In 2004, Pope St. John Paul II approved the promulgation of the heroic virtues of our very own foundress, Servant of God Mother Kolumba Białecka. Her small stature did not stifle her magnanimous spirit. She influenced lives by the purity of her heart and by the selfless dedication in which she served her neighbor. She became foundress of the Dominican Sisters at the tender age of 21 with the promptings and guidance of the Master General of the Dominican Order, Fr. Alexandre Vincent Jandel.
Mother Kolumba pioneered scriptural and sacramental catechesis, a task reserved for the clergy alone during her time. She also had great love for the poor. In the beginning stages of the Congregation, she set her attention on the villages where she sought to catechize and school the young children. The families oftentimes were not in approval of letting their children go to school because that meant less hands for labor in the farm, so Mother Kolumba would send her Sisters to work in the farm while the children received catechesis and other instructions.

The driving force of Mother Kolumba’s zeal can be traced from one source: the Eucharist. She poured out all her struggles to Jesus hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, and she garnered all the strength she needed from her Hidden Spouse on the altar. She further urged her sisters to “live for Jesus the host”. Mother Kolumba also had great devotion to Jesus’ Mother. When she was much younger, she was part of the “Association of Mary’s Children” and the “Rosary Confraternity”. As she lay dying of tuberculosis at the age of 49, she was remembered to say, “Oh, I did not know I love the Mother of God so much! …I love Her so much!”

Another saint we honor in our Congregation is our very own sister martyr, Blessed Julia Rodzińska, who died in the concentration camp during World War II. Sr. Julia had a difficult life from the very beginning, losing both of her parents at the age of ten. She and her sister were then arranged to stay with the Dominican Sisters’ orphanage while their brothers stayed with relatives. Bl. Julia had such a profound experience with the Sisters in the orphanage that she decided to enter and become a religious Sister herself.

Sr. Julia became teacher, catechist, and Superior of the convent house. She was graced with many talents and gifts that she didn’t keep to herself. Because she knew the struggles of poverty and isolation, she made sure to alleviate the same sufferings in other people, especially with the orphans. The city of Vilnius showered upon Sr. Julia accolades for her many relief efforts for the suffering, even giving her the title of “Mother of Orphans”. She was known to slip sandwiches in the desk of poorer children, and made sure those same children were not poorly dressed so that they would not feel the stigma of their circumstance. All these sensitivities did not elude Bl. Julia.
When World War II began and the Sisters were ousted from their convent and teaching positions. Bl. Julia partook in the underground movement, teaching the Catholic faith, as well as Polish history and language. She also smuggled food to retired priests who were left destitute, and took care of her religious Sisters whom she dispersed to housemaid jobs.

In July 12, 1943, Sr. Julia along with three of her Sisters were arrested by the Gestapo. Sr. Julia was placed in solitary confinement for a year. Her cell was a mere closet, only big enough for her to be in a sitting position. Despite the inhumane treatments, Bl. Julia clung to prayer and inspired others to do the same especially when all hope seemed lost. An eyewitness attests, “In her presence, you felt the need to pray”.

After the isolation confinement, Bl. Julia was transferred to the concentration camp in Stutthof by cattle car. In the concentration camp, she organized common prayers with other prisoners, secretly coordinated the Sacrament of Reconciliation with other prisoner-priests in the barracks, and urged those contemplating suicide to life by writing notes to them. All of these activities were punishable by death, but she was not afraid. At the end of her life, she volunteered to go to the abandoned barracks to care for those dying of typhus. Undeterred by the contagious disease, she sought to give relief to those suffering by moistening their lips with water and urging them with spiritual consolations. She ended up contracting the disease herself which eventually took her life. Prayer was ever on her lips all the way to the end. This is how those in the barracks with her knew that she had died, because they no longer could hear her murmured prayers.

Servant of God, Mother Kolumba, and Blessed Julia Rodzińska, pray for us!