Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception

Tarnobrzeg, just a few miles southwest of Wielowieś. (Photo from Panoramio.com)

This is the continuation of the story of the life of the Mother Maria Kolumba, foundress of the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. In our previous installment, Sister Kolumba, who was not even yet professed, received the approval of Most Rev. Adam Jasiński, the bishop of Przemyśl, to found a Third Order of Sisters in Wielowieś.

Father Leszczyński, the enthusiastic helper of Sister Kolumba, began to arrange for the use of a wooden church building in Wielowieś which had been a school of two rooms, as a temporary convent until a permanent one could be built. The project gained the support of local clergy, who helped in various ways. A donation of 5.6 acres of land opposite the church was made, along with a promise of construction material. Continue reading ‘A Simple Convent and Public Approval Are the Blessings of the New Foundation’ »

Wielowieś and Przemyśl are in the southeastern part of present-day Poland. (Adapted from Google map)

This is the continuation of the story of the life of the Mother Maria Kolumba, foundress of the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. In our previous installment, Sister Kolumba received the encouragement of the Master General of the Dominican Order to found a Dominican convent in Poland. She also met Father Julian Leszczyński, who was looking for Dominican sisters for his parish in Wielowieś, in southeast Poland.

Father Leszczyński, who had dabbled with drawings of Dominican sisters as a child, was very happy when Sister Kolumba sent him Statutes of the Third Order in Polish, along with the news of the blessing about her plans of Most Rev. Adam Jasiński, the new bishop of Przemyśl.

The bishop placed the project under the supervision and guidance of Fr. Leszczyński, and advised Mother Kolumba to privately open a novitiate for new candidates without waiting for the approval of the Austrian government or the Diocese. The plan was to find their place in the Dominican Constitution, submit their plans to the Dominican Chapter meeting, then obtain approval first of the Bishop, and finally of the government. Continue reading ‘Bishop’s Approval of Emerging Dominican Congregation Brings Great Joy’ »

Przemyśl, where Mother Kolumba met Father Leszczyński to plan the foundation.

This is the continuation of the story of the life of the Mother Maria Kolumba, foundress of the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. In our previous installment, Sister Kolumba, only 19 and temporarily professed, had travelled from her convent in France to her native Poland to try to find support for the foundation of a Third Order Dominican convent in that land.

At this time, a priest by the name of Father Julian Leszczyński was looking for Dominican Sisters for his new parish assignment in Wielowieś. This priest had such a devotion to Dominican Sisters that when he was in the seventh and eighth grades he would draw pictures of cloistered Dominican convents, for example, of those in Warsaw, giving names to imaginary Sisters. Continue reading ‘Sister Kolumba Meets a Priest Who Is a Kindred Spirit to Begin Her Foundation’ »