Saint Mother Theodore Guerin
Foundress of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana

Some children are blessed to realize at a very early age that they are called by God to do a special work. Anne-Therese knew from the moment of her First Holy Community that she was called to love God and to work for God's people. 

Anne-Therese was born in France on Oct 2, 1798. She was educated by her mother at home. Her father was an officer in the French navy.  When she was 15 years old, her father was killed and her mother was unable to cope with the tragedy.  Anne-Therese put off her dream of entering the convent to help her mother with the housework and the garden as well as taking care of her younger sister.

She finally entered the Sisters of Providence of Ruille-sur-Loir when she was 25 years old.  After making vows,  she taught in various schools and visited the sick.  In the summer of 1839, the Bishop of Vincennes, Indiana, sent one of his priests to France to find a religious community to teach religion and tend the sick.  At that time the Diocese of Vincennes included all of Indiana and the eastern third of Illinois.  There were many Catholic immigrants from France, Ireland and Germany in the diocese but very few priests.  The Bishop wanted a community of religious women to help take care and teach the poor of his diocese.  The Mother Superior of the Sisters of Providence suggested  that Sister Theodore move to the United States to help Bishop Brute. 

Sister Theodore Guerin and five other sisters left France on July 12, 1840.  Their arrival in New York on Sept. 4 was not the end of their journey.  They still had to make the long and difficult trek to the wilderness of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana.  The sisters arrived in October after many adventures. They had traveled by stagecoach, steamboat, canal boat and train.  It had taken three months to arrive at their new home. 

Mother Theodore, as she became known, and the sisters began a school for girls called St. Mary's Academy for Young Ladies. This Academy was the only Catholic boarding school for girls in Indiana for over a decade and later became St. Mary of the Woods College.  As the community grew in number, Mother Theodore started schools in many cities in Indiana as well as two orphanages.

Mother Theodore died on May 14, 1856.  She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.  A cross was erected at her final resting place with an inscription that reads, "I sleep, but my heart watches over this house which I have built."

Martyrs of Shanxi
Women Religious, Servants of the Poor, Martyrs

In 1898 Bishop Francisco Fogella, a missionary bishop in China, went to see the superior of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary.  He wanted women religious to travel to the distant land of China to help care for the sick and the abandoned. 

Seven sisters were sent on the long and difficult trip.  The sisters ages ranged from 24-36.The sisters arrived in Taiyuan in Shanxi Province to care for 200 orphan girls, the sick and the poor. Every day 12-15 orphaned or abandoned children were brought to the orphanage. Many of the children were so sock that they died shortly after arriving.  The sisters immediately improved the hygiene at the orphanage and gradually the orphans overall health improved. 

In the midst of their hard work, a new governor was appointed and a persecution of Christians began. Bishop Fogolla, realizing the imminent danger, gave the Sisters permission to leave the mission and go to a safer location; but no one wanted to go.

On June 29,1900 , the children and Chinese laywomen were removed by force from the mission.  On July 5, thirty-three persons including the two bishops and the seven religious were taken to a house that was used as a prison.  The group spent the next days together praying. They were able to celebrate Mass every day.

On July 9th, one of the bishops gave everyone absolution.  Soldiers entered the house and beat the prisoners.  They tied the prisoners hands and pushed them outside.  As they made their way through the streets, the Sisters began singing the 'Te "Deum", a hymn of praise to God.  The governor asked them to deny their faith.  After refusing, they were slashed by the guards with swords.  They died on July 9, 1900 and were canonized on October 1, 2000.

For more information contact www.fmmusa.org

or read

"Heroic Catholic of the Twentieth Century by Sister Elizabeth Ann Barkett, SJW
A New Hope publication
New Hope, KY
or
Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker
Walton Ky

 

Father Emil Kapaun
Priest, Military Chaplain, Prisoner of War, Servant of God

Emil Kapaun was born on April 20, 1916 in Pisen Kansas.  He became an altar server and desired to become a missionary priest.  His parents were unable to afford to pay for his seminary training.  The parish priest heard of the family's dilemma and offered to help finance Emil's education.  At the priests suggestion, Emil studied to become a diocesan priest.  After attending Kendrick Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, he was assigned to his home parish as an assistant.

Father Kapaun would have probably have remained a simple country priest if not for the outbreak of World War II.  Realizing the need for military chaplains to minister to the men and women of the armed forces, Father Kapaun volunteered to be an army chaplain.

After completing chaplain's training school, Chaplain Kapaun was assigned to Burma and India.  In one month, he traveled 2,500 miles by jeep and airplane to visit troops.  Mass was celebrated wherever a location could be found, the army mess or a native village.  In 1946 he was discharged from the army, but he knew that the need for chaplains was still great.  He returned to military duty and was stationed in Japan.

When war broke out in Korea, Chaplain Kapaun did what he could to help the soldiers.  Father Kapaun's unit was in the midst of the fighting.  Father did what he could to help the soldiers, praying with them and reassuring them.  Whenever and wherever he could, he would offer the Mass, sometimes using the hood of a jeep for an altar with artillery shells exploding close by.

On September 15, 1950, Father's regiment was surrounded by the Chinese forces who had join the fight to help their allies, the North Koreans.  The Americans had no choice but to surrender.  Witnesses said that there were several opportunities for the chaplain to escape and he was encouraged to do so.  But he refused to leave the wounded soldiers.  They were taken on a brutal two week march to a POW camp. 

The chaplain did what needed to be done - he encouarged, prayed, told jokes, sat with the men when they were sick - whatever was needed to survive.  Once, he traded his watch for a blanket from a Communist guard and used the blanket to make socks for some of the weaker prisoners.  He would do even the most unpleasant tasks willingly.  Father Kaupaun would even clean the clothes of the men sick with dysentery. Father would share his own meager rations with the weaker men.

The guards did not like the positive influence he had on the men.  While they tried to intimidate and threaten him, they seemed to be afraid of him. They sense that if they killed or tortured the chaplain, the prisoners might revolt.

Father suffered many illnesses.  He developed a blood clot in his lower leg. His fellow POW"s designed and built a device to help keep his leg elevated. They found some old bricks which they heated and put next to his leg.  Aspirin tables that the prisons had kept hidden were given to him and they donated food to make sure Father had enough to eat.  His health steadily grew worse.  He was struck with diarrhea and then pneumonia. 

When the guards saw how ill he was, they realized now was the time to get rid of the troublesome priests.  He was taken to what the guards called the 'hospital'.  There was little or no medicine  and no beds. The prisoners in the hospital slept on the mud floors and were not cared for.  The man who had cared for so many others spent the last two days of his life alone in a dark, dirty room with no food and no medical care. He died May 23, 1951.

The memory of his deeds remained alive to the men left in the camp.  Captain Gerald Fink carved a crucifix as a memorial using tools he had made and scrap wood.  This now hangs in the Kapaun-Mt. Carmel Catholic High School in Wichita Kansas.

Father Kapaun is the most highly-decorated chaplain in United States military history.  he received the Bronze Star and the Distinguished Service Cross, the Legion of Merit medal and the Prisoner of War medal. The greatest honor came in 1993, when he was declared a Servant of God.

For more information read
"Heroic Catholics of the Twentieth Century
By Sister Elizabeth Ann Barkett SJW
New Hope Publications
New Hope, KY
or
Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker
Walton KY

Francis J. Parater - A 20th century Servant of God
Eagle Scout, Seminarian
USA
1897-1920

Born in Richmond Virginia, Francis J. Parater was a altar server and a boy scout, reaching the rank of an eagle scout.  Frank's commitment to the ideals of the Scouts as well as his practical judgement led the Scout leaders to have Frank serve as a camp director during the summer while still in his late teens.

Thinking he would become a Benedictine monk, Frank headed for Belmont abbey in North Carolina to begin college. Taking his spiritual life seriously, Frank had written a "Rule of Life". Theses were guidelines to help him in his daily struggle to follow Christ more closely.

Eventually he opted to serve the people of Virginia as a diocesan priest. In the fall of 1919, he went to Rome to study at the North American College.  Frank was well liked by his peers.  He had a good sense of humor and a positive, warm attitude.

Frank had only been in Rome a few months when he became ill.  In late January 1920 he was diagnosed with rheumatic fever.  Frank suffered a great deal from the fever. Sometimes the pain made him so delirious that more than one man was needed to hold him down; at other times, he would preach sermons to a 'congregation'. When he finally recovered from his delirium, the spiritual director of the college, Father Byrne, explained to Frank how sick he was.  The young seminarian was given the Last Rites and Holy Communion. He waned to get out of bed and kneel on the floor to receive Christ but he was not able to do so because he was so weak.  So he had to content himself with kneeling on the bed.

As Frank's condition worsened, the teachers and seminarians took turns staying with him day and night. Early Saturday morning, February 7, the nuns called Father Byrne and he stayed with Frank until he died.  Father Byrne later wrote to Frank's mother, 'Frank's death was a beautiful one...Towards the end his lips moved constantly in prayer; his death was like falling asleep."

His illness lasted only 11 days. He had been in Rome a short time and was just 22 years old when he died.  Frank's life and death might have been remembered only by his friends and family if not for an extraordinary discovery made soon after his death.  Going through his friends' personal belongings, a fellow seminarian found a sealed envelope with directions that it only be opened in case of death.  Inside was an Act of Oblation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus written by Frank.  When the rector of the seminary read the Act, he immediately had the seminarians gather in the chapel and read it to them.

The letter had been written in December 1919 when Frank was still healthy. He had offered his life for the conversion of non-Catholics.  He had wanted to die for God and his neighbor.  Had he had a premonitions of he death? He also wrote a letter to his beloved Scouts telling them that his greatest desire had been to die for Love of God and his fellow-man. 

He has been declared a Servant of God, the first step towards canonization.  If canonized he would be the first member of the Boy Scouts to be declared a saint.
To learn more about Frank and others Modern Saints check out:
"Heroic Catholics of the Twenteith Century" By Sister Elizabeth Ann Barkett, SJW
A New Hope Publication.
New Hope KY
or
Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker
Walton KY

Blessed Alice Kotowska - She refused to compromise her faith.

Sisters of the Resurrection
Poland - 1899-1939

Poland is a remarkably Catholic country, and for many, religious and patriotism are inseparable.  Sister Alice Kotowska was one such Pole.  A former army nurse who gave up her medical studies to pursue Christ in religious life, Sister Alice was martyred at the beginning of the Second World War.

In 1999, 108 Polish martyrs of World War II were beatified by Blessed Pope John Paul II.. There were certainly not the only Polish Martyrs of that era.  But these 108, among them Sister Alice, are models to remind of the thousands of others who refused to compromise their faith in God or their devotion to their county.

Blessed Alice, was born into a close-knit devout family. After graduating from high school she decided to become a doctor. In 1920, the Communist Red Army invaded her beloved homeland. She interrupted her medical studies to work in a military hospital. 

After returning to the university, she interrupted her studies of medicine once again. This time to pursue her vocation to religious life.  She joined the Sisters of the Resurrection, a Polish teaching order. When writing to the Superior asking to be accepted as a member she wrote: "I desire to live an die for Christ, loving Him above all, because He is my Greatest Love, my Lord, my God, my All."

Sister Alice went from nursing to teaching.  She made her final vows in August of 1928.  After completing her studies she was stationed in the town of Wejherowo. She was in chard of a growing girls school and local superior. The school became a place where love of God and love of country were an integral part of the school curriculum.

Her busy schedule never prevented Sister Alice from being calm and kind. And she spent long hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

Lying close to the border with Germany, Wejherowo was one of the earliest towns to feel the effects of the brutal Nazi occupation. The German army crossed the Polish border in early September and within a few days, had occupied the town.  They took over part of the convent for living quarters. 

Not wanting the Nazis to desecrate any of the sacred vessels used for Mass, Sister Alice, along with Francis, the convent handyman, buried these treasures in the convent garden. However, Francis was in the pay of the Germans and he soon led the soldiers to the buried vessels.

Shortly after their arrival, the Germans began arresting and executing all whom they considered leaders - teachers, journalists, politicians.  Sister Alice, a former member of the Polish Army and a teacher, was a target. After the war, the surviving Sisters learned that an acquaintance had come and tried to convince Sisters Alice to go into hiding. Afraid that her departure would cause harm to the sisters who remained, Sister Alice put her trust in God and decided to stay.

On October 24, the Sisters were in Chapel for prayers when the Gestapo began banging on the convent door and demanding the Sister Alice to with them.  Before she left Sister Alice said, "I forgive Francis for everything." Sister Alice was held in prison while her community tried unsuccessfully to have her released.

On November 11, Sister Alice and the other prisoners, including some children, were taken into the courtyard of the prison. There, trucks with shovels attached to the sides awaited them.  The adults knew that the trucks would take them to their deaths.  But the children didn't know what the trucks meant and were frightened.  These children were Jewish were condemned to death; their crime being Jewish.  Sister Alice saw their fear and went to them.  Taking two of the children by the hand, she lead them to the waiting trucks.  Her biographer imagines she must have said something like;" Do not be afraid children. God loves you and is waiting for you in heaven."

The trucks were driven into a nearby forest where the condemned were forced to dig their own graves before being shot. Before the end of the was, the Gestapo dug up some of these mass graves and cremated the bodies, trying to hide the evidence of their crimes. When the war finally ended, the Sisters went to the forest where the remains were being exhumed. All that was found was a black rosary that every Sisters of the Resurrection wore. Sister Alice wanted to live and die like her master.

To learn more about Sister Alice and others Modern Saints check out:
 "Heroic Catholics of the Twenteith Century" By Sister Elizabeth Ann Barkett, SJW
 A New Hope Publication.
New Hope KY
or
 Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker
Walton KY