Janina Szymkowiak

Within her congregation, Sister Marie Sancja distinguished herself by her humility and joyful obedience, performing the simplest tasks with remarkable zeal: educator, teacher, translator, doorkeeper, or refectorian.

When the Second World War broke out in 1939, Poland was occupied by German forces. The convent of the Seraphic Sisters in Poznań was requisitioned and transformed into a hotel by the occupier. Although her superiors offered her the possibility of taking refuge with her family, Sister Sancja chose to remain at the convent to share the fate of her sisters and submit to the forced labor imposed by the Germans.

Thanks to her mastery of foreign languages (French, English, and German), she became an invaluable support for the French and English prisoners of war held in the region and forced into labor. She served as their interpreter, brought them food, clothing, and constant spiritual comfort. Touched by her heroic dedication and gentleness, these prisoners nicknamed her the "angel of goodness."

Exhausted by the deprivations of the war and grueling work, Sister Sancja contracted severe tuberculosis of the pharynx. On her deathbed, she pronounced her perpetual vows on July 6, 1942. She passed away on August 29, 1942, in Poznań, at the age of 32.

The reputation for holiness of Sister Sancja spread immediately after her death, particularly among the prisoners of war who came to pray before her remains, calling her "Saint Sancja." Her grave at the Poznań cemetery quickly became a place of pilgrimage and prayer.

The cause for beatification was officially opened under the pontificate of Pope Paul VI on March 24, 1968, conferring upon her the title of Servant of God. After the examination of her heroic virtues, Pope John Paul II declared her Venerable on December 18, 2000.

The miracle accepted for her beatification concerns the scientifically inexplicable healing, which occurred in 1996 in Poznań, of a newborn baby who had suffered serious injuries during childbirth. Faced with the fatal prognosis of the doctors, the child's family and the Seraphic Sisters invoked the intercession of Sister Sancja through a novena. The complete, instantaneous, and lasting healing of the little girl was validated by the medical commission on April 11, 2002, and then by the theologians and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in June 2002. The decree recognizing the miracle was signed by Pope John Paul II on July 5, 2002.

Sister Marie Sancja Szymkowiak was beatified by Pope John Paul II on August 18, 2002, at Błonie Park in Kraków, during his final apostolic journey to Poland.

The spirituality of Blessed Sancja rests on an absolute trust in the divine will and an unreserved love for Christ, summarized by her spiritual motto: 'The will of God is my will.' She aspired to a hidden holiness, lived out in faithfulness to the small things of daily life.

On her deathbed, she confided to her superior: 'I am dying of love, and Love can refuse nothing to love.' Her example of heroic charity toward prisoners of war and the most destitute remains a model of active mercy. Today, her relics are venerated in the Church of Saint Roch in Poznań, which has become her shrine. She is particularly invoked by students (due to her university background) and by those in search of reconciliation or healing.