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SISTER MARTA WIECKA1874-1904

Daughter of Charity on the road to sainthood

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In August 1990 Daughters of Charity from Krakow, Poland came to the town of Sniatyn, Ukraine to search for the grave of a holy woman, revered by the local population as “Matushka.”

Rumors of a

Saint

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They discovere

d that “Matushka” was a Daughter

of Charity named

Sr. MARTA

WIECKA.

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In Sniatyn, people of all creeds --Roman Catholic,

Greek Catholic,Orthodox,

and even non-believers --regarded Sr. Marta as their

Mother (Matushka) and Sister (Monashka)

who would listen to their prayers and obtain for them graces and favors.

Marta was the third of 13

children born to a wealthy land

owner Marcelino Wiecki and his wife, Paulina (Kamrovska)

Wiecka.There were six

daughtersand seven sons, three of whom died in infancyand five others died at a young

age.

Nowy Wiec: the village

of the Wiecka family

Who was Sr. Marta Wiecka?

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Vocation

At the age of 16 Marta tried to enter the Daughters of Charity in the town of Chelmno,

but was told that she was too young.

Provincial House in Chelmno 8

At the age of 18 Marta tried again to join the Daughters of Charity

in Chelmno, this time with her friend Monika

Gdaniec. Because the occupying government of Prussia restricted

the number of aspirants the religious community in Chelmno could

accept, Marta and her friend approached the Daughters of

Charity in Krakow.And they were accepted!

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Formation26 March 1892 – Postulatum 12 August 1892 – Seminary 21 April 1893 – Sent on Mission

Daughters of Charity Provincial House, Krakow

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21 April 1893: Sr. Marta was sent on her first mission to a hospital in Lvov.

Once there she quickly gained the

reputation as a Sister who loved her patients and serve

them with great devotion.

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A year and a half later on 15 November 1894, she was missioned again to a

hospital in Podhajce. Here for the next five years she tirelessly

served the sick as a good nurse and a faithful Daughter of Charity.

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In 1902 Sr. Marta was

sent to serve at a hospital in the town of Bochnia.

Shortly after she arrived, a patient at the hospital

became jealous of

the care she gave to a

young man with

tuberculosis.

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The parish priest heard the rumors and demanded that

superiors remove Sr. Marta!

This patient spread the rumor that Sr. Marta was having an AFFAIR with the young man --

and that she was PREGNANT!

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But her Sister Servant Sr. Maria Chablo insisted that Sr. Marta “is an innocent soul completely given to God. I can be as sure of her as I am of myself!”Sr. Marta stayed

onin Bochnia for

two more yearsand was

completely vindicated.

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In 1902 Sr. Marta was missioned to the hospital in the town of Sniatyn.

Here her sanctity would shine for all to see. 16

The two short years that Sr. Marta served in Sniatyn, people of all creeds – and no creed at all – came to admire and love her.Why?

– because of her extraordinary

LOVE, her PRAYER,

and her SERVICE. 17

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Sr. Marta took the place of a family man whose job it was to clean the typhus ward.

She contracted typhus.

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On 30 May 1904, at the age of 30, Sr. Marta

died.

In her illness she was surrounded by her Sisters and her brother Fr.

Jan.

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Since 1904, through two world

wars and Soviet

occupation, …

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…the people of Sniatyn and surrounding areas

have come with their needs and prayers …

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…to the grave of

their “Matushka,

”

Sr. MARTA WIECKA.

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They know what the

Catholic Church is just

beginning to determine …

Sr. Marta Wiecka

is a

SAINT!

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Lvov Cathedral, 26 June 1997: the process for canonization begins.

10 October 2003: Metropolitan

Curia of Krakow accepts a miracle

which allows for her beatification.