July 28, 2012, 2:48 am
This is the continuation of the story of the life of the Mother Maria Kolumba, foundress of the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. In our previous installment, Mother Kolumba traveled to visit her dying sister and comfort her family. Despite this and other trials in her life, Mother Kolumba showed great love and compassion to the Sisters of her order, never letting her sorrows weigh her down.
In July of 1874, a generous benefactor of the Sisters, Count Stanisław Tarnowski, arrived for the first time with his wife, Countess Branicka. At the request of the Count, the Sisters had been praying for his wife, who at the time of the request, had been his fiance. The Order owed much to the generosity and charity of Count Tarnowski and his family.
It was with great zeal that Mother Kolumba wished the Lord’s glory to be spread everywhere. Count Wodzicki of Tyczyn began speaking with the Reverend Mother of plans to build another convent in Tyczyn, and the Sisters expected to move there by the next year. Continue reading ‘Bieliny Convent is Consecrated as Sisters Spread the Lord’s Glory’ »
July 17, 2012, 10:41 pm
This is the continuation of the story of the life of the Mother Maria Kolumba, foundress of the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. In our previous installment, the Sisters lost one of the members of their community to a cholera outbreak. Although the Sisters were exposed to the disease, the rest were miraculously kept from harm.
January came, and one of the Sisters staying in the branch house in Wielkie Oczy became sick. Mother Kolumba immediately traveled there so as to comfort her and be present at the moment of her death. However, it soon became clear that the Reverend Mother was needed elsewhere.
She received a telegraph from her older sister, Mrs. Rubczyńska, now a dying mother with four children. Mrs. Rubczyńska begged Mother Kolumba to visit her, believing that, in the words of her biographer, “with the presence of this innocent soul, so strictly united with Lord, it would be easier to suffer and to die.” The ailing religious insisted that her superior leave to visit her dying blood sister. Peacefully accepting God’s will, Mother Kolumba went to visit her sister, staying with her until the time of her death, and comforting her own mother and surviving family members. Continue reading ‘Mother Kolumba’s Compassion Made Each Sister Feel She Was Loved the Most’ »
July 13, 2012, 8:00 pm
This is the continuation of the story of the life of the Mother Maria Kolumba, foundress of the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. In our previous installment, the Sisters continued their work by caring for the sick and teaching in the town of Bieliny. The Order received sorrowful news that their Father General, Fr. Wincenty Jandel, passed away while in Rome.
The death of Fr. Jandel saddened the whole Dominican community, but affected Mother Kolumba in a particularly strong way. In his passing, she had lost her spiritual father, the one who had guided her, comforted her, and had kept in correspondence with the community through his beautiful letters. Even after mourning his death, the trials continued for Mother Kolumba. Her younger sister passed away at the age of only thirty-three, orphaning two young daughters.
Cholera Breaks Out
Soon after, several epidemics of cholera broke out in the region, including that in which five or six of the Sisters were serving. The Sisters continued to minister to those who were ill, and a young postulant, Sister Wincenta, died despite never working with the sick directly. Yet, even as she lay on her deathbed, the postulant “asked the Sisters to sing after her death ‘Te Deum’ in order to thank the Lord for the grace of dying in the cloister [convent],” and also to write home to her mother to tell her of her happiness. She asked that a portion of her money be given to the missions in Bulgaria and China, with the rest being divided between the Congregation and her mother. Continue reading ‘Cholera Outbreak Claims Life of Postulant in the Order’s Early Years’ »
