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| Saint Joseph Sebastian Pelczar, Pray for us ! |
⛪ Born:
• 17 January 1842 at Korczyn bei Krosno, Poland
⛪ Died:
• 28 March 1924 at Przemysl, Poland • Relics in Przemysl Cathedral
Saint JΓ³zef Sebastian Pelczar (17 January 1842 – 28 March 1924) was a Polish Roman Catholic bishop and was also the co-founder of the Sister Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus which he had established in 1894 with Ludwika SzczΔsna. He also served in several episcopal posts and served as the Bishop of PrzemyΕl.
Pope John Paul II - on his fourth visit to Poland - beatified Pelczar in 1991 and presided over the canonization in 2003.
JΓ³zef Sebastian Pelczar was born in Poland in 1842 to Adalbert and Marianna MiΔsowicz. As a child, he felt a strong calling to serve God and so once wrote in his journal: "Earthly ideals are fading away. I see the ideal of life in sacrifice and the ideal of sacrifice in the priesthood".
Pelczar studied in Rzeszow and then commenced his studies for the priesthood in PrzemyΕl in 1860. At the age of 16, he became a member of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society and of the organization known as Popular Education. After the completion of his studies, he was ordained as a priest on 17 July 1864. He was assigned to be a parish priest at Sambor. He was later transferred to Rome in 1866 for further studies and he studied at the Institute of Saint Apollinaris and at the Collegium Romanum. He gained a doctorate in both theological studies and canon law. He also served as a professor from 1869 to 1877 and served in that role in both PrzemyΕl and Krakow from 1882 to 1883.
Pelczar established several libraries delivered free lectures and published countless books. He would write on historical topics as well as on canon law. He started a school for those who were servants. He founded the Fraternity of Our Lady, Queen of the Polish Crown in 1891 to care for the poor and for orphans as well as for the sick and those who had no job. While in Krakow in 1893 he met Ludwika SzczΔsna and the two established the Sister Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on 15 April 1894 to work with women.
Pope Leo XIII appointed Pelczar as the Bishop of PrzemyΕl on 17 December 1900 and he was installed in 1901. He made frequent visits to all parishes within the diocese and supported all religious orders. He also conducted three episcopal meetings to discuss diocesan issues and worked to reform seminaries to promote better education and greater access to resources for them. In addition to this, he also built and restored churches, and established nurseries, kitchens, homeless shelters, and schools. He ensured that the implementation of the social doctrine described in the writings of Leo XIII — such as the papal encyclical Rerum Novarum - was a top priority.
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| Tomb of St. JΓ³zef Sebastian Pelczar |
Pelczar died on 28 March 1924 with a strong reputation for holiness and was hailed as a shepherd who paid close attention to pastoral issues. It is said that he died in the odor of sanctity.
The sainthood process was introduced on a formal level on 25 January 1983 even though the local process had opened and the position had been submitted for evaluation. The local process had spanned from 26 March 1954 until 1957 which granted Pelczar16 the posthumous title of Servant of God. The position — documentation and a biography — was submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 1982.
Pope John Paul II approved that Pelczar had lived a life of heroic virtue and declared him to be Venerable on 18 February 1989.
The miracle that was required for Pelczar's beatification was investigated and was ratified on 23 June 1989. John Paul II approved the miracle on 10 July 1990 and beatified him on his visit to Poland on 2 June 1991. The pope also approved the second miracle required for canonization and presided over the canonization on 18 May 2003.