The Life and Activity of the Saint
Zygmunt Szczęsny Feliński was born on November 1, 1822 in Wojutyn near Łuck in Volinia, nowadays situated in Ukraine. He was a son of a landowner, Gerard and Ewa of Wendorlf, a woman of great mind and heart. She was a writer and the author of Memoirs of Life.
The evangelic atmosphere of his home provided solid foundation for his faith and morality. From his parents he learned the love of God, devotion to his country, and respect for other people. These values kept him strong when his father died and his mother was sent to Siberia because of patriotic work. Tsarist authorities confiscated the family fortune and six siblings were left without a roof over their heads.
At the age of 17, he set off to the world with faith and trust in whatever Divine Providence would bring upon him. His only assets were “innocent heart, religion, and fraternal love for his fellow human beings” and the faith, of which he used to say:
“The faith is my point of view, I wish that everything what I like, what delights or enchants me comes by faith” (1843).
Having abilities to exact sciences, he managed to complete his mathematical education in Moscow and humanities at Sorbonne and Collège de France. The motto of his life was: “To be a Pole on the Earth is to nobly live in Divine Order”. His patriotism was evidenced by his participation in the Greater Poland Uprising of 1848 while his friendship with the Polish Bard, J. Słowacki, shows that he was also a man of great heart. In Paris, while listening to the call of Christ, he decided to become a priest.
A Priest in St. Petersburg. In 1851, he came back to Poland and entered the seminary in Żytomierz. In 1855, he was ordained to the Priesthood and acquired further formation at the Spiritual Academy in St. Petersburg. Inspired by his great compassion, Fr. Zygmunt Szczęsny Feliński founded the institute for orphans and poor named the Congregation of the Family of Mary (1857). At the same time, he acted as the spiritual father of the alumni and as an Academy professor. Fr. Feliński became famous as a preacher and confessor. He was considered to be a “humble and learned cultural disciple”, “protector of the poor and orphans”, “great man”, and “the best priest in Russia”.
The good shepherd. On January 6, 1862, Blessed Pius IX, appointed Fr. Zygmunt Szczęsny Feliński as Archbishop of Warsaw. He exercised his jurisdiction over the Archdiocese for only 16 months. It was brought about by the very difficult condition during the period of patriotic demonstrations and the outbreak of the uprising. Nevertheless, during that short period, he conducted fruitful activities focused on enlivening the religious life of the Archdiocese.
This “Man of the Moment”, a sign of “God’s Mercy”, set up a Rebirth Centre in Warsaw, organized missions and recollections in churches, hospitals, and prisons, and called priests for ardent work and concern for sobriety of the nation. He stressed the importance of preaching the Word of God, religious education and promotion of education. He spread the cult of the Mother of God; to her veneration he promoted the Mass of May in the Archdiocese. Archbishop Feliński supported the Franciscan movement. Concerned for religious education of children and youth, he set up an orphanage and school in Warsaw and entrusted them to the care of the sisters of the Family of Mary.
In Warsaw, as if an “Angel of Peace”, he asked the nation for consideration and fruitful work for the benefit of the country. Guided by experience and accurate judgement of a situation, he tried to calm people’s minds to prevent bloodshed. After the outbreak of the January uprising in 1863, this good shepherd stood in the defence of the oppressed and shared in their fate. In the face of the change of the Russian policy towards the Kingdom of Poland, the Archbishop became an unwelcome person. Called to St. Petersburg, Bp. Zygmunt Szczęsny Feliński was deported on June 14, 1863, under military escort as a prisoner of state. Only then, Warsaw fully understood who the shepherd was, the one who did so much good. It was acknowledged that during his legislation, the “breath of the Holy Spirit” was brought to the Archdiocese.
Exile. Archbishop Feliński, expelled from the country deep into Russia, spent 20 years in Jarosław on the Volga River. He was radiating with the holiness of life, devoted himself to prayer, missionary activity and acts of mercy. He placed his fate in the hands of the Holy Father, counteracting the pressure of the government that forced him to resign as Archbishop.
The memory of “the saintly Polish bishop”, who “consolidated the Polish and Catholic spirit in three generations“, remained vivid on the Volga River for many decades. In 1883, after 20 years, Archbishop Zygmunt Szczęsny Feliński was finally freed as a result of an agreement between the government of Russia and Vatican. However, he could not anymore come back to Warsaw and thus, he was expelled once again.
The shepherd of the Country-Folk. Archbishop Feliński spent the last years of his life as a titular Archbishop of Tars in Dźwiniaczka village in Podole, the Lvov Archdiocese. He devoted himself to pastoral, social and educational work carried out among the country folk. To this environment, he introduced a spirit of religious revival, harmonious coexistence of Poles and Ukrainians and fruitful cooperation in the name of evangelical fraternity. Local people recognised him as their father and protector and “saint” priest and considered his stay in this village as “God’s Blessing”.
Royal Heritage. Archbishop Feliński died on September 17, 1895 in Krakow in the “aura of sanctity”. It was in all the papers that a great heart broke; he left a royal heritage – one cassock, a breviary and a lot of love among people.
After a solemn funeral in Krakow, his mortal remains were buried in a cemetery in Dźwiniaczka, where they rested for 25 years surrounded by veneration and love of Poles and Ukrainians. When Poland regained its independence, the remains were taken to Warsaw in 1920 and in 1921 was placed in St. John Cathedral.
The Way to the Glory of Altars. The memory of Archbishop Feliński, veneration for his virtues, glory of sanctity and numerous healings performed with the use of water from the spring he discovered in Dźwiniaczka have contributed to the efforts aimed at his canonization. Opening the cause of canonization in 1965, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński said:
This hard and difficult way will obviously be an evidence of sanctity of Archbishop Feliński. It is more meaningful than signs and miracles that he would perform. As it was a miracle of love, the most magnificent power of the spirit of a man, who did not break down despite such exceptionally difficult path.
Spiritual Profile. From his young age, the life of Zygmunt Szczęsny Feliński was marked by his strife after sanctity. Christ was for him “the Way,the Truth, and the Life”. He wanted to achieve such a degree of unity with God so as to say after Saint Paul: I live now not with my own life, but with the life of Christ who lives in me.
He was marked by unfaltering faith and utter trust in Providence; he always placed love of God and Church, devotion to his country, and respect to people in the first place. His great integrity, fortitude and justice were characteristic features of his spirituality. Apart from that, he was full of devotion and mercy marked by Franciscan cheerfulness, humility and straightforwardness; work and poverty. He was described as “the pride of the Polish episcopate”, “martyr”, “faithful son of the Church”.
Also nowadays, we can take the refreshing spirit and light from the treasury of his life. The canonization of the Shepherd-Exile encourages reflection on one’s own way of life, family and its revival, the building of the common house, the homeland, under God’s providential care and that of the Holy Mother.
Sisters’ General House in Warsaw
From a tiny little seed sown by Father Feliński in St. Petersburg in 1857, the Congregation of Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary grew into a large family. It currently counts 1100 sisters working in 145 religious houses in Poland, Brazil, Italy, Byelorussia, Ukraine, Georgia, Russian Federation and in Kazakhstan. According to the charisma in the spirit of the Founder, the sisters bring help to the family, raise and educate children and youth, attend to ill and elderly people with care, provide ministry to parishes and church institutions.
From the Writings of Saint Zygmunt Szczęsny
“The Church is the greatest treasure, the aim in my life, my only love on the Earth (1855).”
“I trust in God and wish nothing else but His will (1877).”
“Blessed are those who, will be found in their hour of trial with Mary under the cross (1874).”
“Internal peace is the most precious … treasure and the only gift that the Saviour promises his disciples on the Earth (1879).”
“Let God’s Peace, His grace and blessing accompany you in all places and at all times (1890).”
Prayer for begging the grace through the intercession of Saint Zygmunt Szczęsny
O Lord, who cared to bestow unusual virtues upon Saint Zygmunt Szczęsny, a man of great humility and simplicity, we beg you, bestow the grace of…, for which we are humbly begging through his intercession, upon us. Through the same Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Our Father (Pater Noster), Hail Mary, Glory Be to the Father (Gloria Patri).
SAINT
ZYGMUNT SZCZĘSNY FELIŃSKI
1822-1895
Archbishop of Warsaw
Founder of the Congregation
of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family
of Mary
An Apostle of Peace and International Harmony
Propagator of the Cult of the Holy Mother,
Mother of God
Protector of Orphans, Poor, and Exiles
Franciscan Tertiary
Beatified by John Paul II
on August 18, 2002 in Krakow
Canonized by Benedict XVI
on October 11, 2009 in Vatican