BL. NATALIA TULASIEWICZ was another lay woman beatified as part
of the 108 Martyrs of WWII.
She
was born in Rzeszów, Poland in 1906. She moved with her family
to Poznań in 1921. She studied Polish philology at the University of Pozńan and
music at the Conservatory. She was a very devout Catholic, and wrote that she
wished to strengthen her faith by good deeds and studying. Reflecting on the
fact that men and women are made in the image of God, she wrote: “It is
precisely our reason that makes us creatures similar to God.”
Unfortunately,
her musical training was interrupted because she contracted tuberculosis,
necessatating an operation on her throat. She finished university in 1931 and
had meanwhile begun her teaching career
.Despite
her great love of God, Blessed Natalia did not feel at all called to become a
religious sister. It was very important to her that she remain and work for God
in the world as a laywoman. And at first she thought she would do this as a
married woman. In 1927, when she was 21, she became engaged and remained
engaged for seven years. Unfortunately, her fiancé was an atheist and a
communist, and so Blessed Natalia ended their relationship in 1934.
During
the occupation of Poland, her family was among the many Polish families
who were dispossessed by the Germans after annexation of Poznań; thrown out of
their homes with only a few hours' notice
But rather than being brokenhearted, she felt that love had tied her even more to earthly life in the world. The love of God, she wrote, had made her heart so powerful that nothing could break it.
“It seems to me that I am on the path to a new era in my life, a path that is difficult but worthwhile. Now I love life more than ever before. I have always loved it in God, today I desire in the fullest sense to live in God!”
Natalia thus gave herself totally to God but in such a way that she could find and achieve holiness in the everyday, modern world. She wrote, “I have the courage to become a saint. Only holiness is the fullest form of love, and so I don’t just want but must become a saint, a modern saint, a theocentric humanist.”
She wrote as well as taught: poetry, novels and
newspaper articles. She received much attention for her travels with the
famous ship “Batory” in 1937. In 1938, she went to Rome for the canonization of
St.. Andrziej Bobola and travelled all over Italy.
She
was involved in the underground education in Kraków and was
a member of the Polish Underground State. In 1943, she volunteered to
leave for Germany together with other women who were forced to perform
heavy work, to give them spiritual comfort.
She worked in a
factory and secretly taught religion and
German to her fellow workers. She organized prayers and singing. As she wrote
to her sister: “Only here do I fully realize how valuable is my life of
solitude and my secular apostolate. And I realize how important it is to go
outside and fill in the gap between a saint in a monastery and a layperson
outside. I would simply say: let us leave with the holiness in our souls to streets! "
When the Germans found out about her secret mission, she was arrested, tortured, and condemned to death in the Ravensbrück concentration camp. On Good Friday 1945, she climbed a stool in the barracks and spoke to the prisoners on the passion and resurrection of Jesus. Two days later, on Easter Sunday, 31 March, she was murdered in a gas chamber. The concentration camp was liberated two days later.
Natalia
is one of the only two lay women among the 108 Martyrs of World War II,
beatified on 13 June 1999 by Pope (St.) John Paul II. On 30 March 2022, Blessed Natalia was
announced patron saint of Polish teachers.
