Saint Joseph Sebastian Pelczar

Today is the feast of Saint Joseph Sebastian Pelczar 1842-1924), Bishop of Przemyśl and founder of the Congregation of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Joseph Sebastian Pelczar was born on January 17, 1842, in the small town of Korczyna in southwestern Poland, where he was raised by pious parents. He decided to devote himself to the service of God as a young student. In his diary he wrote: “Earthly ideals are fading away. I see the ideal of life in sacrifice, and the ideal of sacrifice in priesthood.”

Ordained a priest on July 17, 1864, Joseph Sebastian was sent to Sambor, to a parish in the Diocese of Przemysl, where he worked for a year and a half as a curate. He was then sent to Rome to study and spent two years there. Having earned doctorates in theology and canon law, he returned to Poland and, after a short period of service as curate in Wojutycze and Sambor, he became a professor of the Major Seminary of Przemysl (1869-1877). Later, he was appointed as professor of the Jagellonian University in Krakow (1877-99).

As a professor and as the Dean of the Theological Department, he gained the reputation as a wise and scholarly man, a competent organizer and a friend to young people. As a sign of their high esteem for him, the academic community entrusted him with the honorable responsibility of Rector of the University (1882-83), Krakow’s Alma Mater.

Father Pelczar did not confine himself only to academic work, but generously involved himself in other social and charitable activities such as the St. Vincent de Paul Society and the Society for the Education of the People. In the latter of the two, he served as President for 16 years. During that time, he erected hundreds of libraries, delivered numerous free lectures, published and distributed more than a thousand books, and opened a school for servants. In 1891, Father Pelczar established the Fraternity of Our Lady, Queen of the Polish Crown. Besides its religious commitment, the Fraternity was founded to care for the poor, the orphans, apprentices and servants, especially those who were sick and unemployed.

Joseph Sebastian recognized that the problems existing in his times were actually opportunities to see the will of God. In 1894, he founded the Congregation of the Sister Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Krakow, with the aim of spreading the Kingdom of the love of the Heart of Jesus. He wanted the Sisters to be signs and instruments of this love for girls, for the sick and all people in need.

Five years later, in 1899 he was named Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Przemysl. During the twenty-five years of his episcopate, he was widely regarded as a good pastor, devoted to the people entrusted to him.

In spite of poor health, he made frequent visits to the parishes, supported the religious orders, conducted three synods, and worked for the education and religious formation of his priests. He encouraged devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, Eucharistic devotions, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Virgin Mary. He built and restored churches, built nurseries, kitchens, homeless shelters, schools for the poor, and gave tuition assistance to poor seminarians. He worked for the implentation of the social doctrine described in the writings of Pope Leo XIII. He left behind a large body of work including books, pastoral letters, sermons, addresses, prayers and other writings.

Bishop Pelczar died on the night of March 28, 1924. In 1991, John Paul II, elevated him to the glory of the beatified. The relics of Blessed Joseph Sebastian Pelczar rest in the Cathedral Church in Przemysl.


LITANY TO ST. JOSEPH SEBASTIAN PELCZAR