Sisters proud of martyred member

Sister Alice Kotowska, CR, whose devotion to the Eucharist complemented her work as a school teacher and as directress and superior of her community, will be among more than 100 Polish martyrs beatified in Warsaw on June 13 during the Pope's pastoral visit to his homeland.

The beatification takes on added significance this year, according to Sister Jeanne Marie Harla, CR, provincial superior, who will attend the ceremony with Sister Bernadette Filter, CR, from St. Mary's Church in Schenectady.

"It's one of the greatest things that could happen to us. In February, our sisters will have been here in America for 100 years, and this is part of the celebration," Sister Jeanne Marie told The Evangelist. "She wasn't American, but her life and death have implications for us, especially today."

Faith in Poland

She then studied medicine and eventually became a doctor in order to minister to those injured in the trenches during the Polish-Bolshevik War. Her compassion and bravery earned her the decoration "Poland Restored" as a sign of gratitude for her dedication.

When she was 22, Mary wanted to do more, so she wrote to the superior general of the Sisters of the Resurrection requesting admittance to the order. "I desire to live and die for Christ, loving Him above all since He is the Greatest Love, Lord, God and my All," Mary wrote.

Prayer and teaching

When the Germans entered Wejherowo on Sept. 9, 1939, Sister Alice's name immediately was placed on the "black list" because she was connected with the Organized Polish Army and was a nurse and teacher.

With the Germans quickly moving toward the Sisters' convent, she and the custodian, Francis, buried the most precious liturgical vessels in the garden to keep them from being desecrated by the Gestapo. But he turned out to be a German spy assigned to the convent, and he led the Germans to the buried vessels, which were confiscated.

A few weeks later, while the Sisters were praying in their convent chapel, two Gestapo soldiers came to the door and demanded that Sister Alice come with them. The terrified nun bowed before the Blessed Sacrament and calmly left the chapel with two fellow sisters. Sister Alice turned toward the convent door before leaving and said, "I forgive Francis for everything."

Sister Alice remained in prison until Nov. 11. That day, the guards led the inmates out of the prison and ordered them onto trucks; shovels attached to the trucks would be used by prisoners to dig their own graves.

Unknown saint

The beatification will confirm what many Sisters of the Resurrection already know about the members of their order, according to Sister Rosemary Ann Cuneo, CR, from St. Casimir's Church in Albany.

"We have many saintly Sisters of the Resurrection, some of whom probably will never be beatified for the whole Church to know about. They've been proven to live heroic lives of virtue," she said.

Role model

"She lived an ordinary life, except she was called upon to sacrifice her life instead of betraying the sisters she lived with or her faith," she said. "That gives me a lot of hope that I'm living a life that leads to holiness. It is also very encouraging to me to see in her life and example a woman to whom prayer and the Eucharist was so very important. This is a hallmark of our own community's spirituality and again so very affirmative that we are living the same values that she did. She was also dedicated to community life, and this, too, is a basic value to which we strive to be faithful today."

Parishioners of St. Casimir's have been reading about Sister Alice in bulletin inserts, and Sister Rosemary Ann said her fellow sisters couldn't be happier about her beatification.

"We're very grateful to God. It's a pat on the back -- and so beautiful because our order is so young," she said.

(06-10-99) [[In-content Ad]]