BLESSED SISTER JULIA RODZIŃSKA

The hometown of Sr. Julia is a small village of Nawojowa (pron. Na-voy-o-va). It lies on the banks of

the Kamienica River, about 8 kilometers from the city of Nowy Sącz in the mountainous region of southern

Poland. An evergreen forest surrounds the village and covers the picturesque hills to the east.

Family home in Nawojowa, Poland

The original wooden church, dating back to the fifteenth century, gave way to a new stone building

erected in 1878, the pride of the parishioners and its founders, the aristocratic Stadnicki family.

Parish church in Nawojowa

It was tradition that a family of

musicians from a neighboring village

supplied the organists of the church in

Nawojowa. At the turn of the 20th

century, the post was held by Michael John Rodziński, married to the young Marianne Sekuła. They met at the

church during choir practice. Because Marianne was only fifteen at the time of their wedding, her parents had

to give special permission for the couple to marry. Like all the subsequent religious events in the life of the

Rodziński family, the wedding took place in the village church.

The organist’s wages were insufficient for the needs of the young family, forcing Michael to take

additional jobs as a clerk at the local county office and bank. Nevertheless, he didn’t neglect his duties at the

church, paying particular attention to the parish choir whose difficult repertoire, which included works in

multiple parts as well as Michael’s original compositions, attracted visitors from other parishes. The couple had

five children: Julian, born about a year after the wedding; Stanisława who arrived four years later; followed by

Louis, Anna Maria, and Joanne.

Stanisława Rodzińska, future Bl. Sr. Julia, was born on Thursday, March 16th, 1899 at eight forty-five in

the evening. Because the baby arrived earlier than expected, the father himself filled the place of a midwife.

The baby girl was frail and there seemed little hope of survival. Fearing for her life, the parents had her

baptized two days later.

Little Stanisława (Stasia) grew up in a religious atmosphere. Family activities revolved around the

liturgical life of the parish, making the Faith the central focus of their lives. Music and singing were often heard

in the organist’s house, while harmonious family life ensured that the children spent their early years happily.

This carefree period, however, ended soon. Michael, who suffered from rheumatism, found it

increasingly difficult to fulfill his obligations at the parish and lost his additional sources of income. At the

same time, Marianne was diagnosed with progressive lung disease. Finally, the family’s young daughter, Anna

Maria, died in early childhood. Despite Michael’s efforts to provide for the family, money was in short supply.

Aside from everyday expenses, most of the earnings went for doctors and medications required for the

treatment of his young wife.

The family fell into decline after Marianne’s death at the age of 28. Disconsolate and crippled by

illness, Michael struggled alone to support the children. Although he continued to work at the parish and tried

to repay his debts by selling a part of his household furnishings, he was barely able to earn a living. Only 42

years old, he moved with great difficulty because of his worsening rheumatism. Two years after his wife’s

death, Michael himself died of pneumonia. The orphaned children were separated shortly after the funeral.

Michael’s relatives took the boys, while Stasia and her younger sister, Joanne, found a home at the nearby

Dominican convent.

The Dominican sisters, who

had already reached out to the

destitute family, now took the

children in, thus saving them from the

fate of orphans in public institutions.

The bond they formed with the sisters

seemed very strong, as the girls began

to address the superior, Sister

Stanisława Leniart, as their mom.

A new life began for the girls. Stasia was enrolled in a school run by the sisters. They taught her

everything they knew: music, embroidery, and housekeeping. She was talented and systematic. After

graduation, the Dominicans sent her to a teachers’ college in the city of Nowy Sącz. She loved children and

wanted to be teacher. At school, she earned excellent grades. At the convent, she displayed selflessness and

creativity while helping the sisters in the various educational and formation activities for the children.

Her own religious

vocation matured in the silence

of the convent chapel. She

confided in her spiritual mom,

Sr. Stanisława Leniart. She

observed religious life from the

inside, studying with her keen and youthful eye its splendor and its shadows. She not only witnessed the

sisters’ efforts to serve God in His people, but also perceived their laborious striving to collaborate with God’s

grace, maybe even their lukewarmenss. Her decision was the fruit of much prayer and reflection. It took shape

in the course of the First World War, when harrowing news of victims, suffering families, and abandoned

children reached the convent daily. She didn’t want to wait; she didn’t want to delay becoming a Dominican.

She left school to follow the desire of her heart.

At the age of seventeen, the young and pretty Stasia traveled to the Dominican Motherhouse in

Wielowieś in central Poland to ask for acceptance as a postulant and test her religious vocation.

Motherhouse in Wielowies,

Poland, before 1893

She was accompanied by her devoted “convent mom,” Sr. Stanisława Leniart who, also an orphan, had

been personally accepted to the Dominicans by Mother Columba Białecka, the Foundress of the Polish

Congregation. History repeats itself: the orphan, who had once found refuge at the side of the Foundress, now

took in and raised other orphans. In spite of many external occupations, the sisters in Wielowieś led an intense

life of prayer and mortification. Their example served as the best teacher and formator for the new candidates,

while the living memory of their saintly Foundress further enriched the spiritual climate of the entire house.

Stasia received the Dominican habit on September 3rd, 1917 and changed her name to Sr. Mary Julia,

perhaps in a gesture of gratitude to her spiritual mother, Sr. Stanisława Leniart, whose baptismal name was also

Julia. The ceremony marked the beginning of her novitiate.

Days filled with work and prayer deepened her knowledge of Dominican spirituality, which she was to

embrace and impart to others throughout her life. She learned the practice of mortification, which characterized

her particular congregation, and nurtured her desire for personal sanctity and work for the salvation of others

through various means of religious formation in the novitiate.

Sr. Julia made her first religious profession on September 4th,

1918. As a junior professed, she now resumed her studies in Cracow.

She finished school the following May and completed a course for

preschool instructors over the summer, thus preparing to carry out the

work of education and formation as a Dominican.

Her natural disposition, talents and pedagogical skills gained her a great deal of love and respect from

her young charges as well as coworkers. When in Vilnus, she was given the responsible position of principal of

the local school and orphanage, and as such she was also put in charge of conducting a well-organized summer

camp for the poorest children of that city. At the same time, she carried out the duty of a superior of the local

community of Dominican Sisters.

During the German occupation which resulted during World War II, Sr. Julia quickly organized

underground religious classes and a clandestine program of financial assistance to retired priests.

Prison in Lukiszki, Vilnus

On July 12, 1943 she was arrested and sent to stay in solitary confinement of the Gestapo prison in

Vilnus.

In July, 1944 she was transferred by the Nazis to the Concentration Camp in Stutthof.

Death Gate, Stutthof

http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/othercamps/stutthof.html

There in the midst of human misery, cruelty and despair she continued her evangelical ministry by

sharing with other prisoners the message of faith, hope and love. She did that through the power of her kind

words, deeds of charity and prayer.

Thanks to her initiative and efforts, praying the Rosary became a routine secret activity conducted daily

in the prisoners' barracks.

Her gentle words of loving concern and

the example of her Christian faith and service

uplifted many depressed souls, giving them

hope, courage and strength. In that place of

horror, she made herself available to everyone

regardless of his or her nationality or religious

background. With those who suffered their

worst from hunger and exhaustion, Sr. Julia

shared her meager daily ration of bread. Thanks

to her crafty and brave efforts many Catholic prisoners were given an opportunity to receive sacraments.

When an epidemic of typhus broke out in the camp, Sr. Julia driven by her heroic love of neighbor volunteered to

care for the sick and dying. Weakened by malnutrition and physical exertion she soon contracted the disease and died

February 20, 1945.

Her life and death, as a sister, teacher, principal and superior, remain a

powerful testimony of love to Jesus Christ to whom she gave herself totally by

responding wholeheartedly and heroically to his most challenging teaching through

the exemplary practice of evangelical virtues.

She was beatified June 13, 1999 along with 107 martyrs of the Nazi concentration camps.

* * *

From eye witness accounts of the life and martyrdom of Bl. Julia Rodzińska

(Archives of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Dominic)

She performed works of mercy where there was no mercy.

“I got to know Sister Julia in that ghastly concentration camp of Sutthof near Gdańsk, where we suffered

humiliation at every turn. The initial selection after arrival at the camp was already horrible. People were sent

to the gas based on external appearance.

I accompanied Sister Julia until her last days. She never concealed that she was a religious. She showed

unwavering faith and hope in God. She consoled all of us, entrusted us to God, and encouraged us to pray. She

organized and led common prayers. We always prayed the rosary, the litany of Our Lady, hymns and any

number of prayers she composed according to our needs and situation.

Prisoners of different nationalities came to pray. People

spread the word: let’s pray the rosary with Sister Julia. The

image will always stay with me: the small, poorly lit room

overflowing with people on bunk beds, three or even four levels

high; here and there, rags drying in the air. Kneeling 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… She was very

pious. Her piety influenced others. In her presence, one felt the

need to pray.

Courageous promoter of the Holy Rosary and the

example of heroic love of God and neighbor.