Melchor Chyliński (8 January 1694 – 2 December 1741) - in religious Rafał - was a Polish

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and a professed member from the

Order of Friars Minor Conventual The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (O.F.M. Conv.) is a male religious fraternity in the Catholic Church and a branch of the Franciscan Order. Conventual Franciscan Friars are identified by the affix O.F.M. Conv. after their names. They are ...

. He first served as a soldier but decided to instead become a priest and so entered the Franciscans and made his profession prior to

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

. He also became known for his simplistic preaching and for his generous outreach to the poor through the distribution of clothing and food. His beatification was celebrated on 9 June 1991 in the capital of

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 ...

on the occasion of

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 ...

visiting the nation.

Life

Melchor Chyliński was born on 8 January 1694 in the

Crown of the Kingdom of Poland The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (; ) was a political and legal concept formed in the 14th century in the Kingdom of Poland, assuming unity, indivisibility and continuity of the state. Under this idea, the state was no longer seen as the Pat ...

to Jan Chyliński and Marianna Małgorzata; his relations often nicknamed him as "the little monk" due to his pious nature. He later graduated from the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

-run college in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

and decided to enter the armed forces in its cavalry section where he was made an officer three years later. On 4 April 1715 - despite the objections of his comrades - he joined the

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

and changed his name during the course of 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 ...

to "Rafal". He was

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

to the priesthood in December 1717 after having made his perpetual profession on 26 April 1716. He was assigned to parishes in nine separate cities before being sent to the place that he would spend the remainder of his life in and he distributed food and clothing to the poor and sick people there; he also played the harp and the lute as well as the mandolin for liturgical hymns and spent 20 months in

ministering to epidemic victims. He was also known for his simple and candid sermons and for being an apt confessor. He died on 2 December 1741.

Beatification

The beatification process started under

Pope Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV (; ; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in September 1774. At the time of his elec ...

on 29 August 1772 and Chyliński became titled 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 confirmation of his life of

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 ...

allowed for

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 ...

to name him 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 13 May 1949. The miracle needed for beatification was investigated on a diocesan level and later received validation before receiving the approval of medical experts on 7 March 1990; theologians did so as well on 5 July 1990 as did the C.C.S. on 23 October 1990.

approved this on 22 January 1991 and beatified the late Franciscan on 9 June 1991 in

during his apostolic visit there. The current

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 Fra Angelo Paleri.

References

External links

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chyliński, Melchor 1694 births 1741 deaths 18th-century venerated Christians 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian Roman Catholic priests Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Franciscans Franciscan beatified people People from Poznań County Polish beatified people