Three stories of freedom

Austria, Poland, Spain: these are the countries of the Servants of God due to be beatified between 26 and 28 October. Franz Jägerstätter, Austrian, martyr of the Nazi regime, will be proclaimed Blessed in the cathedral of the Immaculate in Linz (Austria, at 10.00 am) on 26 October. Celina Chludzi?ska, Polish nun, founder of the Congregation of Sisters of the Resurrection Our Lord Jesus Christ, will be proclaimed Blessed in Rome (basilica of St. John Lateran, 4.00 pm) on 27 October. Lastly, the 498 Spanish martyrs of the 20th century will be proclaimed Blessed in Rome (basilica of St. Paul without the Walls, 10.00 am) on 28 October. Here are some reflections and brief biographical details about the new Blesseds.FRANZ JÄGERSTÄTTER. “I will only write a few words, just as they are rise from my heart. I am writing handcuffed, but that’s better than having my will fettered. Sometimes God openly shows us his power, which he bestows on those who love him and who don’t prefer earth to heaven. Neither prison, nor chains, not even death, can separate a man from the love of God and deprive him of his own free will. The power of God is invincible…”. With these words written on 9 August 1943, Franz Jägerstätter, the Austrian peasant who dared to say “no” to Nazism in the name of his Christian faith, delivered himself to his executioner. He was 36 years old. Born at St. Radegund, Upper Austria (diocese of Linz), on 20 May, Jägerstätter, married with three young children, was a farmer who supported himself and his family by cultivating the land. His deep Catholic faith led him right from the start to deny any support for the National-Socialists. In 1940 Jägerstätter was called up, but refused military service. His presence was twice declared indispensable by the municipal authorities. Jägerstätter prayed, fasted and sought advice. After a renewed call up, he presented himself to his regiment at Enns on 1st March 1943, but immediately declared his refusal to fight for that regime. He was therefore taken to the military prison of the Wehrmacht in Linz. On 6 July he was tried by a military tribunal for resistance and condemned to death. On 9 August 1943 he was conducted to Brandenburg on the Havel and there decapitated. “I dare to say very openly – said Jägerstätter – that those who are ready to suffer and die, rather than offend God for even the slightest venial sin, are also willing to die for their own faith”.CELINA CHLUDZINSKA. Born at Antowil (Eastern Poland) on 29 October 1833, Celina Chludzinska felt, ever since adolescence, a vocation to the religious life, but both her parents and her spiritual director steered her towards marriage. In 1863 she was arrested for having helped some rebels plotting against the Tsarist regime. Widowed, she moved to Rome in 1875 where, thanks to the Servant of God Peter Semenenko, she came into contact with the Resurrectionist spirituality. In 1882 she founded the Congregation of Sisters of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ – officially given its seal of approval by the Holy See only nine years later. It was an order both contemplative and active in character, aimed at the Christian education of girls and the religious and moral renewal of women in general. Called by Cardinal Albin Dunajewski, Mother Celina opened the house of the novitiate in Poland in 1891. In 1896 she introduced her mission into Bulgaria, not limiting her apostolate to Catholics, but also dedicating herself to missionary activity among the Orthodox. She opened convents in Czestochowa in 1898 and in Warsaw in 1900; in the Polish capital her Sisters were forced to conceal their religious identity. In 1900 she sent some of them to the USA for the education of Polish emigrants. In 1911 she convened the first general chapter, which elected her superior general for life, but only two years later (26 October 1913) she died in Krakow. The Congregation still has houses in various countries in the world. SPANISH MARTYRS. Bishops, priests, men and women religious, laypeople: they are the 498 martyrs of the Marxist revolution in 1934 and of the civil war (1936-1939) in Spain. They are not “martyrs of the civil war”, but “martyrs of religious persecution in Spain”, insists the Spanish Bishops’ Conference in a statement issued at the end of the 89th plenary assembly (23-27 April 2007). “You are the light of the world”: this is the title of the statement, aimed at removing any political connotation from this beatification. “The beatification we shall celebrate – explain the Spanish bishops – will help us never to forget the memory of the great sign of hope that the witness of the martyrs constitutes. The forthcoming Blesseds were all men and women of faith and prayer. So, even in prison they participated in Mass; they communicated and prayed with the rosary. They showed valour in confessing their faith. They were eager to comfort and support their prison companions. They were strong when they were maltreated and tortured. They forgave their own executioners and prayed for them; in the moment of supreme sacrifice they showed deep serenity and peace, praising God”.