Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Zdenka Cecilia Schelingova

Note: To observe the Jubilee Year of Mercy (which runs through November 20), for several weeks I am featuring women who exemplify one of the corporal or spiritual works of mercy. Today: Visit the imprisoned.

The Basics: Born December 24, 1916, in Slovakia; died July 31, 1955, in Slovakia; beatified September 14, 2003, by John Paul II; feast day, November 23. Woman religious; hospital worker.

The Story: Zdenka’s life is a story of both physical and spiritual strength. While one was broken, the other

was not. She grew up in a large family, and determined as a teenager that she wanted to join the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross. She became a novice when she was twenty, after going to nursing school, where she studied radiology in particular.

Her life intersected shortly thereafter with the communist persecution of the Catholic church in Eastern Europe. In Zdenka’s country, now Slovakia, monasteries and convents were closed; only nuns working in hospitals were tolerated. As part of her work, Zdenka encountered an incarcerated priest accused of being a spy. Believing he was headed for Siberia, Zdenka helped to facilitate the priest’s escape by putting sleeping pills into a guard’s tea. She attempted to help six other prisoners–three priests and three seminarians–but was found out and arrested.

Zdenka’s sentence for her actions, which were considered treasonous, was twelve years in prison and deprivation of civil rights for another ten years. Beatings and other torture, including surgery without anesthesia, became her life as she was moved from prison to prison.

In 1955, near death, she was released… only to find that neither her motherhouse nor the hospital where she had worked would take her in, fearful of being “tainted” by the nun’s actions. Finally, a friend took Zdenka into her house and eventually found a hospital that would care for her. In 1970, a court overturned her conviction.

Zdenka’s Wisdom: “I fill every hour of my life with the readiness to accept God’s action and his graces. ”

What We Can Learn from Zdenka: This wonderful woman stood strong spiritually despite the forces of evil that sought to destroy her. Where is evil trying to invade your soul? Talk with a priest or other spiritual adviser about resisting the temptation to give in.

To Learn More About Zdenka: The Holy Cross Sisters USA Province site has a biography and other information about Zdenka.

To Learn More About Other Women Saints and Blesseds: Come back next week, or consider buying my books, Blessed Are You: Finding Inspiration from Our Sisters in Faith or Sisterhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration.

 

 

Tagged as: beatified, bratislava, Catholic, jubilee year of mercy, Sisterhood of Saints, sisters of the holy cross, slovakia, wednesdays woman, women saints, zdenka cecilia schelingova