Resurrection High School - Mother Celine Beatification

Celine Chludzinska was born on October 29, 1833 in the village of Antowil near Orsza, in Eastern Poland. Joined in matrimony with Joseph Borzecki, she had four children, among them the Venerable Servant of God Hedwig Borzecka (d. 1906). After becoming a widow, together with her daughter, Hedwig, she founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ for the education of girls and women. Her Institute spread in several countries. She died in Krakow on October 26, 1913.

The Congregation of the Sisters of the Resurrection began in Rome on January 6, 1891 under the auspices of His Eminence Lucido Mary Parocchi, Vicar Cardinal of Rome at that time. In May, 1905 a Decree of Praise of the Congregation was issued by the Sacred Congregation of Ordinaries and Religious by order of Pope Pius X.

On July 17, 1923 the Decree approving the Congregation forever was granted by His Holiness Pius XI.

On September 8, 1981 the Sacred Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes issued a Decree of Approval for a new text of the Constitutions prepared in accordance with the directives of the Second Vatican Council. At that time the Congregation’s particular apostolic mission in the Church was described as instruction and Christian education as well as care of the sick.

On February 7, 1982 during a visit to the Mother House in Rome, Pope John Paul II expressed himself in this way: “I wish you…that this charism, the Paschal charism, the charism of the Resurrection of Our Lord, may be your portion always and ever more so that you yourselves may draw from it and give it to others and so that through this, the Church may be built up in the dimensions of your Congregation and as a universal community—everywhere where you are called to form the Church, to contribute to its development.”

Significant Dates for Mother Celine

Celine Chludzinska was born on October 29, 1833 in Eastern Poland. At the time she was born, this section of Poland was under the control of Russia. Thirty eight years before this, Russia, Prussia and Austria had divided up Poland so that it had disappeared from the map and the entire area was under foreign rule.

Celine had a happy and blissful childhood and became a charming and beautiful young lady.

On November 26, 1853 she married Joseph Borzecki and moved with him to his estate in Obremszczyzna. They had four children. A boy and a girl died in infancy and two girls grew to womanhood. The elder, Celine, married and had a family; the younger, Hedwig, joined her mother as co-foundress of the Sisters of the Resurrection.

Within the partitioned Poland , there was political unrest which broke out into insurrections from time to time. One of these was in 1863. For her efforts to help the insurrectionists and their families, Celine was arrested by the Russians and imprisoned for some time with her baby daughter, Hedwig. This did not discourage her from continuing to work for the freedom of the insurrectionists.

In 1869 Celine’s husband, Joseph, was stricken with paralysis. She cared for him for five years, taking him to places of healing while she cared for his physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

After her husband died, Celine spent the next seven years traveling between Poland , Venice and Rome educating her daughters and searching for her mission in life.

In 1875 in Rome, she met Father Peter Semenenko, a priest of the Congregation of the Resurrection. This Congregation had been formed in 1842 by a group of Polish men, some of whom had taken part in insurrections in Poland and had emigrated to Paris for security reasons. This exile from their native country caused them to reflect on the meaning of their lives in relation to their country, to society and to their God. They underwent a conversion experience and resolved to renew society. To do this, they realized that they had to renew themselves and decided that the best way to do this would be to form a religious congregation of Priests and Brothers. They also decided that the best place to found the community and to be formed equal to the task would be in Rome. They began their studies for the priesthood, were ordained and, because they could not go back to Poland, were assigned a parish in Rome. It was at this parish, St. Claude, that Celine met Father Semenenko, who became her spiritual director throughout her life. It so happened that Father Semenenko had been looking for a woman to begin a Congregation of women religious inspired by the Resurrection charism. Celine impressed him from the beginning as possibly being that woman.

Celine continued to support her children in their socialization and education. At the same time, under the direction of Father Semenenko, she began to discern the Will of God for the establishment of a Congregation of the Sisters of the Resurrection. Her daughter, Celine, decided to marry a young Polish man while Hedwig, in 1881, at eighteen years of age, decided to join her mother in founding the Congregation of the Sisters of the Resurrection.

In 1882, Celine and Hedwig began living according to the Rule developed for them by Father Semenenko. The Rule was based on the Paschal Mystery being lived out in a contemplative-active life in the ministry of uplifting women through Christian education. Celine and Hedwig lived in a small apartment in Rome taking in homeless and impoverished women, as well as some who wanted to become candidates to the religious life. In the early part of 1884, they moved into a house on Via Arcione, in Rome , where they established a school. The lower floor was occupied by Marachese della Chiesa and his son, Monsignor James della Chiesa. Father Semenenko visited Celine and Hedwig each week inspiring and encouraging them until he died in 1886. By this time, Monsignor della Chiesa had come to know them and to admire their spirit. He taught religion in their school. Later he would become Pope Benedict XV.

On January 6, 1891 after having received approval from the Church to begin the religious life publicly, Celine and Hedwig pronounced perpetual vows as Sisters of the Resurrection. Three other Sisters received the religious habit and professed temporary vows. Celine and Hedwig were now called Mother Celine and Mother Hedwig.

Mother Hedwig immediately began a school for girls in Rome . The same year Mother Celine opened their first home in Kenty , Poland , at the foot of the Beskid Mountains . The ministry at this site included parish work and the education of women and children. As young girls asked to join the growing Congregation, this soon became the site for the Novitiate.

In 1896 Mother Celine was invited by the Resurrectionist Fathers to Bulgaria where she opened a mission home and school for children.

Remembering her early years in Russian occupied Poland , Mother Celine sought to penetrate areas of occupied Poland with the faith through ministry with women and young girls. Although they had to work in secrecy, the sisters established homes in Czestochowa near the famous Jasna Gora and in Warsaw . Thus began the ministry of the Sisters of the Resurrection throughout occupied Poland . The German invasion of the Wejherowo area began in 1939. Sister Alice Kotowska, a superior and principal of the school complex there, was arrested because of her Polish loyalty and was executed that same year. On June 13, 1999 Sister Alice was beatified as a martyr.

Again, upon the invitation of the Resurrectionist Fathers, Mother Celine sent four sisters to the United States in 1900 to begin a school at Saint Mary of the Angels Parish in Chicago. Within two years the first American Novitiate was opened. In 1914 the Novitiate was transferred to Norwood Park where land had been purchased in the northwestern part of Chicago. This land would later become the site of the Provincial Home of the Sisters as well as the ministries of Resurrection High School , a school for girls, Resurrection Medical Center, Resurrection Retirement Community and Resurrection Life Center . (From here educational ministries were established in Indiana, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Florida, and Alabama.) For a time, the sisters also staffed a small hospital in Nebraska. In 1928, a separate province with a Novitiate was established in Castleton-on-Hudson, New York from which the sisters ministered throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Later, the Congregation of the Sisters of the Resurrection spread to Canada, England, Australia and Argentina and most recently to Tanzania, Africa.

In 1905 Mother Celine supervised the building of the Motherhouse of the Congregation in Rome on Via Marcantonio.

In 1906 Mother Hedwig, Celine’s daughter and the co-foundress, died in Poland. This was a great blow to Mother Celine since she had intended that her daughter continue giving direction to the Congregation.

In 1911 Mother Celine summoned the First General Chapter in Rome. During the Chapter, she was unanimously elected the Superior General for life.

In 1913 three days before her 80^th birthday, Mother Celine died in Poland where she was interred with Mother Hedwig in the community vault in the cemetery at Kenty.

In 1937 the body of Mother Celine was transferred to a modest crypt beneath the convent chapel in Kenty.

In 1942 Pope Pius XII instructed the Superior General of our Congregation to take steps to commence the Informative Process of the Foundress. This is the first step in a four-step process towards canonization. The Informative Process of the Servant of God, Mother Celine Borzecka opened in the Vicariate of Rome in 1944.

In 1982 on February 11, a Decree of Praise regarding her heroic virtues was signed by Pope John Paul II. This Decree of Praise attested to her exercise of the theological virtues of faith, hope and love of God and neighbor, as well as the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, and temperance and other virtues related to these. This Decree was the second step in the Process towards canonization and allowed Mother Celine to be called Venerable.

The Miracle

From a perspective of the process of beatification or canonization, a miracle is seen as an act of God through the intercession of the Servant of God whose Cause is in progress. In a miracle, one can see the direct connection between invoking the Servant of God, his/her intercession and the immediate and unexpected change of concrete facts. So, theologically, a miracle serves to confirm the Will of God in regard to the Servant of God. This divine intercession is seen as a consequence of the intercession of the Servant of God who actually reposes in the blessed vision of the Trinity.

In Mother Celine’s case the presumed miracle presented for examination of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints was the healing of Andrew Mecherzynski-Wiktor. Andrew is a fifth generation descendent of Mother Celine- her great, great, great grandson.

When he was 15 years old, Andrew was doing climbing exercises in a gym. He fell to a hard floor from a height of about ten feet seriously injuring his head. He was taken to a hospital where he was diagnosed with a fracture of the left temporal bone, blood in the left mastoid area and air in the surrounding tissue. He also had a subdural hematoma. This happened on July 20, 1999 . On July 22 Andrew’s family and the Sisters of the Resurrection began to pray for God’s help through the intercession of Mother Celine. For six days Andrew was in a state of disturbed consciousness, serious psychomotor agitation and he needed sedation. The prognosis was not good. It was not known if he would live and if he did, what his condition would be. Six days after the accident, Andrew began to breathe on his own. The next day he regained consciousness and nine days after the accident, there were no manifestations of the effects of his fall and he was released from the hospital.

The Medical Commission, which met in session on June 9, 2005 declared that the healing was not explainable by natural causes.

On November 15, 2005 the Congress of Consultor Theologians judged that this was a miracle. On June 20, 2006 the Cardinals and Bishops in ordinary session agreed and also judged that this was a miracle performed through the power of God.

On December 16, 2006 , after the presentation of a report of all these matters to Pope Benedict XVI , His Holiness declared that a miracle had been proven.

With the acknowledgement of this event as a miracle, Mother Celine is eligible to be called “Blessed.” The formal event of her being declared Blessed will take place in Rome on October 27, 2007 . This will be the third step towards canonization as a saint. For this to happen, there will need to be another miracle.

Beatification

Beatification brings with itself rights and privileges. After Mother Celine is beatified, her intercession can be sought in the formal prayer of the Church (as in “Mother Celine, pray for us”). She will also be assigned a day in the Liturgical calendar and a special Liturgy will be created for use on that day.

Let's Celebrate

What is important about this is that Celine was one of us who has personally touched our lives through the Congregation of the Sisters of the Resurrection. She was an ordinary person, just like we are, who answered the call of God to seek His Will in the circumstances of her life. She chose to deepen her knowledge of God and of His Will for her through reflection on the Paschal Mystery, the death and Resurrection of Jesus. She came to understand that the daily experiences of sadness, suffering, disappointment, loss and grief are united with the dying of Jesus and that the experiences of joy, relief, recovery, and peace are united with the rising of Jesus. Accepting and entering into life as it comes from the hand of God is what Jesus came to teach us and model for us. Just as Jesus is now living risen life, because of His life in us through the Eucharist, we have a share in that risen life. That’s what our lives are all about. We are all called to reflect on this amazing truth and to live our lives in hope, peace and joy in the knowledge of that truth.

This is the truth that drove Mother Celine’s life. We each are invited to reflect on this life of someone who has become part of our lives in some way and to discover our own path to this truth in the company of the Family of the Resurrection.

For more information about the Beatification or about the Sisters of the Resurrection please contact:

Sisters of the Resurrection

7432 W. Talcott Ave

Chicago, IL 60631

773-792-6363

callres@hotmail.com