Blessed Hilary Januszewski, polish carmelite, priest and martyr
Bienheureux Hilaire Januszewski, prêtre et martyr
Carme polonais martyr, déporté au camp de
concentration de Dachau en Bavière, où il mourut l’an 1945, atteint du typhus
en assistant d’autres déportés contaminés, il succomba, rempli de foi et de
charité.
Bienheureux Hilaire Januszewski
Carme polonais martyr (+ 1945)
Carme polonais martyr, déporté à Dachau où il mourut
du typhus. Béatifié le 13 juin 1999 avec Régina
Protmann, Edmond Bojanowski et 108 martyrs pour la foi - homélie
de Jean-Paul II.
Au camp de concentration de Dachau en Bavière, l’an
1945, le bienheureux Hilaire Januszewski, prêtre de l’Ordre des Carmes déchaux
et martyr. Atteint du typhus en déportation, en assistant d’autres déportés
contaminés, il succomba, rempli de foi et de charité.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/11537/Bienheureux-Hilaire-Januszewski.html
Bienheureux Hilaire Januszewski,
carme
Paul ( Pawel ) Januszewski ( prononcer Ianouchevski ) naquit
le 11 juin 1907 à Krajenki en Pologne. Il fut éduqué au collège de Greblin puis
à Cracovie. En 1927 il entra chez les Carmes à Lwow et prit le nom d' Hilaire
lorsqu' il fit sa profession en 1928. Il étudia la philosophie à Cracovie, puis
au collège international Saint-Albert à Rome. Il fut ordonné prêtre le 15
juillet 1934 et retourna en 1935 au couvent des Carmes à Cracovie. Il devint
professeur de théologie dogmatique et d' histoire de l' Eglise pour la province
des Carmes de Pologne.
Il avait une personnalité simple et plutôt
silencieuse. Il était fidèle au pratiques quotidienne de piété.
En 1939 il fut nommé prieur de sa communauté à
Cracovie deux mois après l' occupation de son pays par les Allemands ( à l'
Ouest ) et les Soviétiques ( à l' Est ).
Le 18 septembre 1940 quatre frères du couvent furent
déportés par les Allemands ( les frères Urbanski, Majcher, Wszelaki, Nowakowski
) parce qu' ils avaient prêché en polonais dont l' usage public était interdit.
La Gestapo revint en décembre pour en arrêter d' autres. Cette fois-ci il prit
la place d'un frère âgé et malade et commença son calvaire qui allait durer
plus de quatre ans. Emprisonné à la prison de Montelupi à Cracovie il fut
déporté à Sachsenhausen, puis en avril 1941 à Dachau.
Il encourageait ses compagnons par la prière ( dont le
bienheureux Tite Brandsma, carme hollandais ) et le soutien dans la Foi. Le 16
juillet 1942 les prêtres carmes et les autres religieux enfermés dans la
même barraque purent célébrer dans cet atroce environnement la fête de ND du
Mont Carmel avant la journée de travail. Pendant l' hiver 1945 la vie au camp
devint encore plus insupportable; l' encadrement nazi commençait à montrer des
signes de panique alors que la guerre semblait perdue pour eux. Les kapos ( prisonniers
qui surveillaient les autres déportés ) multipliaient les sévices pendant que
la région subissait les bombardements alliés.
Dans le barraquement 25 des Russes, le typhus vint à
se propager et il demanda d' y déménager avec d' autres prêtres pour assister
les malades. Son apostolat allait durer 21 jours...
Le Père Januszewski mourut du typhus le 25 mars 1945
un mois avant la libération du camp par les Américains le 29 avril. Son corps
fut brûlé dans un four crématoire.
Le Père Urbanski qui survécut rendit témoignage du
sacrifice de son prieur. De nombreux Carmes polonais moururent dans les camps
de concentration dont les Pères Kozan, Buszta, Makowski, etc...
Il fut béatifié par Jean-Paul II le 13 juin 1999 à
Varsovie.
Le bienheureux Père Januszewski nous rappelle que la
culture de mort contemporaine est radicalement opposée à l' Espérance
chrétienne.
SOURCE : http://ut-pupillam-oculi.over-blog.com/article-6159222.html
Un bienheureux carme polonais martyr du nazisme
Le martyrologe romain fait mémoire, entre autre, le 25
mars, du bienheureux prêtre polonais martyr du nazisme, Hilaire Januszewski
(1907-1945). Mais nous le signalons aujourd’hui pour laisser, le 25 mars, toute
la place à l’Annoniation.
Hilaire Januszewski entra dans l’ordre du Carmel à
l’âge de vingt ans. Une fois religieux profès et ordonné prêtre, il devint
prieur du couvent de Piasek, à Cracovie. Il enseignait également la théologie
dogmatique au séminaire du carmel.
Puis survint l’invasion de la Pologne par les troupes
hitlériennes. Son influence dans la région le désignait aux soupçons de la
Gestapo, qui redoutait en lui un pilier de la résistance à sa barbarie et à sa
terreur.
Dès 1937 en effet, l’encyclique de Pie XI, écrite ne
allmemand, “Mit brennender Sorge”, avait condamné l’idéologie
national-socialiste, et ceci sous l’influence du cardinal Ratti, futur Pie XII,
ancien nonce en Bavière puis à Berlin.
L’encyclique, que Hiltler avait fait interdire la
diffusion du document pontifical, signe que le message avait été reçu : il
avait compris la résistance qu’il rencontrerait en terre catholique.
Arrêté le 4 décembre 1940, le P. Hilaire Januszewski
partit rejoindre les milliers de prêtres catholiques emprisonnés à Dachau,
comme en otage, pour tenter d’infléchir la résistance de l’Eglise au nazisme.
A Dachau, en février 1945, le typhus décimait les
prisonniers. Bien que conscient du danger, le Père Hilaire se porta volontaire
pour assister les moribonds isolés dans un baraquement. Vingt jours plus tard,
il avait lui-même contracté la maladie. Il mourut le 25 mars 1945.
SOURCE : http://m.catholique.org/a51074
Bx Hilary Januszewski
Prêtre o.c.d. et martyr du nazisme († 1945)
Hilary, dans le siècle Pawel, Januszewski naît le 11
juin 1907 à Krajenki en Pologne. Il fut éduqué au collège de Greblin puis à
Cracovie.
En 1927 il entra chez les Carmes à Lwow et prit le nom
d'Hilaire lorsqu' il fit sa profession en 1928. Il étudia la philosophie à
Cracovie, puis au collège international Saint-Albert à Rome.
Il fut ordonné prêtre le 15 juillet 1934 et retourna
en 1935 au couvent des Carmes à Cracovie. Il devint professeur de théologie
dogmatique et d'histoire de l'Église pour la province des Carmes de Pologne. Il
avait une personnalité simple et plutôt silencieuse. Il était fidèle aux pratiques
quotidiennes de piété.
En 1939 il fut nommé prieur de sa communauté à Cracovie, deux mois après l' occupation de son pays par les Allemands (à l'Ouest) et les Soviétiques (à l'Est).
Pendant l'hiver 1945 la vie au camp devint encore plus insupportable : l'encadrement nazi commençait à montrer des signes de panique alors que la guerre semblait perdue pour eux. Les kapos (prisonniers qui surveillaient les autres déportés) multipliaient les sévices pendant que la région subissait les bombardements alliés.
Le Père Januszewski mourut du typhus le 25 mars 1945, un mois avant la libération du camp par les Américains le 29 avril. Son corps fut brûlé dans un four crématoire.
Le 13 juin 1999, au cours de son plus long voyage en
Pologne (5-17 juin), Saint Jean-Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyła,
1978-2005) a béatifié, à Varsovie, le P. Hilary Januszewski et 107 autres
martyrs polonais, victimes du nazisme pendant la seconde guerre mondiale.
Les 108 martyrs proviennent de 18 diocèses et de 22 familles religieuses. Il y a des prêtres, des religieuses et des laïcs dont la vie, entièrement dédiée à la cause de Dieu, et dont la mort, infligée par la haine à la foi, portèrent l’empreinte de l’héroïsme. Parmi eux, il y a trois évêques, 52 prêtres diocésains, 26 prêtres religieux, 3 séminaristes, 7 frères religieux, 8 sœurs et 9 laïcs. Ces proportions numériques sont liées au fait que le clergé fut le principal objet de la haine de la foi de la part des nazis de Hitler. On voulait faire taire la voix de l’Église retenue comme obstacle à l’instauration d’un régime fondé sur une vision de l’homme privé de la dimension surnaturelle et traversé de haine violente.
Sources principales : martyretsaint.com/ ; zenit.org/fr/
(« Rév. x gpm »).
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015
Pawel Januszewski
1907-1945
Pawel (Paul) Januszewski naquit le 11 juin 1907 à
Krajenki en Pologne, de Marian et Marianna.
Il fut éduqué au collège de Greblin puis à Suchar,
puis au lycée Michalitow à Pawlikowicach, enfin à Cracovie.
Dans une lettre qu'il écrit en 1927, il exprime son
irrésistible désir qu'il a depuis l'enfance de devenir prêtre, et sa
détermination à se consacrer pour ne vivre que pour Dieu.
Il entre chez les Carmes à Lwow, et prendra le nom
d'Hilary (Hilaire) lorsqu'il fera sa profession en 1928. Il étudie la
philosophie à Cracovie, puis au collège international Saint-Albert à Rome. Il
est ordonné prêtre le 15 juillet 1934.
Un confrère, qui serait plus tard prieur général de
l'Ordre, affirme que Pawel Hilary avait une personnalité tranquille,
silencieuse et même solitaire, absorbé dans la méditation. Il était fidèle aux
pratiques quotidiennes de piété.
Quand il soutient sa thèse de doctorat, il est compté
parmi les meilleurs élèves de l'unversité. De retour en Pologne, il est
responsable des séminaristes et professeur de théologie dogmatique et
d'histoire de l'Eglise. Puis en 1939 il est nommé prieur de sa communauté à
Cracovie, deux mois après l'occupation de son pays par les Allemands (à l'Ouest)
et les Soviétiques (à l'Est).
Hilary était pour lui-même très exigeant et très
strict, et en même temps d'une extrême patience envers ses disciples. A
Cracovie, on le connaissait comme un homme indomptable et d'une constante
tranquillité d'esprit. Il était particulièrement attentif aux nécessiteux, aux
malades. Voici encore quelques souvenirs écrits par quelqu'un qui l'a bien
connu :
C'était un prêtre plein de bonté qui n'a jamais refusé
d'aller prêter ses services dans un orphelinat. Nous étions toujours heureux
d'assister à sa messe. Quand il confessait, il y avait une foule d'orphelins
qui attendaient leur tour. Je le vois encore quand il vint à Zwierzyniec pour
passer des heures avec les plus nécessiteux. Pendant l'occupation, un groupe de
déportés arriva de Poznan : il voulut les accueillir en disant « Ne fermez
pas la porte à la souffrance humaine ». C'est ainsi qu'il leur fournit un
abri, un lieu de culte, un soutien matériel mais surtout un profond réconfort
moral et spirituel.
Le 18 septembre 1940 quatre frères du couvent furent
déportés par les Allemands (les frères Urbanski, Majcher, Wszelaki, Nowakowski)
parce qu'ils avaient prêché en polonais dont l'usage public était interdit. La
Gestapo revint le 4 décembre pour en arrêter d'autres. Cette fois-ci il prit la
place d'un frère âgé et malade, objectant qu'il en était le père et le
responsable. Ainsi commença son calvaire qui allait durer plus de quatre ans.
Emprisonné à la prison de Montelupich à Cracovie, il fut déporté à
Sachsenhausen, puis en avril 1941 à Dachau, où il portait le numéro 27648.
Il encourageait ses compagnons par la prière, les
entourant de gentillesse et de dévouement. Il les soutenait dans l'espérance
d'un avenir meilleur. Il conservait envers et contre tout le ferme espoir de
retourner dans son couvent de Cracovie. Il rencontra ainsi beaucoup d'autres
religieux carmes, y compris étrangers, entre autre Titus Brandsma, hollandais
(voir au 26 juillet).
Le 16 juillet 1942 les prêtres carmes et les autres
religieux enfermés dans la même baraque purent célébrer dans cet atroce
environnement la fête de Notre Dame du Mont Carmel avant la journée de travail.
Pendant l'hiver 1945 la vie au camp devint encore plus insupportable;
l'encadrement nazi commençait à montrer des signes de panique alors que la
guerre semblait perdue pour eux. Les kapos (prisonniers qui surveillaient les
autres déportés) multipliaient les sévices pendant que la région subissait les
bombardements alliés.
Dans le baraquement 25 des Russes, le typhus vint à se
propager et Hilary demanda à y être admis avec d'autres prêtres pour assister
les malades. Il mourait chaque jour environ quarante à soixante-dix détenus,
parmi lesquels se trouvait Vincentius Frelichowski (voir au 23 février).
L'apostolat du père Hilary allait durer 21 jours...
Lui et ses collègues prêtres savaient bien d'une part
que la libération était proche, mais plus encore ils étaient soucieux
d'apporter leur soutien sacerdotal auprès des mourants, malgré le très fort
risque de contagion. Ils savaient que les autorités sanitaires s'interdisaient
tout rapport avec les malades pour éviter cette contagion mortelle, mais Hilary
préféra se donner librement pour ses frères. Lorsque la maladie le gagna, il
resta plusieurs jours dans un état comateux avec une fièvre de 40° et
s'éteignit le 25 mars 1945, fête de l'Annonciation.
Un mois plus tard les Américains libéraient le camp,
le 29 avril.
Le corps du père Hilary fut brûlé dans un four
crématoire.
Le Père Urbanski, qui survécut, rendit témoignage du
sacrifice de son prieur. De nombreux Carmes polonais moururent aussi dans les
camps de concentration dont les Pères Kozan, Buszta, Makowski, etc...
Comme un autre Maximilian Kolbe, le père Hilary alla
jusqu'au bout dans le don total de sa personne pour ceux qu'il
aime (Jn 15:13).
Il fut du nombre des Bienheureux proclamés par
Jean-Paul II le 13 juin 1999 à Varsovie, parmi lesquels trois évêques,
cinquante-deux prêtres, vingt-six religieux, trois séminaristes, huit
religieuses et neuf laïcs.
Inscrit dans le Martyrologe au 25 mars, il est fêté
localement avec les autres martyrs du Nazisme le 12 juin.
SOURCE : http://www.samuelephrem.eu/article-pawel-januszewski-105701054.html
25 March 2017, 2:06 am
Also known as
Father Hilary Januszewski
12 June as
one of the 108
Martyrs of World War II
Profile
Son of Martin and Marianne Januszewski. Pawel studied at colleges in
Greblin, Suchary and Krakow in Poland.
Joined the Carmelites of
the Ancient Observance in 1927 at
age 20, taking the name Hilary, and beginning his novitiate in Lviv (in
modern Ukraine).
He studied philosophy in Krakow,
then theology
at the International College of Saint Albert in Rome, Italy.
Ordained a priest on 15 July 1934.
Recognized for academic excellence while studying
at the Academy of Saint Thomas in Rome.
Assigned to the Carmel in Krakow, Poland in 1935. Professor
of Dogmatic Theology and Church
History in Krakow. Prior of
the Krakow Carmelite community
on 1
November 1939. Arrested, deported and imprisoned in
December 1940 in
the Nazi persecutions,
having offered himself in exchange for an older brother who was very ill. Imprisoned in Krakow,
the Sachsenchausen concentration camp, and finally in the Dachau concentration
camp in April 1941. Imprisoned with Blessed Titus
Brandsma, the two often spent time in prayer together. Father Hilary
ministered to other prisoners where
he could, dying of typhus contracted
by caring for the sick. Martyr.
Born
11 June 1907 in
Krajenki, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland as Pawel
Januszewski
25 March 1945 in prisoner cabin
25 in the Dachau concentration camp, Oberbayern, Germany of typhus
his body was still in the cabin when Allied troops liberated
the camp a few days later
body cremated in the Dachau crematorium
26 March 1999 by Pope John
Paul II (decree of martyrdom)
13 June 1999 by Pope John
Paul II in Warsaw, Poland
Additional Information
other sites in english
sitios en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti in italiano
Martirologio Romano, 2005 edition
MLA Citation
“Blessed Pawel Januszewski“. CatholicSaints.Info.
25 March 2017. Web. 20 November 2021.
<https://catholicsaints.info/tag/born-in-poland/page/4/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/tag/born-in-poland/page/4/
On his return to Poland he was appointed professor of
Dogmatic Theology and Church History at the institute of the Polish Province in
Cracow. On 1 November 1939, Fr. Eliseus Sánchez-Paredes, Provincial, appointed
him prior of the community. At that time, Poland had already been occupied by
the Germans a few weeks earlier. One year later, the invaders decreed the
arrest of many religious and priests. On 18 September 1940 the gestapo deported
four friars from the Carmel in Cracow. In December, when other friars were
arrested, Fr. Hilary decided to present himself in exchange for an older and
sick friar. From that day his Calvary began. He was sent to the prison of
Montelupi (Cracow), then to the concentration camp of Sachsenchausen and in
April 1941 to the concentration camp of Dachau. There he was a model of prayer
life, encouraging others and giving hope for a better tomorrow. Together
with the other Carmelites, among whom was Blessed Titus Brandsma, they often
joined in prayer.
Meanwhile in barrack 25 of the concentration camp, typhus was spreading. To help the sick, 32 priests presented themselves to the authorities. A couple of days later, Fr. Hilary Januszewski spontaneously joined the group. His apostolate lasted 21 days because, infected by typhus, he died on 25 March 1945, a few days before the liberation of the concentration camp. His body was cremated in the crematorium of Dachau.
Fr. Hilary Januszewski was beatified by John Paul II
on 13 June 1999, during his apostolic visit to Warsaw (Poland). On this
occasion the Pope beatified 108 Polish martyrs of the Second World War, victims
of Nazi persecution.
"Faithful in little, faithful in much…."
A letter by Fr Joseph Chalmers
Prior General of the Carmelites
on the occasion of beatification
of Fr Hilary Januszewski, O.Carm. 13 June 1999
Dear brothers and sisters in Carmel,
The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, during his next
apostolic visit to Poland, will beatify 108 martyrs who were victims of the
nazi persecution during World War II. Among them is our brother, Father Hilary
Januszewski.
Dachau and the Carmelites
Along with some magnificent human, scientific, social
and political achievements, the twentieth century, now drawing to a close, will
leave us with a number of dreadful names: Auschwitz, Hiroshima, Verdun, Rwanda
and others, each an example of the horror, barbarity and disregard for
humankind which has also marked this century. Dachau is one of those names. It
was the first concentration camp opened by the national-socialism, back in
March 1933, on the premises of a former arms factory. It was also practically
the last one to be freed, on 29 April 1945. The name of this noble barbarian
town, near Munich, famous for its nineteenth-century school of painting and the
hospitality of its people, became forever linked to the Lager (concentration
camp).
On 16 July 1942 an unusual clandestine ceremony was
held to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Several Carmelites,
from different parts, were imprisoned at the camp at the same time in the huts
reserved for the clergy. That morning, at dawn, before setting out for their
forced labour, they joined hands to celebrate with joy, despite the appalling
nature of the circumstances, the fact that even there they could be and
persevere sub tutela matris.
One of them was Father Titus Brandsma, a Dutch
Carmelite, journalist and lecturer at the University of Nimega (of which he was
Rector Magnificus), imprisoned for defending the rights of the Catholic press
against the forces of domination and for trying to save a group of Jewish
children. He was beatified by John Paul II in November 1985. One of his
companions was Brother Raphael Tijhuis, who was with him during the last days
of his life and who was the main witness of these dramatic events.[1]
Father Albert Urbanski was also there. He was a Polish
Carmelite who was to write some beautiful letters to the Curia General in Rome
shortly after the camp was liberated in May 1945, describing his experiences
over the years in which he was deprived of his freedom and the most basic
rights. He set an example by putting himself at the service of the Order right
from the beginning.[2] Urbanski wrote one of the first accounts of the camp and
the priests’ life there.[3] After the War, he did some marvellous work in
several positions of responsibility. He was provincial from 1964 to 1967. He
was the first president of the Studium Josephologiae Calissiae (under the
Polish Studium Mariologiae).[4]
Several other Polish Carmelites were imprisoned at the
camp. Some of them survived the hell of Dachau, although they came out of it
severely marked by the experience, both physically and psychologically. Others,
however, lost their lives there. Among them we find Father Leon Michail Koza,
who died on the vigil of Ascension Day in 1942 through exhaustion owing to the
tough labour in the fields;[5] Father Szymon Buszta, who died a few weeks after
Father Koza, also as a result of physical and psychological exhaustion [6] and
Father Bruno Makowski.[7] Together with them, we should mention G. Kowalski,
who died in Auschwitz in November 1940, while waiting to be transferred to
Dachau [8].
Father Hilary Januszewski, the one who will soon be
beatified by Pope John Paul II, was also there. He is the second Carmelite of
this century to be beatified, which is a source of deep satisfaction for the
whole Carmelite family.
Father Hilary Januszewski
Father Januszewski was born in Krajenki on 11 June
1907. He was christened Pawel and educated in the Christian faith by his
parents, Martin and Marianne. After going to school in Greblin (where the
family lived from 1915), he continued his studies at the secondary school
(Gimnasium) in Suchary, which he had to leave later because of financial
difficulties in the family. After periods at other schools, he went to Krakow,
where he did a number of courses (including correspondence courses) and joined
the Order of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel in September 1927, whereupon he
changed his name to Hilary. After his noviciate, he took his vows on 30
December 1928 and moved to Krakow to do his studies for the priesthood. After
these studies he was sent to Rome to study at St. Albert’s International
College. There he lived with Carmelites from all over the world who were
concerned with how the situation in Europe was becoming increasingly
complicated and how tension was rising all the time. The young Hilary proved to
be a silent and prudent man, who loved studying. People could sense in him a
deep inner life and a wealth of spiritual experience, as some of his
colleagues, including Prior General, Father Kilian Healy [9], were to indicate
later on. He was ordained on 15 July 1934. In Rome, he came into contact with a
generation of Carmelites who were to mark the history of the Order during this
century: Xiberta, Brenninger, Esteve, Grammatico, Driessen and others.
Upon his return to Poland, he was appointed lecturer
in Dogmatic Theology and in Church History for the students of the Polish
province in Krakow. In 1939 he was appointed Prior of that community by the
provincial, Father Eliseo Sánchez Paredes, one of the Spanish Carmelites who
had been sent to Poland to help in the restoration of this province.
World War II was to jeopardise all the hopes and
projects of the young prior. On September 1, 1939, after several months of
widespread international tension, Germany declared war on Poland. It was the
beginning of a terrible month in the recent history of Poland. Twenty days
later, Soviet troops launched an attack from the East. A weak Polish army
surrendered on both fronts at the end of that month. Poland was once again
humiliated and divided. Mass deportations, destruction, annihilation of Jewish
communities followed in quick succession. The Polish clergy did not escape this
persecution. A year after the invasion, the invading forces ordered the arrest
of large numbers of monks and priests. The Carmelites in Krakow were
particularly hard hit: on September 18 A. Urbanski, A. Wszelaki, M. Nowakowski
and P. Majcher were all arrested, to be followed shortly afterwards by the
prior of the community H. Januszewski, who offered to go instead of P. Konoba,
who was older than him and sick. Father Januszewski acted heroically without
stopping to consider the consequences of his action, guided by his conscience
and his Christian and religious values, by what he considered to be his
obligation as the head of a Carmelite community. He was arrested and, after
some time at the Montelupi prison in Krakow and several concentration camps, he
ended up at Dachau.
During the severe winter of 1945, news began to filter
through that the German army was growing weak and that there was a possibility
of retreat and even of freedom. Life at the camp had become unbearable. In
addition to the normal conditions, there were constant threats of bombings and
reduced rations. The kapos (prisoners in charge of working parties) were
continually on edge, intensifying beatings and other forms of repression.
Hut 25 was being used to group together, in the most
inhumane conditions, all the prisoners with typhus fever, who were constantly
growing in number. The camp authorities offered the Polish priests the
opportunity to put their "theories" of Christian charity into
practice and look after the typhus patients. Freedom was by then imminent and
the risk of death in the wretched hut 25 was very high. However, the silent
Carmelite was one of the first volunteers.
What he said to his friend Father Bernard Czaplinski
(later the Bishop of Chelm) shortly before he set off for the hut leaves one
very moved even today: You know I won’t come out of there alive….[10]
Sure enough, Father Januszewski never left Dachau
alive. After 21 days serving the sick, he died of typhus. Hut 25 had become a
coffin, which the Americans, who freed the Lager a few days later, found
crammed with hundreds of corpses.
His testimony for us today
The beatification of Father Januszewski is a source of
joy and happiness for all Carmelites. The Church has considered one of our
brethren an intercessor and an example, a valid witness for the universal
Church. This is an occasion for Carmelites not only to feel that joy and to
celebrate it, but also to reflect upon and to think deeply about Father
Januszewski’s testimony, to find in his example keys to our own way of living
today.
First of all, there is a good example in the biography of Father Januszewski of a selfless, quiet, silent life, founded upon deep prayer and service of others. Those who knew him insist that he was remarkably simple. Had it not been for his heroic death, he would probably have been forgotten, because he never stood out in extraordinary things.[11] But with that strength that grows from a life of prayer, acting in the presence of the Lord - something very typical and genuine in Carmelite spirituality - he gave himself up for others with the same simplicity with which he lived a quiet, hard-working life. A person educated in daily devotion generously offered his life when faced with arrest and the reality of the concentration camp. We could say that he succeeded in being faithful to his vocation in ordinary circumstances and, as a result, was also able to be just as faithful in truly extraordinary circumstances. Faithful in very little, he was faithful also in much (Lk 16, 10).
Father A. Urbanski, with whom he was joined both in religious life and in fate, writing to the Carmelite Curia in Rome from the camp during the forced quarantine following liberation, interpreted his death as follows:
Proh dolor R.P. Hilarius Januszewski, die 26.3.45, uno Mense ante liberationem, tanquam victima zelus sacerdotalis erga infectuose infirmos, mortuus est.[12]
As this century draws to a close, we are horrified by certain events that have taken place during it. We find the experience of the concentration camps in which Father Januszewski lost his life especially cruel and inhuman. However, there are situations even now that are, in a way, very similar: racial hatred, poverty and starvation, wars of all kinds, massacres, intolerant violent nationalist movements… The testimony of Father Januszewski invites the Carmelites of the twenty-first century to make a radical option for life, which nowadays is threatened in so many ways. He was able to do this in the most sublime way, giving up his own life for that of others.[13]
Father Januszewski’s example reminds us that Carmelites are called to vouch for life in the midst of a "culture of death", which shows itself in many different ways, not only in those regions of the world in which that "culture of death" is more obvious, but also in other areas where its presence is more subtle. Moreover, in the face of the temptation of "usefulness", of valuing human beings for what they produce, and eliminating those who are no longer useful and become a burden, Father Januszewski opted radically for the dying, the useless, those who apparently had nothing left to offer. With this action, he proclaimed and testified to the sacred value of human life, for itself and in itself. This witness given by Hilary Januszewski went to the ultimate limit, the giving of his own life.
We also find in Father Januszewski an especially interesting example for our experience of the Carmelite charism today. Januszewski, a man of silence and prayer, accustomed to talking to God, devoted to contemplation -like any good Carmelite - had no difficulty in finding the face of Christ in the weak, the needy and the suffering. In the awful conditions of Dachau, those with typhus fever, the dying, were the poorest of the poor and Father Januszewski, along with other priest volunteers, was willing to stay with them and end up dying with them and for them.
A life of intense prayer makes us more human and more capable of living in solidarity with others; it gives us the necessary intuition and sensitivity to discover the mysterious presence of the Lord in those who are weakest, in the midst of the tensions and contradictions of life. Like John in the boat on the Lake of Galilee, between the darkness of the passing night and the light of dawn, the Carmelite is called to proclaim, humbly but firmly: It is the Lord (Jn 21, 7).
Finally, the witness of Hilary Januszewski, soon to be called blessed must show Carmelites throughout the world the meaning of the international dimension of our Order. We must not forget that most of the patients Father Januszewski looked after were Russians (that is, from an enemy country). But this, seemingly, did not affect his decision. Overcoming national barriers, Father Januszewski offers us a true witness to universal fraternity, to reconciliation between enemy nations, and to peace.
Three years earlier, Blessed Titus Brandsma had ended a document, requested of him as part of the investigation into the opposition of Dutch Catholics to national-socialism, with the following words: God save Holland! God save Germany! Let God make these two nations walk in peace and freedom once again and recognise his Glory!
May the example and intercession of these two blessed Carmelites help us to enter the twenty-first century with a real spirit of service, peace and justice born out of a true and intense encounter with our Risen Lord.
Rome, 19 March 1999
Solemnity of St. Joseph
Fr Joseph Chalmers, O.Carm.
Prior General
Footnotes
1 R. TIJHUIS, Met Pater Titus Brandsma in Dachau:
Carmelrozen 31-32 (1945/46) 18-21, 53-58, 80-85. The English translation may be
consulted in: Dachau Eye-witness, in: AA.VV., Essays on Titus Brandsma [R. Valabek,
ed.] (Rome 1985) 58-67.
2 F. MILLAN ROMERAL, Carmelitas en Dachau: las cartas
del P. A. Urbanski, desde el lager, en el 50 aniversario de la liberación:
Carmelus 42 (1995) 22-43.
3 A. URBANSKI, Duchowni w Dachau (Krakow 1945).
4 Cf. JUAN BOSCO DE JESÚS, Dos figuras de la
Josefología en Polonia recientemente desaparecidas: PP. Alberto Urbanski,
O.Carm. (1911-1985) y Estanislao Ruminski (1929-1984): Estudios Josefinos 40
(1986) 91-98.
5 Cf. Necrología (Obituary): Analecta O.Carm. 11
(1940-1942) 219; A. URBANSKI, Duchowni w Dachau, 61-66.
6 Cf. Necrología (Obituary): Analecta O.Carm. 12
(1943-1945) 230; A. URBANSKI, Duchowni w Dachau, 65-66.
7 Cf. Necrología (Obituary): Analecta O.Carm. 12
(1943-1945) 230; A. URBANSKI, Duchowni w Dachau, 61-66.
8 His photographs may be seen in the splendid
photograph album published recently by the Carmelite Province of Poland: R.
RÓG, Duch, Historia, Kultura (Krakow 1997) 68-69.
9 K. HEALY, Prophet of Fire (Rome 1990) 181-184
(Italian and Spanish versions available)
10 In the same sense, see the testimony of: F.
KORSZYNSKI, Un vescovo polacco a Dachau (Brescia 1963) 125. This is the Italian
translation (with a preface by the then Cardenal Montini) of Jasne promienie w
Dachau (Poznan 1957).
11 Cf. K. HEALY, Prophet of fire (Rome 1990)
181-184.
12 F. MILLAN ROMERAL, Carmelitas en Dachau: las cartas
del P. A. Urbanski, desde el lager, en el 50 aniversario de la liberación:
Carmelus 42 (1995) 37. In another letter, written in German, he insists on
this: "Als Opfer zelus sacerdotalis ist er gestorben" (ibid.
42).
13 Cf. R. VALABEK, Greater Love Than This... Father
Hilary Januszewski, O. Carm.: Carmel in the World 30 (1991) 209-216.
SOURCE : http://ocarm.org/en/content/liturgy/bl-hilary-januszewski-priest-and-martyr-m
Beato Ilarione (Pawel) Januszewski
>>>
Visualizza la Scheda del Gruppo cui appartiene
Krajenki, Polonia, 11 giungo 1907 - Dachau, 25 marzo
1945
Quando nella primavera del 1945 gli americani aprirono
la baracca 25 del campo di concentramento tedesco di Dachau, trovarono
centinaia di cadaveri. Tra loro il carmelitano polacco Ilario Januszewski,
morto pochi giorni prima di tifo. Nato nel 1907 a Krajenki, a 20 anni era
entrato nell'ordine e a 27 era diventato prete. Recatosi per studio a Roma, fu
poi destinato al Carmelo di Cracovia. Di qui fu deportato nel 1940, offrendosi
in cambio di un confratello più anziano. Stile di carità che seguì anche nel
lager, insieme al confratello beato Tito Brandsma. E' sugli altari dal 1985 con
oltre cento martiri polacchi del nazismo. (Avvenire)
Martirologio Romano: Nel campo di prigionia di Dachau
vicino a Monaco di Baviera in Germania, beato Ilario Januszewski, sacerdote
dell’Ordine dei Frati Scalzi della Beata Vergine del Monte Carmelo e martire:
in tempo di guerra, fu deportato a causa della fede in Cristo dalla Polonia in
questo carcere straniero; ammalatosi di tifo nell’assistere i malati, morì
insigne per fede e carità.
P. Ilarione Januszewski nacque l'11 giungo 1907 a
Krajenki (Polonia) e fu dato il nome di Pawel. Fu educato cristianamente dai
suoi genitori Martin e Marianne. Dopo aver frequentato il collegio di Greblin
(dove la sua famiglia risiedeva dal 1915), continuò i suoi studi nell'Istituto
di Suchary che abbandonò più tardi per problemi economici familiari. Nel
frattempo la sua famiglia si trasferì a Cracovia, dove conseguì altri studi e
nel 1927 entrò nell'Ordine Carmelitano. Dopo aver compiuto il noviziato a
Leopoli, il 30 dicembre 1928, emise la professione semplice. Alla fine degli
studi filosofici a Cracovia, fu inviato al Collegio Internazionale Sant'Alberto
a Roma. Fu ordinato sacerdote il 15 luglio 1934. Avendo ottenuto il lettorato
in teologia e il premio destinato agli studenti più bravi dell'Accademia Romana
di S. Tommaso, nel 1935 ritornò in Polonia nel convento di Cracovia.
Appena ritornato in Polonia venne nominato professore
di Teologia Dogmatica e della Storia della Chiesa nell'istituto della Provincia
Polacca a Cracovia. Il 1 novembre 1939, P. Eliseo Sánchez-Paredes, Provinciale,
lo nominò priore della comunità. A quel tempo, da poche settimane, la Polonia
era occupata dai tedeschi. Un anno dopo, gli invasori decretarono l'arresto di
numerosi religiosi e sacerdoti. Il 18 settembre 1940, dal Carmelo di Cracovia,
furono deportati dalla gestapo quattro frati. Nel mese di dicembre, all'arresto
di altri frati, P. Ilarione decise di consegnarsi in cambio di un frate più
anziano e malato. Da quel giorno incominciò il suo calvario. Venne inviato
nella prigione di Montelupi (Cracovia), nel campo di concentramento di
Sachsenchausen e nell'aprile 1941 nel campo di concentramento di Dachau. Là fu
un esempio di vita di preghiera, incoraggiando gli altri e suscitando fiducia
in un domani migliore. Insieme agli altri Carmelitani, fra i quali il beato
Tito Brandsma, si radunava spesso per la preghiera. Nel frattempo, nel campo di
concentramento, nella baracca 25, dilagava il tifo. Per assistere i malati si
presentarono alle autorità del campo 32 sacerdoti. Un paio di giorni dopo si
associò spontaneamente il P. Ilarione Januszewski. Il suo apostolato durò 21
giorni, perché infettato dal tifo, morì il 25 marzo 1945, pochi giorni prima
dalla liberazione del campo di concentramento. Il suo corpo fu bruciato nel
crematorio campestre di Dachau.
P. Ilarione Januszewski è stato beatificato da
Giovanni Paolo II il 13 giugno 1999, durante il suo viaggio apostolico a
Varsavia (Polonia). In questa occasione il Papa ha beatificato 108 martiri
polacchi della seconda guerra mondiale, vittime della persecuzione nazista.
Autore: Anthony Cilia
Fonte : www.ocarm.org
