Saturday, 19.05.2012
Blessed Angela Salava

The Angela's Way which led Her to Heavens

salawa[1]

Blessed Angela Salava (1881-1922)

Childhood in Siepraw
Angela Salava was born on the ninth of September in 1881, in the village of Siepraw. She was the 11th child of her parents, Bartholomew and Eve, and was baptized in the parish church on the 13th September. The Salava family was poor, but her mother was very glad when Angela came onto the world, even though she said about her, "she will always be ill, and in her life she will be suffering a lot." Indeed, she was ill from the early years and could not do the same work as the other brothers and sisters. As a consequence, she felt herself, that she was not appreciated and rejected by her family, saying later, with a touch of humor, "It seemed to me that, in my home, I was like a broken piece of furniture, which had been thrown into the comer." However, she tried, with all her strength, to be useful. Obedient to her parents, she pastured the cattle, and did some repairing works of women clothes. And so, as Angela was so willing to help, she was much appreciated among her family and her neighbors. But from her earliest years, she kept hearing the voice of Jesus Christ, calling her to follow him.
When she was sixteen years old, she rejected the marriage that her parents were planning for her and left the home to go and work in Krakow as the maid. This happened in the autumn of 1897. And, as she recalled later, "Jesus Christ himself, taking pity on me, made my life in Sieprav such, that I had to leave my home and go working to Krakow, revealing to me how I was to live." And so she began the onerous work of a maid servant.

Two Important Events

The first post was in the house of the railway-worker named was Francis Kloc, but whilst she was there, her religious fervor faded, and she began to dress in fine clothes and go to dances. This was not unusual for a girl of her age, but she went to Krakow in order to avoid such distractions. Her older sister Teresa, who was seriously ill with tuberculosis, reproved Angela for her vanity, but the light-headed Angela was not willing to listen to her wiser sister, who was much experienced in life from her. It was Teresa's dead on the 25th January 1899, though, which forced Angela to reflect on her lifestyle. This was the first major turning-point in her life, and soon afterwards, came a second one, i.e.: deciding point of her life
It happened, that she was once asked to be present at a wedding, and, whilst she was dancing suddenly she saw Jesus Christ standing nearby, who asked her, why she preferred dancing to following him. And suddenly, this vision caused her to feel very unhappy and confused. Immediately she left the dance and ran to the nearest Church. This was the last time in her life that she went dancing and, from that moment on, she devoted herself to adoration of the blessed sacrament, and to be with Jesus was the strongest desire of her heart
The Vows of the Purity-Virtue

After these circumstances, she began visiting her family again, and her devotion to Jesus was strengthened, of course, by the guidance she received from the Jesuit Fathers of Saint Barbara's Church. At this time, she began to think about entering a religious order, and even made an approach, but she was not accepted. So, following the advice of some Carmelite nuns, with whom she discussed her vocation, and of her confessor, she decided to offer herself to God, but to remain living in the world between people. So she took vows of purity and virtue in the Jesuit Church of Saint Barbara, in 1900, and from that moment,, after many years of trouble and distress, she had 11 years of internal peace. But that were the last years of the rest, because in the future there were coming for her the years of the Jesus Christ Cross.
On the fifteenth of September in the Nineteen-eleven, Misys Fisher, by whom Angela has spent her quiet years as maid-servant, died and then, on the 19lh day of the same month, Angela's mother also died. Angela was unable to attend her mother's burial, because she was fully occupied in making the funeral arrangements of her employer. Afterwards Angela discovered, that her mother disinherited her, and, although it was very little that she could have inherited, the action has cut her off from her family, whom she loved very much. After his wife's death, Mr. Fisher brought two new women into his home, and their accusations caused great trouble for Angela, so, that she found herself more and more alone. Even her confessor believed in these accu¬sations and banished her from his confessional. This rejection was the most painful experience which was given her in her life. Later her confessor realized his mistake, but the accusation followed her through her life for a long, long time.
Enrolment to the Third Order of the Saint Francis
On 15th May, she joined the Franciscan Third Order, which brought her great comfort and, a year later, she made her promises. Because she was now reading a lot, she discovered that, like herself, Saint Francis had been abandoned and disinherited by his family, and this inspired her to follow Third Order Rule more fervently.
Then, all at once, the First World War broke out in 1914 and the population of Krakow was evacuated because of the fighting, However her love to her neighbors would not allow her to leave the town; as there were so many injured and poverty stricken people, who needed her help. Angela assisted the poor and shared her own small bread ration with them. Most of her time, though, was spent with the soldiers in the hospitals, to whom she brought not only material goods, but most important of all, she brought human warmth, spiritual comfort and a smile. When she approached to them, the soldiers said to each other, "Here comes our Saintly lady." Though, during this period of time her health deteriorated, and she suffered from stomach pains and the effects of numerous tumors, although nobody noticed noting as, from her outward appearance, she always looked so healthy.
In 1916, Angela had to leave the Fisher's home following an accusation of theft, and so after so many working years working there, she found herself homeless, and in addition, she was ill and without any money. Over the next few months, she went from one job to another, but her situation became more tragic. In the spring of 1917, she had to walk with a stick. Urged by her friends, she went to Saint Zyta's Hospital, but, because of her apparently healthy appearance, she was quickly discharged. As a result, she found herself in extreme poverty. She lived in a single basement-room, which was at 20 Radziwilowska street, which measured 3 by 4 meters. In this way, Angela discovered Jesus Christ Cross. All her friends and neighbors deserted her, but Jesus Christ was with her, as he had been with her from her earliest years, and he was the only one not to leave her.
On the 8lh March, having been given her the Blessed Sacrament, and she was driven to Saint Zyta's hospital again, and then, on the 12lh March 1922, Jesus Christ received her into his heavenly kingdom.
However, there were people who believed that such a person, whose life had been full of prayer, goodness, sufferings and even pain, should be raised to the altar, and indeed, such has happened. On the 13th August 1991, our holy father John Paul II celebrated her beatification in Krakow, in the centre of the Market Square, in the city where blessed Angela has found her way to the kingdom of Jesus Chist.
fr. Grzegorz Bajon
"Nasze Życie" nr 66/67 (1998)
One of the Miracles of Saint Angela
In the city Nowy Targ 75 kilometers from Krakow, there lives a small boy whose name was Georg Serafin. On the 26th March 1990, he was playing in a public park with other children, and there he was struck on the head and suffered sever brain concussion. Of course, he was taken immediately to hospital, but the surgeon's prognosis for his recovery was very poor. The child was in a deep coma with severe neurological symptoms, open wounds in the skull and brain, and also fractures in the skull and its base, with cuts in the meninges in the frontal lobe and in his right temple, where the brain tissue extruded, and with the flow of the brain tissue.
His parents to said their prayers, asked for mass to be celebrated for the boy's recovery and, on 29th March 1990, they began a novena to the Servant of God Angela Salawa. After six days, it was noticed, that the boy had begun to react to external stimuli. From this day on, the boy's health improved mere and mere, until the time on 17th April, when he begun to speak, and on 23rd April in 1990, the boy left the hospital completely restores to good health.
His cure was accepted as miraculous, and now he is currently studying law at the Jagellonia University.
(G. Bartoszewski OFMCap, S. Budzyński, Cz. Ryszka, Life and Miracles of Polish saints, Warsaw 2001, ss. 261-262.)
This translation has been corrected by Carmelite Father Richard Copsey.