Subj : =?UTF-8?Q?20_February_=E2=80=93_Blessed_Stanislawa=2FJulia_Rodzinska_O? To : All From : rich Date : Fri Feb 19 2021 09:20:06 From: rich 20 February =E2=80=93 Blessed Stanislawa/Julia Rodzinska OP Martyr =E2=80=93 Dominican Sister, known as the =E2=80=9CMother of Orphans= =E2=80=9D and the =E2=80=9CApostle of the Rosary=E2=80=9D, Apostle of Charity, Teacher, Catec= hist, also known as Sister Maria Julia, Mother Maria Julia, prisoner P40992. Blessed Sister Julia Stanis=C5=82awa was born on 16 March 1899 in Nawojowa, a town near Nowy S=C4=85cz. She was baptised and given the name Stanis=C5= =82awa Marta J=C3=B3zefa. Her father was an organist. He also worked in a savings bank and in the District Office. There were four other children in the family. When Stanis=C5=82awa was 8 years old, her mother died and two years later, her father. After her parents' death, the Dominican Sisters from a nearby convent run by Sr Stanis=C5=82awa Lenart took care of her. There, she finished school and then she started her studies in the Teachers' College which she was unable to complete because she bega= n her religious formation in Wielowie=C5=9B. On 3 August 1917 she assumed the habit together with a new name =E2=80=93 Maria Julia. On 4 September 1918 s= he continued her studies in the Holy Family Teachers' College in Krak= =C3=B3w, from which she graduated in May 1919. After having completed her studies, Sister Julia Rodzi=C5=84ska began to work as a teacher, mainly among orphaned children. She made her monastic vows on 5 August 1924. She then continued her education and in 1925-1926 she completed an Advanced Teachers' Course and at the = age of 27 she was named the director of the State Primary School of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius. Sr Julia was not strong physically, suffering from a very serious stomach disorder, which meant she had to undergo a difficult operation in 1937. After the Soviet army occupied Vilnius, the situation of the Dominican Sisters was put into jeopardy. In September 1940, the sisters who worked as teachers were dismissed from work. At first, they tried to work as technical personnel but finally in 1941 the Home for Orphans was removed from their authority and placed under that of Lithuanian authorities and Sister Julia left the Home forever. The schooling work done by the Dominican Sisters since 1922 was terminated. The Dominicans did not leave Vilnius. Together with Sister Julia, they stayed on Parkowa Street and in the convent of the Nuns of Visitation on Rossa Street. In these conditions, Sister Julia continued to teach in secret, also during the German occupation, until she was arrested in 1943. On 12 July 1943, Sister Julia was arrested by the Gestapo on a charge of political activity and collaboration with the Polish partisans. She was imprisoned in Vilnius and for almost a year she was kept in an isolation cell. Then she was transported to the disciplinary camp but soon, she was evacuated together with other prisoners to Stutthof concentration camp. She arrived there on 9 July 1944 and was given number 40992. Together with a group of women from the Vilnius intelligence, she was assigned to block no 27 in the =E2=80=9CJewish Camp= =E2=80=9D. The conditions were indescribable. Filth, vermin, overcrowding in the barracks (three or four women slept on one bed on a three-storey bunk bed), low-calorie food rations given out in extreme conditions, unbearable physical work, limited access to water, lack of hygienic products, necessity to satisfy one's bodily needs in public =E2=80= =93 these are only some of the elements of the indirect extermination used in the camp. An additional torment, was the inhumane treatment carried out by the prisoners who were assigned as =E2=80=98wardens' =E2=80= =93 mainly German criminals and SS men. In these conditions sister Julia did not lose her hope for survival. She shared her hope and spiritual strength with other prisoners. In the camp it had a special meaning because the inhumane treatment distorted the prisoners' minds and changed the moral norms of many = of them. In the barrack, where mostly Jews lived, Sister Julia organised and led the prayers. She also constantly reminded the prisoners about the religious values. Religious observances were strictly prohibited and punished in the camp. Therefore this was one of the forms of moral resistance of the prisoners to what was happening in the camp. Sister Julia was never guided by nationality or religion in her way of helping others. She was kind to all the needful. She was known as the one who consoled and encouraged all the adrift and miserable. She knew that one prisoners, whose wife was living in the =E2=80=9CJewish Camp=E2=80= =9D, was about to commit suicide. She sent him notes until he assured her that he wouldn't take his life. According to the testimony of this prisoner, he survived the camp thanks to Sister Julia, who awakened his hope for survival and overcame the fear of life in the camp. In November 1944 a typhus epidemic devastated the camp. The illness spread mainly among the prisoners in the Jewish part of the camp. The authorities of KL Stutthof isolated the =E2=80=9CJewish Camp=E2=80=9D from = the rest of the compound and left the women without any help. Risking her own life, Sister Julia Rodzi=C5=84ska undertook the task of helping the Jews from block XXX, who were dying alone. When the majority avoided this =E2=80=9Cdeath block=E2=80=9D fearing the infection, Sister Julia took a de= cision that meant the acceptance of death among those who she helped. She organised water to drink, dressings and medicines that where available in the camp. She served the needful even when she got infected with typhus and was suffering from serious illness. The Dominican Sister, Julia Rodzi=C5=84ska, died on 20 February 1945 in block no 27. Her body was burnt on a pyre. An amazing testimony about the heroic conduct and the martyr's death of Sr Julia has been writ= ten and declared by Eva Hoff, a prisoner of KL Stutthof, a German Jewess, who survived the marine evacuation and after the war settled in Sweden. There, she gave an oral and written account of the life and the circumstances of the death of Sr Julia in KL Stutthof. The account has been confirmed by other prisoners of KL Stutthof and Father Franciszek Grucza who heard Sr Julia's confessions and gave her Communion. On 13 June 1999, during his pilgrimage to Poland, the Holy Father John Paul II beatified 108 martyrs of World War II. Sister Julia Rodzi=C5=84ska, the Dominican nun, was among them. On 12 June 2006 the Primary School in Nawojowa was named after blessed Sister Julia Rodzi=C5=84ska. https://anastpaul.com/2019/02/20/ Quote/s of the Day=E2=80=93 The Memorial of Blessed Julia Rodzinska OP =E2=80=9CKneeling on a wooden plank, straight, with her head lifted up and eyes aimed at the Infinite is our sister Julia. She holds a rosary in her strong, shapely hands. Her face is focused=E2=80=A6 She was very pious. Her piety influenced others. In her presence, one felt the need to pray.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CShe was outstanding in her love of God and the Church.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CShe performed works of mercy where there was no mercy.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CShe reminded us frequently that God guides everything.=E2=80=9D --By a fellow inmate of the Concentration Camp speaking of Blessed Julia Rodzinska, Martyr <><><><> Grant Us This Day, O Lord By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Grant us this day, O Lord a vigilant heart, that no alien thought can lure away from Thee, a pure heart. that no unworthy love can soil, an upright heart, that no crooked intentions can lead astray. And give us Lord, understanding to know Thee, zeal to seek Thee, wisdom to find Thee and a hope, that will one day take hold of Thee.Amen --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .