Polish bishops send a letter to mark the centennial of death of Servant of God Jadwiga Zamoyska: Holiness is the call of every baptised person
Through her heroic life, dedicated to God and Homeland, Jadwiga Zamoyska reminds us that holiness is the call of every baptised person – reads the Pastoral Letter sent by the Polish Bishops’ Conference to mark the centennial of death of Servant of God Jadwiga Zamoyska.
On Saturday, November 4, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of death of Servant of God Jadwiga Zamoyska nee Działyńska, candidate for the altars of the Church, who, as the document reads, was guided in her life by the noblest values. “We are convinced that she was a heroic figure. The General's thinking was enlightened and pioneering in many areas, and her views were ahead of the time in which she lived. We are amazed today by the breadth of her interests and the wisdom, insights, and logic with which she expressed herself on a wide variety of topics, including religion, politics, and economy”, wrote the bishops.
The letter described the biography of Jadwiga Zamoyska. As the bishops noted, both her family life and the works she undertook show that she treated her life as a service and wanted to follow Christ. The bishops quoted Zamoyska saying: “For me, God is order: moral, intellectual, and material. Through this order in my soul, in my thoughts, in my feelings, in my room, on my desk, in my drawers, in my expenses, in my work, and in my daily schedule, I find God, I connect with Him, I love Him, and I pray to Him”.
The bishops emphasise that the most vital among the many tasks Jadwiga Zamoyska dedicated herself to, was her concern for patriotic and religious education. She wrote a number of texts on religious and educational topics, including On the Love of the Homeland, On Work, and On Education, and founded the School of Women's Domestic Work and the Association of the Mother of Good Counsel associated with the school. “Jadwiga Zamoyska's school enabled several thousand women graduates to acquire modern knowledge of housekeeping, but also to acquire a deep religious formation, to learn patriotism, and to prepare for the upbringing of their own children” – reads the text of the Pastoral Letter.
The document also included an encouragement to draw on the life of God's servant Jadwiga Zamoyska, “who discovered in the Gospel of Jesus Christ a precious pearl worth sacrificing one's life for”, in the context of contemporary challenges and problems. “Through her heroic life, which was devoted to God and the Homeland, she reminds us that holiness is the vocation of every baptised person”, observed the bishops.
In their final words, the bishops argue that “holiness is simple” if one submits one's life to God. “Thanks to Jadwiga Zamoyska, we will find it easier to understand that all walk of life - thanks to the action of God's grace and the commitment and perseverance of each of us - can become pathways to sanctification” – assured the bishops.
Press Office of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
Translated by M. Turski / Office for Foreign Communication of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
