On May 26-27, 2018, the Vincentian Family in Ukraine made the ninth pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Sniatyn. In the cemetery of that town, the remains of Blessed Sister Marta Wiecka, Daughter of Charity, are venerated. This year marks the tenth anniversary of her beatification,

In addition to the pilgrimage, another event was the blessing of the memorial plaque on the tenth anniversary of her beatification. The plaque was placed at the entrance to the hospital where Marta Wiecka served as a Daughter of Charity and where she died after living a holy life in the service of charity.

Marta Wiecka was born on 12 January 1874 at Nowy Wiec, in Pomerania, in the confines of Poland. She was the third of 13 children. From childhood, she showed an inclination to prayer and service to others.

At 18, she entered the novitiate of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul in Krakow and, throughout her 12 years of consecrated life, she served the poor in various hospitals. She cared not only for the health of the body, but also for the soul.

At 30 years of age, during a day of service at the hospital, she took the place of a young family man who had to clean the room in which a typhus patient had died. Sister Marta knew the risk of that action, but, in her charity, she thought more about the man’s wife and son and went to replace him. Our Blessed contracted the disease and a few days later, while displaying her cheerfulness, she gave her spirit to God on 30 May 1904 in Sniatyn, Ukraine. The reason for her death makes her known by many as the “Maximilian Kolbe of Ukraine.”

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone beatified her on 24 May 2008 in Lviv, Ukraine.

Let us not stop asking for the intercession of the saints, blessed, and servants of God of the Vincentian Family. If any graces are received through their intercession or if any miracles have been obtained, please communicate these by e-mail to the Vincentian Family Office, vfo@famvin.org, or directly to our Postulator General.

Source: https://cmglobal.org/