Blessed Edmund Bojanowski

Life story

Edmund Bojanowski was born on 14 November 1814 in Grabonóg, near Poznań, into a landowning noble family. He studied literature and art at Wrocław and then Berlin but did not finish his course. From his twenties he suffered from tuberculosis, yet he kept working.

He gave his life to the rural poor. He set up reading rooms and libraries for villagers and taught people to read. When cholera broke out in 1849 he founded an orphanage and a hospital and personally cared for the sick there and in their homes.

On 3 May 1850 he opened a village nursery at Podrzecze, and the young women who ran it became the nucleus of the congregation he founded, the Servants of the Immaculate Conception. Sources date the later stages of the congregation's organisation differently. The sisters' task was to care for rural children and to bring education and faith to poor families.

In 1869 he tried again to enter the seminary, in Gniezno, but his health kept failing and he was never ordained a priest. He died on 7 August 1871 at Górka Duchowna. He was declared Venerable on 3 July 1998 and beatified by Pope John Paul II in Warsaw on 13 June 1999. He has not been canonised; his feast day is 7 August.

Works and witness

• Studied literature and art at Wrocław and Berlin
• Set up reading rooms and libraries for rural people
• Founded an orphanage and hospital during the 1849 cholera epidemic and cared for the sick
• Opened a village nursery at Podrzecze in 1850, the origin of the Servants of the Immaculate Conception
• Beatified by Pope John Paul II on 13 June 1999

Saints from the same country

Saint Stanislaus of Kraków, Saint John Paul II, Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Saint Faustina Kowalska

References

• Encyclopedia.com, Bojanowski, Edmund Wojciech Stanislas, Bl.
• Wikipedia, Edmund Bojanowski (studies, tuberculosis, 1848-49 cholera, 1869 Gniezno, venerable 3 July 1998, beatified 13 June 1999, feast 7 August)
• Adam Mickiewicz University repository, Działalność Zgromadzenia Sióstr Służebniczek Niepokalanego Poczęcia (1850-1901) (Podrzecze nursery, 3 May 1850)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.