About Blessed Róża Maria Czacka:
Known in religious life as Mother Elżbieta of the Crucified Jesus (Elżbieta z Krzyża Pańskiego), was a Polish noblewoman and founder of the Franciscan Sisters Servants of the Cross. She was born Countess Róża Maria Czacka on October 22, 1876 into the Czacki family, a prominent Polish noble lineage from Silesia, in Bila Tserkva, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire. Her father, Feliks Czacki, was the grandson of Tadeusz Czacki, founder of Krzemieniec Lyceum and a notable Polish educator; her mother, Zofia Ledóchowska, came from the aristocratic Ledóchowski family. The Świnka coat of arms was associated with the Czacki nobles, and her family’s heritage included close ties to the Catholic Church, such as Cardinal Włodzimierz Czacki, a friend of Pope Pius IX.
After losing her sight at age 22, Czacka dedicated herself to serving the blind. In 1917 she entered the Franciscan Third Order under the name Elżbieta of the Crucified Jesus (Elżbieta z Krzyża Pańskiego). Róża took her vows and adopted the religious name of Elżbieta (Elisabeth). After the ban on wearing religious garments was officially lifted, she donned the Franciscan habit. In December 1918, with ecclesiastical approval, she founded the Franciscan Sisters Servants of the Holy Cross, a congregation devoted to caring for the blind and “the spiritual blindness of the world”. She was often referred to as Mother Elizabeth of the Crucified Jesus, reflecting her Franciscan devotion to the Cross of Christ. She served as Superior General from 1923 until 1950.
She was fluent in English, German, French, and Latin and developed the Polish Braille alphabet (adopted nationally in 1934). During World War II, the Laski center she led became a refuge and hospital for Warsaw Uprising fighters.
Laski (Polish pronunciation: [ˈlaskʲi]) is a village in Poland, in the Masovian Voivodship, to the west of Warsaw, in the commune of Izabelin. It is located at the southern border of the Kampinos Forest and is a notable resort, with 1,600 permanent inhabitants (1998).
The village is notable for its resort, hospital and schools for blind people run by Towarzystwo Opieki nad Ociemniałymi founded by countess Róża Czacka, and the Franciscan friars. In addition, a shelter for lone mothers run by Towarzystwo Pomocy im. Adama Chmielowskiego is located there. Near the blinded institute a wooden chapel is located (built in 1925), one of the most notable architectural monuments of the area. There is also a small World War II cemetery and a civilian cemetery, a final resting place of many Polish famous artists, among them are writers Antoni Słonimski and Jerzy Zawieyski.
She had been very seriously ill for the last ten years of her life, and paralysed in later life. On April 30, 1961 Fr. Tadeusz Fedorowicz gave her the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. She died on May 15, 1961 in Laski.
On May 19, the Mass of the Ressurction was celebrated by Bishop Czesław Falkowski, and led by Bishop Zygmunt Choromański, after which she was buried in the forest cemetery in Laski.
On December 23, 2020, her body was exhumed, and her temporal remains were transferred from the forest cemetery to the sarcophagus located in her former room, and now the chapel of Our Lady of the Angelic School and Educational Center for Blind Children. Róża Czacka in Lask
Pope Francis declared her Venerable in 2017 and approved a miracle in 2020, leading to her beatification on September 12, 2021 in Warsaw, alongside Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński. The Memorial of Blessed Róża Maria Czacka is May 19.
Laski is about 9 miles (15 km) northwest of Warsaw. It is located at the southern border of the Kampinos Forest.
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