One of the reasons I love researching modern saints, is there is often so much information, that we know to be true- not mere legends. Case in point, is BLESSED LOJZE GROZDE, a Slovenian student who was murdered by Partisans during World War II.
He was born in 1923 in a village called Zgornje Vodale in Slovenia. He was the illegitimate son of a young woman, daughter of poor farmers. Due to the circumstances of his birth, he was never looked upon favorably by his family. When he was four, his mother married, but her new husband was not fond of Lojze, so Lojze was forced to live with his grandparents. It was his grandfather who taught him how to pray.
Lojze
described his childhood as “a starless
night.” At the age of six, he was at the top of his class. He loved to study. Lojze
was able to go to school for a few years where he learned to read, write and do
math. He soon had to help with the farm work, and eventually ended up as a
herdsman for cattle. Nonetheless, he found a way to continue with his studies
by waking up earlier to let the cows out to graze so as to have more time to
learn.
His
aunt Joan, whom he loved, left their little village to work as a house maid in
the capital. She told the house owner she worked for that she had a nephew who was very smart, but did not have enough money to go to school. The woman was moved and decided to help the boy. She sent him word to go the city and take the entrance exam for the
Marianum College.
The twelve-year-old Lojze arrived at Ljubljana on June 28, 1935. It was the day the Eucharistic Congress was being celebrated, which was a big celebration for Slovenians with music bands, tapestries, and flags everywhere.
When he came to the house where his aunt worked, the family was astonished to see the boy with his broken rope-soled sandals, tangled hair, dirty clothes, and smelling of cows. The woman was somewhat caught off guard before this so-called student.
His
aunt Joan, whom he loved, left their little village to work as a house maid in
the capital. As soon as she could, she told the house owner she worked for that
Lojze was very smart, but that he did not have enough money to go to school and
had to settle for being a herdsman. The woman was moved and decided to help
Lojze. She sent him word to go the city and take the entrance exam for the
Marianum College.
The twelve-year-old Lojze arrived at Ljubljana on June 28, 1935. It was the day the Eucharistic Congress was being celebrated, and in which Slovenians put all their energy into taking part in the celebrations. Lojze, who had never left his village, was amazed. There were a lot of people, music bands, tapestries, and flags everywhere. When he reached the house where his aunt worked, the family was also astonished to see the boy. He wore broken rope-soled sandals, had tangled hair, dirty clothes, and smelled like cows. The woman was somewhat caught off guard before this so-called student,yet despite her fears, Lojze passed the entrance exam and was accepted.
The atmosphere at Marianum was not easy for him to adjust to with his unsociable and rough nature. Although he changed into clean clothes and learned good hygiene practices, the other children made fun of his farmer ways and he defended himself the only way he knew how to: by punching. One day he even went so far as to throw a pocketknife at a boy who was bothering him, wounding the boy's face.
The complaints against him reached the principal, who had no mercy on the young Lojze. He gave him a stern
warning that if he did not change his behavior, he would have to go back to his
village.
One of his classmates affirmed: “When I did not know how to act, I looked at Lojze, careful not to be noticed. I heard his point of view and adhered to his position... I really could not imagine him not keeping the rules and going against the superiors’ orders. What could be considered natural in others, was unbelievable in him.”
Hard
to believe, but Lojze became one of the best students at Marianum, and one of
the most loved by his classmates. He joined the choir, played on the soccer
team and wrote for the student magazine "Izvir". He was known for his poetry and was famed for of being “the
one who knows everything.”
On December 8, 1936, he joined the school’s Marian congregation, where he began to lead a serious life of prayer and deep interior life. From that day on, he always felt the Virgin Mary’s presence close to him. He found in her the mother he never had, which brought him happiness.
When
he was 15, he discovered Catholic Action and quickly became one of its bravest
and most daring members. The situation in Slovenia was terrible. Lojze
described it as “a burning wound.” The country, entirely under German control,
tried to organize a resistance against its invader. Meanwhile, the groups of
Communist partisans, backed by Russia, gained power provoking violence
throughout the country.
In Lojze’s fifth year of studies, a new boy named Antoine joined his class. He was intelligent and easy to get along with yet he had been formed by the Communist militant youth and professed the Marxist and atheist materialism ideology. War was breaking out between Lojze and Antoine: Christianity against Communism. The class was also divided into two groups.
During recess, Antoine would gather together his followers and, all of a sudden, Lojze would show up and defend Christian convictions with such brilliance that he brought about every difficulty possible for the Communist seducer. One day a student asked to have his photo taken with Lojze.
.jpg)
Shortly after, the procession of martyrs began in Ljubljana. Among them was Lambert Ehrlich,a young priest. Some of those killed were also members of Catholic Action and friends of Lojze. He had a premonition that he was going to die, but was not afraid: “Even if they kill 90% of our ranks, they will never intimidate us.”
During Christmas of 1942, Lojze decided to go back to his village. The train service was suspended because of the snow, so Lojze began his journey on foot with a friend. He spent New Year’s Eve at his friend’s house, and then made his way to his own village. It was a first Friday, and Lojze received Holy Communion in reparation.
The following day, he took a bus to his village. Halfway there, he was stopped by a Communist patrol. Lojze was identified as a sought for person, and was brought to a shelter. There, Antoine and the boy who pretended to be his friend looked at him in triumph. There on the table was the photo used to identify Lojze.
The partisans commanded him to put the Communist uniform on and fight for them. In response to Lojze’s resolute refusal, they prepared his torture. They stripped him of his clothes and pound him with clubs. They cut off the ends of his toes, tore off his ear, plucked out his right eye, and made a huge wound in his jaw, pulling his tongue out through the hole. Then they dragged him into the woods nearby and finished him off with the blow of a pickaxe to his head.
This great lover of the Eucharist, lived and died a saint's death, in spite of a hard beginning. He is a model for youth, that no matter one's nature, there can always be change.