Blessed Marcelina Darowska
Polish widow turned educator and co-founder of the Immaculate Conception Sisters
- Rank
- Blessed
- Kind
- Founder, Religious
- Life
- 1827 – 1911
- Era
- 20th century
- Feast
- 5 January
- Countries
- Poland
Life story
Marcelina Kotowicz was born on 16 January 1827 at Szulaki, now in Ukraine, into a landowning family (one article gives 28 January, in the Gregorian calendar). Although she had wished for religious life from childhood, she obeyed her father and married Karol Darowski at twenty-two; they had two children. Her husband died suddenly of typhus after three years of marriage, and her young son died less than a year later.
She went abroad for treatment. In Rome, under the guidance of Fr Hieronim Kajsiewicz, she was introduced to Józefa Karska, who was also planning a congregation devoted to education. The Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was founded in Rome in 1857. After Karska's death Marcelina became superior, and in 1863 she moved the community to Jazłowiec, where she opened a girls' secondary school.
The Jazłowiec school became a centre of Polish culture in the partitioned lands. Other institutions were later founded at Jarosław, Niżnów, Nowy Sącz and Słonim. In 1907 she sent sisters to found a house at Szymanów near Warsaw, now the congregation's general house. She died on 5 January 1911 at Jazłowiec. Pope John Paul II beatified her in Rome on 6 October 1996. Her feast is 5 January.
Works and witness
- Widowed young, she then devoted herself to founding an educational congregation with Józefa Karska
- Moved the community to Jazłowiec in 1863 and opened a girls' secondary school
- Extended its institutions to Jarosław, Niżnów, Nowy Sącz and Słonim
- Sent sisters to found the house at Szymanów in 1907
- Beatified on 6 October 1996
Saints from the same country
References
- Breviarium.pl (brewiarz.pl), 'Bł. Marcelina Darowska' (5 January reading)
- Wikipedia article on Marcelina Darowska (read in full; 1857 founding, 1996 beatification)
- Deon.pl, Opoka and congregation sources via search summaries (marriage 1849, Jazłowiec 1863)
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.