Quote of the day, 2 October: St. Raphael Kalinowski

Kalinowski still took an interest in current news, especially as it affected the Church. Around this time, referring to trouble in Lublin, he remarked:

What a terrible thing this attack on the bishop of Lublin. Here we go back to the days of Hipacego Pociej, Uniate Metropolitan [of Kyiv]. We can expect a new St. Josaphat!

From Moscow with caution! You cannot trust her sincerity. Until they cease to be afraid of spreading the truth among their own, they will put obstacles in the way.

The Uniate Metropolitan Szeptyckim [of Kyiv] wanted to send a Basilian to Chelm and Lithuania but the Synod of Swjatiejszyj refused.

Again on July 20 [1907], he noted:

A scapular procession in Rome was insulted by a group of troublemakers, though the security forces restored order and dispersed the attackers.

Progress is very slow! Usquequo Domine?! [How long Lord?] … All trials only strengthen our faith: Non praevalebunt [They shall not prevail].

You need to have a strong attitude so as not to lose peace of mind.

Saint Raphael Kalinowski

Chapter 11, The curtain falls (1906–1907)

Tierney, T  2016,  Saint Raphael Kalinowski: Apprenticed to Sainthood in Siberia,  Balboa Press,  Bloomington, IN

Featured image: The ruins of the Discalced Carmelite friars monastery in Zagórz, Poland are seen through the morning fog dissipating in the Słonne Mountains. The friars are known to have inhabited a monastic foundation on this land as early as 1714, thanks to a generous ex voto gift for its establishment by the governor of Volhynia. By 1730, the entire monastery complex was completed.

But not 50 years had passed when the monastery, loyal to the pro-Catholic “Bar Confederation” and one of its last strongholds in Poland, was attacked by the Russian army. Local historians indicate that the Russians laid siege to the Confederates who were sheltered in the monastery stronghold in 1772.

Cannon fire shelled the monastery buildings; some of them were burned and destroyed. The monastery and the Confederate defenders fell to the Russians on 28 November 1772, the final battle of the Bar Confederation.

The Discalced Carmelite friars undertook heroic efforts to restore the property in 1957; St. John Paul II visited the ruins that year. The friars were forced to abandon the property in 1962 due to lack of funds. In the Jubilee Year 2000, the local municipality resumed work, clearing the overgrowth on the property and restoring the statue of the Virgin and Child Jesus. While funding has remained a challenge since then, restoration efforts continue.

[Sources: Podkarpackie Travel, Klasztor Karmelitów Bosych w Zagórzu, and Bar Confederation – Wikipedia]