatification process opened under Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
on 25 August 1993 after 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, passi ...
issued the official ''nihil obstat
(Latin for 'nothing hinders' or 'nothing stands in the way') is a phrase traditionally used by Catholic Church authorities to formally declare that there is no objection to the publication of a book. It also has other uses.
Publishing
The ...
'' and titled her 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 ...
; the diocesan process opened in the Kraków archdiocese and Cardinal Franciszek Macharski oversaw it from 9 November 1993 until its closure on 15 June 1996. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints later validated this process in Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
on 6 December 1996 while later receiving the ''positio
A ''positio'' (short for the Latin ''positio super virtutibus'': "position on the virtues") is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a Catholic person is declared Venerable, the second of four steps on the path to can ...
'' dossier in 2008. Theological advisors approved the cause's continuation on 5 October 2010 as did the Congregation on 6 December 2011 which allowed for Pope Benedict XVI
Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...
to confirm Szweczyk's heroic virtue
Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church.
The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...
and name her as venerable
''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom.
Catholic
In the Catholic Churc ...
on 19 December 2011.
The miracle that led to her beatification was the 1975 cure of a nun from a severe case of pneumonia
Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
; this was investigated on a diocesan level and it received validation on 22 January 1999 before medical experts approved it on 23 February 2012.[ The theologians approved this miracle on 7 July 2012 as did the Congregation on 10 December 2012; Pope Benedict XVI approved the miracle on 20 December 2012 and confirmed that Szewczyk would be beatified. Cardinal ]Angelo Amato
Angelo Amato, Salesians of Don Bosco, S.D.B. (8 June 1938 – 31 December 2024) was an Italian Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints between 2008 and 20 ...
presided over the beatification on the behalf of Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
on 9 June 2013. The postulator
A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Observed i ...
for this cause is Michał Jagosz.
References
External links
Hagiography Circle
Saints SQPN
Seraphic Sisters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szewczyk, Małgorzata
1828 births
1905 deaths
19th-century venerated Christians
19th-century Polish Roman Catholic nuns
20th-century venerated Christians
20th-century Polish Roman Catholic nuns
Beatifications by Pope Francis
Founders of Catholic religious communities
Members of the Third Order of Saint Francis
Polish beatified people
People from Shepetivka
People from Volhynian Governorate
People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent
Venerated Catholics by Pope Benedict XVI