Blessed
Honorat Koźmiński
Blessed Honorat Koźmiński (1829-1916) came to this world in Biała Podlaska. Although he was brought up in the Catholic faith, he became an ardent follower of Christ only after his conversion. In his youth, he was wrongly imprisoned in the Citadel, experienced a miraculous conversion, which became a turning point in his life and faith. From then on - convinced and strengthened in God's love - he never stopped looking for ways to respond on love with love.
With his heart full of gratitude, touched by the grace of vocation, he gave God everything he had, he gave himself to God, joining the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Thus began his constant search for opportunities to fulfill God's plans - regardless of the conditions in which Poland was then, and the monasteries being suppressed by the partitioners.
He knew that the nation's foundation was its morality, and the foundation of morality was a living faith, so he did not want to let religious life die in Poland. While confined in monasteries - in Zakroczym and in the Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą - he founded 26 consecrated life communities. Each of them was to support a specific social group of the Polish nation threatened by the partitioner's policy.
However, it was not just the political situation of that time that led to the creation of so many hidden life communities. Father Honorat's creation of various religious orders resulted from his deep closeness to God, from many hours spent in adoration, from constantly listening to Lord's voice and seeking answers to His calls. Immersed in God completely, he constantly sought Him and called Him "hidden God." And it was the mystery of God’s concealment that gave a form to the emerging communities, undetectable to society and the tsarist authorities.
In his writings, Bl. Honorat explained numerous spiritual motives forming the innovative idea of life without external signs of consecration. These were, among others:
- the timeless value of Jesus’ hidden life, whose divine origin and mission were unknown to anyone in Nazareth,
- Eucharist, in which the Divinity of Jesus has been forever hidden in the form of bread,
- the reality of the Church, which in its visible structures hides the invisible dimension of the Kingdom of God.
On such a multidimensional foundation - despite the changing external circumstances - the hidden religious life has continued for centuries, enriching the Church with the depth of hidden spirituality and qualities of apostolate.
Father Honorat passed away to Eternity in the odor of sanctity, and was beatified in Rome on October 16, 1988. He is still present in the life of the Sisters as an unsurpassed example of the follower of Christ.
