The feast day of the 108 Martyrs of Poland is June 12, which is kind of neat because that also happened to be the wedding anniversary for my mostly English grandfather and my 100% Polish grandmother.
Today happens to be St. Joseph’s Day, and if you’re Italian American or Polish Amercan, that may conjure up memories of tables groaning with terrific ethnic food such as pierogi. That’s why I chose to talk today about a woman you may have never heard of, Blessed Marianna Biernacka. She’s one of the martyrs of Poland.
Marianna was born in 1888 in a small Polish village and had two children. She was living with her son and his pregnant wife in 1943 when German soldiers came to the house to arrest the young couple. They hadn’t done anything wrong; the family wasn’t politically active at all… but retribution was being sought for the death of German soldiers in a nearby village.
Marianna told the soldiers: “I will go for her.” And so she did, despite her daughter-in-law’s protestations. Marianna, her son, and 48 other people were shot to death a few weeks later on July 13.
Consider how quickly and selflessly Marianna offered herself up for her daughter-in-law and her grandchild. Is there someplace in your life you’re being called to make a sacrifice? Pray with her for the bravery to say a quick yes.
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