From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   June 13th - Blessed Alice Kotowska   
   1899-1939   
      
   Mary Jadwiga Kotowska was born in Warsaw, Poland, on November 20, 1899.   
   Poland   
   is a notably Catholic country, and for many Poles religion and patriotism   
   are   
   inseparable. Mary Kotowska was one of those people.  War dominated her life   
   until 1919 when the Treaty of Versailles acknowledged Polish independence.   
   During the closing months of the war, 18-year-old Mary Kotowska had shown   
   her   
   devotion to the Polish homeland by joining the Organized Polish Army,   
   serving in   
   the trenches as a medic. With peace achieved, the patriotic laywoman studied   
   medicine and devoted her medical skill especially to the casualties of the   
   Polish-Bolshevik War. The Polish government later awarded Mary the   
   decoration   
   "Poland Restored" for her compassion and bravery.   
      
   By the time she was 22, Mary Kotowska felt called to commit herself more   
   fully   
   to the needs of the people. She wrote the superior general of the Sisters of   
   the   
   Resurrection asking to be received into membership. "I desire to live and   
   die   
   for Christ," she said, "loving Him above all, since He is the Greatest Love,   
   Lord, God and my All." The offer was accepted, and Mary Jadwiga Kotowska   
   became   
   Sister Alice.   
      
   As a young teaching nun, Sister Alice was soon chosen to direct high school   
   education and serve as convent superior in Wejherowo.  She proved very   
   capable   
   in both tasks. Particularly convinced of the need for prayer as   
   reinforcement   
   for teaching, she herself spent hours before the Holy Eucharist and promoted   
   Eucharistic devotion among both her fellow nuns and her students.   
      
   Poland lost its independence once more with the outbreak of World War II.   
   The   
   Nazis invaded Poland, reaching Wejherowo on September 9, 1939.   
      
   When Sister Alice learned the Germans were drawing near Wejherowo, she and   
   'Francis,' the convent custodian, buried their most precious liturgical   
   vessels   
   in the convent garden to prevent their desecration by the Gestapo. Francis,   
   however, was actually a spy for the Germans, and within a few days the   
   Gestapo   
   led by Francis unearthed and desecrated the holy vessels, warning Sister   
   Alice   
   she would be next.   
      
   One of the occupying army's first steps was to establish a "black list" of   
   Polish leaders. Sister Alice was singled out because of her former   
   connection to   
   the organized Polish Army as a nurse and because she was a teacher. To the   
   Gestapo she was a leader, and their policy was to replace leaders with   
   nonentities.   
      
      
   On Oct. 24, 1939, the sisters' prayer in the chapel was interrupted by   
   shouts   
   and banging on the front door. Sister Alice knew it was time. Without   
   flinching,   
   she bowed reverently before the altar and calmly walked to the door, taking   
   time   
   to turn and say, "I forgive Francis for everything."   
      
   While she was, imprisoned, guards took pleasure in tormenting her, often   
   waking   
   her by shining bright searchlights on her face. On Nov. 11, a number of   
   trucks   
   carrying shovels were lined up at the prison gates. Then the soldiers led   
   rows   
   of prisoners from their cells to the truck area.   
      
   Among the victims were several Jewish children, some Polish laymen and women   
   and   
   at the end, Sister Alice. Most were in anguish. Sister Alice was calm and at   
   peace, and this had a calming effect on the others. When the signal was   
   given to   
   climb into the trucks, the Sister Superior went quickly to the Jewish   
   children,   
   took one of them with her, and bravely climbed into the first truck with the   
   other children. The trucks drove to a forest near Piasnicy, a few miles   
   away.   
      
   There, after the condemned finished digging shallow graves for themselves,   
   the   
   executioners shot and buried one and all. Later on, the Gestapo returned to   
   the   
   site, dug up these remains and burned them. At one gravesite, a piece of a   
   black   
   rosary was found such as those belonging to the Sisters of the Resurrection.   
      
   From these ashes Blessed Alice will rise again, young and ardent, a light in   
   the   
   forest. Sister Alice, according to her sister-companions, followed   
   diligently   
   the rule of her Community day by day. Then came that extraordinary moment   
   when   
   she was given the choice of betraying God and country. With no hesitation,   
   she   
   made the right choice.   
      
   During his major pastoral tour of Poland in June 1999, Pope John Paul II, at   
   a   
   special Mass celebrated at Warsaw on June 13, beatified Sister Alice   
   Kotowska as   
   one of the first of 108 Polish martyrs of the World War II period.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   One great means of preserving a constant peace and tranquility of heart is   
   to   
   receive all things as coming from the hands of God, whatever they may be,   
   and in   
   whatever way they may come.   
   -St. Dorotheus   
      
   Bible Quote   
   26 But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name,   
   he   
   will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I   
   shall   
   have said to you.  (John 14:26)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   STAR-BRIGHT FOREVER   
      
   From now to eternity,   
   A star shines so bright,   
   The filament never grows dim,   
   Be it day or night.   
   The light is of love   
   And of goodness sublime   
   That's passed down to us   
   Through the shadows of time.   
   Her hands send the rays   
   Of hope and assurance   
   That just to believe   
   Will need love and endurance.   
   But all so worthwhile,   
   We will find as we try   
   To keep our minds here,   
   But our hearts in the sky.   
   To follow the road   
   That leads to Our Lord,   
   To ask for His grace-   
   That He'll never hoard-   
   To join all the saints   
   In the light of their glory.   
   For here you will find,   
   There's the truth to this story:   
   A little time spent,   
   Through we suffer and toil   
   On an earth filled with sadness   
   And trials that do foil.   
   But keep just above it-   
   Just say that you'll love it,   
   For the sake of Our Jesus,   
   Who rose all above it.   
   For there in His heart   
   Was a wish for us all   
   To join Him in paradise   
   When He makes His call.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)