Sanctity as Defined by the Servant of God Father Wincenty Granat

The problem of reaching personal sanctity through Church, highlighted by the constitution Lumen Gentium issued by the Second Vatican Council, is one of key topics discussed in the theological works of the outstanding researcher Professor Father Wincenty Granat. He elaborated widely on the concept of Christian sanctity, which he identified with perfection. Drawing upon the texts of the Old and the New Testament, Father Granat emphasised that love is the foundation of sanctity. This is why, Father Granat taught about sanctity as friendship with Christ. Christ is an example of sanctity for all, this is why we all should follow Him. Servant of God Father Granat claimed strongly that the Church has its inner powers to transform sinners into saints, even though its full sanctity will come with eschatological times

The Polish Pastorship in Harbin. A Historical Outline (1926-1949)

Harbin, in the described period (1926-1949) was one of the biggest cities of Manchuria. Together with the Chinese and Russian populations there lived a considerable Polish community as well as Japanese, Frenchmen, Irishmen, Jews and others. There existed between them religious differences, however, the Christians constituted the greatest proportion. In Polish Catholic parishes worked earnestly the clergymen: Rev. W. Ostrowski (f 14 Sept. 1930), Rev. P. Chodniewicz, Rev. A. Eysymontt and Rev. W. Zborowski — in St. Stanislaus parish, the centre of religious-cultural life of Harbin’s colony; Rev. A. Leszczewicz in St. Josaphat parish. Furthermore, the Polish Franciscans among whose marked off G. Piotrowski, the apostolic administrator and vicar general of Manchuria, and P. Wilczyński, conducted in Harbin the Minor Spiritual Seminary, subsequently transformed — because of lack of candidates — into St. Nicolas’ Lyceum, which was taken on by Eastern Rite Marians. The pastoral and missionary work was also carried out by the following convents: the Gray Missionary St. Mary’s Sisters and, from 1928, the Polish Ursuline, who conducted an educational institute for girls. The institute, together with a secondary level school, at first for girls of both Polish and Russian origin, was from 1933 a missionary outpost of the Eastern rite. There, along with Russian girls were brought up and educated also Chinese girls and those of other nationalities. The care over the institute, after Rev. G. Piotrowski, was held by the apostolic administrator Rev. Abrantowicz. The St. Stanislaus’ parish had to overcome with various difficultés, especially connected with maintaining of Polish cultural posts in Harbin: the Lyceum named after H. Sienkiewicz and the elementary school of St. Vincent à Paulo and the Polish weekly „Tygodnik Polski”. To provide possibilities of educating children and youth of widest circles of the Polish colony it was decided to low the fee for attending the Lyceum and the instruction in preliminary schools of St. Vincent; the instructions at St. Josaphat’s church were given gratis. In 1934 the program of the Lyceum was revised and adopted to local conditions. The clergy in Harbin was actively participating in the national festivals, organizing services and ceremonies on occasion of national anniversaries. Their activity undoubtedly had contributed to the good the Church and homeland

Religious Life of Poles in Harbin (1901-1925)

In the first quarter of the century Harbin was the biggest Polish settlement in the Far East. In 1904 the number of Poles, mostly insurgents of 1863 and other political activists, reached 4,000. The Poles of Harbin were employed in the construction of Eastern-Chinese railway initiated by the Russian government. Being Roman Catholices they wanted their own church and a Polish priest. Originally services for Poles were held in a chapel at the outskirts of Harbin; in 1904 a building plot for the future church was secured and the actual construction began in 1906. A catholic parish, part of the Mohylow archidiocese was constituted in 1909. The gothic-style church was consecrated in 1909. Flourishing of Polish religious and cultural life in Harbin is connected with the person of the parish priest, Father Władysław Ostrowski. In 1923 Pius XI constituted the diocese with a Pole, Karol Sliwowski as the first ordinary consecrated by the apostolic delegate Archbishop Cełso Constahtihi. The Polish parish of Harbin was incorporated into the new diocese and a Catholic seminary was transferred from Wladivostok to Harbin. The parish was active in charity, cultural and educational work. Thanks to the efforts of Father Ostrowski Primary School for Polish children was founded in 1912, followed by Henryk Sienkiewicz Grammar School in 1915. In 1917 a, special building was set up for both schools. The duty to send children to Polish schools only was particularly stressed by the Catholic Congress of the Polish parish in Harbin convoked by Father Ostrowski in 1921. In 1923 the Grammar School was given the same rights as government schools in Poland-, and in 1924 its diploma was officially recognized. In 1922 Father Ostrowski launched the Polish Weekly (Tygodnik Polski) which was then the only Polish magazine in Asia. Thus the Polish clergy of Harbin deserves the credit for not only - deepening the religious life of Poles but also for keeping up the national and patriotic spirit and cultivating the links with the native land and culture

Christ in the spirituality of Blessed Mary Angela Truszkowska

Blessed Angela Truszkowska is among the important figures in nineteenth-century Poland. She was a co-founder of the Congregation of Felician Sisters. Her writings testify to her love of Jesus Christ, the Divine Bridegroom and His Church. It is in the Divine Master that Truszkowska had found a sense of religious life, therefore she showed Him as a model of love that did not hesitate to lay down His life and remain under the Eucharistic forms. She encouraged her fellow sisters to fulfil God's will modelled on Christ, and to imitate Him in their whole life. She thought that the consecrated person was called to sanctity and should make every effort to follow Jesus Christ; His words should be radically put into practice in this person's life