Congregation of the Sisters of the Name of Jesus
History of the Congregation
The main purpose of the gathering is the glory of God and the earnest pursuit of perfect love for God and neighbor in the way of the vowed evangelical counsels. The apostolic goal is to continually strive for the renewal of the environment in terms of religion and to show the people among whom we live a true Christian life and the evangelical way of working.
Siostry Imienia Jezus nie noszą habitu, zgodnie z charyzmatem prowadzą życie zakonne na sposób cichego i ukrytego życia Jezusa Chrystusa i Jego Matki w Nazarecie, bez żadnych zewnętrznych oznak zakonnych. W zwykłym stroju mają możność dotrzeć do każdego człowieka, by nieść mu Chrystusa. Hasło zgromadzenia brzmi: „Na większą chwałę Boga w Eucharystii ukrytego”. Siostry czczą szczególnie Najświętsze Imię Jezus i Matkę Bożą Wspomożenie Wiernych.
The most characteristic spiritual element in the charism of the congregation is the devotion of the sisters for the freedom and development of the Church. This act is performed at the time of perpetual vows. This means that the sisters offer all prayers, works and sufferings, including the willingness to give their lives, for the Church. Prayer for priests is also a constant practice. At the beginning of their existence, the sisters conducted apostolic activities among women craftsmen, aiming at the religious and moral revival of this social group. They brought Jesus closer to them and showed the value of the work performed in the spirit of the Gospel. The religious family developed quickly and dynamically, establishing schools, boarding houses, kindergartens and orphanages.
Today also the sisters, everywhere and in every way, want to carry the Name of Jesus to the ends of the world, serve every person they meet and say: Jesus loves you! And they do it through the testimony of their lives, prayer, penance, work in education, running their own centers, serving the sick, and working also in parishes. They undertake mission work in various continents of the world. In the new century and millennium, the sisters want to help contemporary people, lost in the hustle and bustle and noise, to rediscover Christ - the only Lord and Savior.
Founder - blessed father Honorat Koźmiński OFM Cap
Father Honorat Koźmiński was born on October 16, 1829. The times in which he lived were not successful for Poland. However, a particularly difficult moment for all Poles was the fall of the January Uprising of 1863. The invaders wanted to completely destroy the religious life of Poles through the dissolution of religious congregations and the ban on accepting new candidates.
Many girls who wanted to serve God came to the confessional of the founding father. He advised the girls to lead a religious life in hiding, without a habit. What characterized Fr. Honorat was entrusting to God's Providence, reading and fulfilling God's Will.
Father Honorat also had an extraordinary gift of reading in human souls, he was a famous and great confessor. Everything that happened in the life of the founder, he himself wrote down and handed over to Mary, through her he went to Jesus. The motto of his life was "Tuus Totus - All Yours (Mary)". He died on the threshold of free Poland on December 16, 1916.
The founder - the Servant of God, Mother Franciszka Maria Witkowska
Mother Maria Witkowska came from Belarus, from a noble family. She was born on January 19, 1866 in Wardomicze. In the twenty-first year of life, at the express order of his spiritual director, Bl. Father Honorat Koźmiński, organized a new congregation under his direction. She organized apostolic activities among women craftsmen, aiming at the religious and moral revival of this social group, as this was the purpose of the congregation.
Urged by the persecution of the Church in the Russian partition, on December 10, 1893, she made a sacrifice of her life for the freedom and development of the Church.
Mother Franciszek Witkowska was distinguished by love of Jesus hidden in the Blessed Sacrament and special veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, whom she and the sisters gave herself into slavery.
She lived briefly. In just eight years of leadership, she opened eight religious houses. About 100 sisters were living and working in them at the time of her death. She died in the opinion of sanctity on October 26, 1895 in Otwock.
Sisters of the Holy Name of Jesus in Licheń
On June 28, 1950, the three sisters of the Name of Jesus visited the sanctuary of Our Lady of Licheń at the invitation of the Marian Fathers, when Fr. Józef Glinka, MIC. In the 1950s, the sisters conducted the formation of the novitiate in the Licheń sanctuary.
Initially, they performed various tasks: from cooking, cleaning, decorating churches, to working with pilgrims and catechizing children. They even conducted cutting and sewing courses, and also undertook vocational work. When the pilgrimage traffic increased, they started working in chancellery.
The sisters in the Licheń congregation do not call their activities work, it is their service. Consecration to the church community is inscribed in the spirituality of their Congregation. The sisters reach out to people - they want to bring Christ to others and see Christ in others. - Every contact with another person, every activity or work done becomes prayer and strengthens our faith - says sister Paula of the Lichen community. - I like my work - emphasizes Sister Wanda, the superior of the community who works in the pilgrimage office. - There are people who call the office many times, I recognize them by their voice. They talk about their problems, ask for advice or prayer. Jako wspólnota siostry tworzą w Licheniu rodzinny dom, a z tysiącami pielgrzymów, przybywających do domu Matki, budują klimat wielkiej rodziny. Zdaniem sióstr, to nie strój zakonny czy praca, jaką wykonują, są najważniejsze, ale pokój serca, poczucie, że pełnią wolę Bożą i że wszystko czynią „na większą chwałę Boga w Eucharystii ukrytego”.
Two days In year there are for dandelion especially important:
– 3 January they care patronal holiday Most Holy Names Jesus
– 24 May with the railroad they recall Mother God's Aid Faithful.
