Our next saints for Lent, BL. MARIA MARTA & MARIA EVA WOLOWSKA were blood sisters, and part of the 108 Martyrs of WWII.
Kazimiera was born in
Lublin, Poland, in 1879, and Bogumiła was born in Osaniszki,
Lithuania, in 1885. As young women, they entered the Congregation of the
Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Kazimiera became
known as Sister Maria Marta of Jesus and Bogumiła received the religious name
Sister Maria Eva of Providence.
Together with other sisters from their congregation, they dedicated their lives to caring for children in shelters, orphanages, and schools organized by their community.
In 1939 both sisters were serving
in the parish in Słonim, Belarus. With the help of their pastor, Father Adam
Sztark, S.J., they began sheltering Jewish children in the convent, helping
them escape certain death at the hands of the Nazis.
On December 19, 1942, these two sisters, along with Father Sztark, were arrested by the Gestapo and immediately executed. Sisters Maria Marta and Maria Eva were beatified in 1999 with 106 other Polish martyrs of the Second World War. Their feast is December 19.
Photos: Left- Bl. Maria Eva
Right:
Bl. Maria Marta