FOUNDER

Our Founder was inspired by the clear signs of the times:

the apparitions of the Blessed Mother in Gietrzwald in 1877 wherein Mary called for the rescuing of the Polish nation through the prayer of the Rosary: the elimination of religious orders by the tsarist authorities; the growing number of country girls who sought advice and assistance in Father Honorat’s confessional to realize their desire to serve God in the religious life; the spiritual and material needs of various social groups.

He responded to these signs by establishing THE CONGREGATION OF SISTERS SERVANTS OF MARY IMMACULATE on October 7, 1878.

Honorat Kozminski was born in Biala Podlaska on October 16, 1829, as the second child of Stefan Kozminski (a country architect) and Aleksandra (nee Kahl). At Baptism, he was given the name of Waclaw (Wenceslaus), among others, and it was by this name that his family used to call him at home. He had seven siblings, including four half-siblings. He was raised in a religious atmosphere. He completed elementary school in his native town, and junior high school in Plock. At that time, in 1840, for reasons associated with his father’s job, the family moved to Wloclawek. The school environment turned out to be secularized and Waclaw lost his faith. In 1844, he began studies in the Department of Architecture at the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw. On April 23, 1846, he was unjustly arrested, accused of participating in a conspiracy against the tsarist authorities, and imprisoned at the Warsaw Citadel where he experienced a crisis of faith. He struggled with the physical suffering, as well as with God and with himself. As he, himself, would later admit, grace - obtained because of his mother’s prayers and through the intercession of the Blessed Mother - triumphed in the end. On the Feast of the Assumption of that same year, he experienced a conversion, and on March 27, 1847, he was released from prison. He went to confession, thereby beginning a new life.

After much thought and prayer, the 19-year-old Waclaw directed his steps to the Order of Capuchin Franciscan Friars in Warsaw where, on December 8, 1848, he began spiritual formation as a son of St. Francis. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 27, 1852.

As a religious and a priest, he fulfilled the duties of confessor, catechist, preacher and missionary to the country folk, director of the Third Order of St. Francis, promoter of the Living Rosary, provincial secretary, lecturer at a religious seminary, definitor, and superior of a monastery. In 1855, he began his special mission, that of founding religious orders. His efforts bore fruit in the form of 26 religious congregations of men and congregations of women, three wearing a habit - including one contemplative order - but, primarily in congregations having no habit, of which 17 still exist today.

He accomplished this work with great apostolic zeal mainly in Zakroczym, a small town near Plock, where he was relocated together with the other friars of his community after the elimination of the monastery in Warsaw (November 27-28, 1864). It turned out that he was able to find new ways of evangelizing even under the conditions of internment. Quite soon his charism as a confessor, spiritual director and preacher revealed itself. Zakroczym became known more and more as a meeting place, mainly at the confessional, not only for the Poles, but also for people from Lithuania, Ukraine and Podolia. The waiting time for confession with Father Honorat was often several days. Twenty-eight years of this kind of pastoral ministry brought about the birth of various religious communities and yielded more than 60 thousand handwritten pages of letters, sermons, and printed works. In this manner Father Honorat supplied the need for religious literature and prayer books that would be of assistance during parish religious services or that could be used for private recitation of prayers.

On May 5, 1892, the monastery in Zakroczym was dissolved by the tsarist authorities and the friars were relocated to the monastery in Nowe Miasto on Pilica. This period of Father Honorat’s life was marked by a lot of suffering, especially spiritual suffering. He was paying a high price for his tremendous work. When he was no longer able to minister in the confessional, he dedicated himself with even greater fervor to his writing. It was during this time that several dozen of his books came into being; some of them remain in manuscript form to this day.

He died on December 16, 1916, at the age of 87, having lived 68 years as a religious. In spite of the fact that World War I was raging on, his funeral was a great celebration. All present were convinced that they were seeing a holy priest and religious off to his eternal rest. One of the eyewitnesses said that Father Honorat’s life could be described by one phrase: “He always walked with God.”

In 1929, the efforts that would ultimately lead to Father Honorat’s beatification began. They were resumed in 1949. The information process started on April 7, 1949, and ended on January 12, 1951. The process during which his writings were examined ended on April 15, 1969, and a decree in this matter was issued on April 5, 1974. On October 16, 1988, the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, added him to the group of the blessed. This is what he said about our Founder at that time:

“Honorat Kozminski - a priest and an apostle, a steadfast dispenser of the sacrament of reconciliation and forgiveness. His downright heroic ministry in the confessional was true spiritual direction. He possessed a profound gift for discovering and revealing the paths of God’s calling.”

“He was a man persistent in prayer, especially in the adoration of the Eucharist. Immersed in God, he was open at the same time to the reality of life on this earth.

He pointed the way to perfection which grew out of the reading of the Gospels and contemplation. He encouraged others to remain among their own communities, to imitate Jesus and Mary of Nazareth, to practice the evangelical counsels in secret, without any outward manifestations. Through his spiritual sons and daughters, he attempted to rekindle in society the spirit of the first Christians’ zeal, and through them he was able to reach all levels of society.”

“In the Church today, he enjoys the honors of the altar. He shows us how to interpret the ‘signs of the times,’ how to act and how to persevere in a godly fashion in our challenging times. He teaches us how to solve difficult issues and supply human needs at the threshold of the third millennium in the same manner as the Son of Man who ‘came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”