Bl. Marcelina Darowska Biography
Bl. Marcelina Darowska Biography, Feast Day, Date of Birth, Country of Birth, Profession, Place of Work, Date of Death, Place of Death, Beatification Date, Canonization Date |
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| Date of Birth | 28 January 1827 |
|---|---|
| Country of Birth | Poland of Europe |
| Matrimony/Holy Orders | Blesseds who were Married |
| Profession | N/A |
| Place of Work | Lviv, Ukraine |
| Date of Death | 5 January 1911 |
| Place of Death | Jazlowiec, Poland |
| Feast Day | January 5 |
| Beatification | Beatified by Pope John Paul II on 6 October 1996 |
| Canonization | Canonized by N/A |
| Patron Saint of | |
Blessed’s Biography
Blessed Marcelina Darowska was born on January 28, 1827, in Poland. She came from a Polish landowner family and grew up in Szulaki. As a child, she showed a special love of prayer and a desire to devote herself to God.
Marcelina’s father Jan Kotowicz couldn’t get it, and before he died, he made her promise to marry and start a family. In 1849, she married Karol Darowski, but she sanctified the marriage by “living only in God and in God”.
After less than three years of a happy marriage, Karol died in 1852 and left Marcelina with two young children, Józef (b. 1850) and Carolina (b. 1852). Her first-born son passed in 1858 and realized that it was not God’s will that she should live in the world but in the monastery.
Life as a Nun
Marcelina traveled to Rome for health reasons in 1854 and there she met Father Hieronim Kajsiewicz, who became her spiritual guide. Through him, Marcelina met Josephine Karska, who had plans to establish a religious community devoted to the general formation of women. The two women collaborated on this project, thus forming the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The work united the two in warming friendship. Marcelina took the order name “Maria Marcelina of The Immaculate Conception”.
But for many years Josephine suffered from typhus and died in 1860. Marcelina became the new superior of the new religious family, which numbered only four. In 1863, Marcelina moved to her homeland and at Jazlowiec, Archdiocese of Lviv, Ukraine. There she opened her first school for girls. It became an important spiritual and cultural center.
Marcelina educated young women believing that on it depends the re-birth of the family, the foundation of a healthy society. Among her principles for the formation of sisters and students was to emphasize God’s primacy over all, truth, mutual trust, and selflessness.
Marcelina also provided effective help to the poor and wished for free schools to be established at each of the congregation’s houses. During the fifty years she led the congregation, she opened seven houses of formation and schools for children.
Death
Mother Marcelina died on January 5, 1911 in at Jazlowiec, Poland (now in Ukraine) of natural causes.
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