Brother Anthony Kowalczyk OMI - Missionary Oblates of Mary

PETITION
FOR THE INTERCESSION
OF BROTHER ANTHONY
We praise you, Lord and Father,
who in a wonderful way have led
Brother Anthony along the path
of your Holy Will.
You gave him strength to imitate
Jesus Christ in carrying faithfully
his many crosses
and fulfilling his responsibilities.
I praise you, Lord, for his heroic faith
and trust, which have opened
the treasures of your goodness.
Grant me, O Lord, the grace ...
which I beg through the intercession
of your Servant, Anthony.
May his sanctity be confirmed
and may I be ever more faithful
in fulfilling your Holy Will. Amen.
Our Father ...
Hail Mary ...
Glory be ...
His grave at St. Albert (Alberta) cemetery stands out from other graves:
there are always lighted candles and fresh flowers that bear witness to the
fact that he is constantly visited by the faithful.
Dear Readers
If you have prayed to God through the intercession
of Brother Anthony and have been healed, or if your
prayer was answered, we would like to know
your story.
We ask you to write to us or send us an e-mail.
Each piece of information and every story are
valuable to us, the Missionary Oblates of Mary
Immaculate, confreres of the Servant of God Anthony
Kowalczyk, OMI.
We encourage everyone to pray for many different
needs, so that our loving God through the intercession
of Brother Anthony will hear and answer our prayers.
We ask you to write to us at this address about any
received graces or personal devotion to the Servant
of God, Brother Anthony:
Promoter of Brother Anthony
71 Indian Trail
Toronto, ON M6R 2A1
Canada
e-mail: [email protected]
For more information visit:
www.omiap.org
Brother Anthony spent the largest portion of his religious life
in Canada and he never again travelled to his homeland.
This has been written based on Father Leonard Glowacki’s article
“The Secret of the One Handed Brother” that was published in Misyjne Drogi
#1/1984 and #2/1984, prepared by Father Miroslaw Olszewski, OMI.
Brother
Anthony Kowalczyk
OMI
THE LAY BROTHER
Anthony Kowalczyk was born in 1866
in the village of Dzierzanow, in the parish of Lutogniew (in the province of
Greater Poland). He was the sixth child
of twelve; seven of whom attained maturity.
At age 20, with a blacksmith apprentice
letter in hand, Anthony went out into
the world in search of work. In Germany, he perfected his training. Here
he got to know the congregation of
the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Soon he entered the community, began his noviciate
in Holland and became a lay brother in 1892.
THE DREAM OF WORKING IN THE MISSIONS
From the earliest moment Brother Anthony joined the Oblates,
he wished to be sent to the foreign missions. He had hoped to
be sent right after his noviciate year, but God’s plans were otherwise. His first assignment was to the juniorate of St. Charles
in Valkenburg, where he ministered for three years. A moment
closer to fulfilling his dream of going to foreign missions appeared one day upon receipt of a new obedience, to pack his
bags and head for Ceylon. Just as suddenly, however, this order
was called off.
THE SUDDEN TURNAROUND
A few months later, he was chosen by the Superior General
of the Oblates to work in the northern missions in Canada.
As the first Polish Oblate, he came to Canada in 1896. He was
sent directly to work among the indigenous people at Lac La
Biche, Alberta. This changeover happened so quickly that Anthony was unable to prepare himself psychologically for such
a radical change. Suddenly, after years of quiet and ordered
work in a blacksmith workshop in Europe, he found himself in
a country where almost everything was foreign to him. It was
so different from what he had been used to until now, that he
became consumed with a desire to escape; he was tormented
with longing for his country and his parents.
THE ACCIDENT
On the name’s day of the superior of the mission at Lac La Biche - July 15, 1897- following the celebration of the Holy Mass,
everyone was given permission to celebrate even though it was
an ordinary day. Father Grandin encouraged everyone to join in
the festivities. He knew how overworked everyone was, especially during the unmerciful heat of the summer. However, Anthony, who was doing so much better at his work, did not want
to let even a minute of it go. So after lunch, he did not think
about calling it quits and celebrating, but rather he returned to
work at the sawmill. It was at this point in time that the accident
happened. Brother Anthony lay stretched out on the ground, his
right palm and forearm were crushed into a red and black stain,
while through the skin his bare bones were sticking out. He lay
without moving, unconscious. When he finally opened his eyes,
an almost embarrassed smile appeared on his face and from his
lips came these words: “The good Lord wanted this”.
After a week when he found himself in the hospital in Edmonton, there was nothing that could be done. From Thursday to
Wednesday evening, in the hot month of July, there was enough
time for gangrene to set in. They had to amputate his hand.
A LIFE CHANGING DISCOVERY
As Anthony’s health was returning and he was gaining strength,
one day he made a wonderful discovery about himself. Everything is grace, everything that God wants. He became aware
with great wonder how much he had changed internally. He had
lost his hand, but along with it went all the things that had tormented him all those long months. He had dreamed of the missions for so long and even though he had been in them already
one year, it was at this moment he was truly reborn into them.
A new love was born in him for this country, an understanding
of her beauty, a joy in spending time with her people and in her
natural surroundings. It all suddenly became his new homeland,
while before he was plagued with longing for his native land.
PRAYER
Anthony could not imagine living without prayer. Prayer helped
with everything, especially the Hail Mary, and the rosary. He
would humbly make the sign of the cross while kneeling and
pray three Hail Mary’s, sometimes one. When he rose things
would go back to normal. None of the efforts of professionals
were able to relieve his distress the way this kind of prayer did.
Anthony prayed, because the Lord had said, “ask”. Well, if the
Lord had said “ask”, that meant that He wanted to answer our
prayers and we need to ask. Brother Anthony liked to ask and
with his prayer he helped everyone.
In September 1969, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla prayed at the grave of Brother
Anthony at the St. Albert (Alberta) cemetery. Many years later as the Pope,
he talked with a group of young Oblates. Knowing that one of them was
Canadian, he told them that earlier during a memorable visit to Canada he
had visited a certain grave. “Do you know whose?” asked the Pope. “Brother
Anthony Kowalczyk’s!” the Pope answered.
TOWARD BEATIFICATION
Brother Anthony died in 1947, having already a reputation among
the people as a saint. So five years after his death, in 1952, the information process toward his beatification began in Edmonton.
In many of the testimonies of the witnesses, people spoke about
the accident and its consequences. Brother Anthony had never
complained, but instead he pointed to his mutilated hand and
said: ”This is a great grace for me.” Sometimes in a spirit of great
trust he added an explanation: with the loss of his hand, he also
lost the difficulties of adapting to a new country, the torturous
longing for his native land and the temptation to return there.
He was convinced that without this accident it would have been
more difficult to accept the grace of salvation. He also received
a new understanding of God’s Will and the grace of entrusting
himself to God’s Providence.
THE POWER OF PRAYER
Throughout his whole life he was devoted to the Blessed Virgin
Mary. Among the Oblates he was called Brother Ave. Saying
Hail Marys, he overcame all difficulties and obtained extraordinary graces that were called the miracles of Brother Anthony.
The Ave of Brother Anthony has survived up to this day. This
prayer is incredibly effective.
The prosthesis that Brother Anthony used after his right hand had been amputated.