From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

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)