Teresa Janina Kierocińska

On December 31, 1921, in Krakow, Father Anselm Gądek founded the Congregation of the Carmelite Sisters of the Infant Jesus. He appointed Janina Kierocińska as the first superior of this new active and contemplative community. She then took the name Mother Teresa of St. Joseph. On October 30, 1924, after two successive moves, the sisters settled permanently in Sosnowiec, in the Zagłębie coal basin, which became the motherhouse of the institute. In this region marked by great material and spiritual poverty, Mother Teresa organized numerous assistance works: a kindergarten, a school for the most destitute children, sewing and embroidery workshops for young girls, as well as a soup kitchen. During the Second World War, she deployed heroic charitable and resistance activity. She hid young girls threatened with deportation for forced labor in Germany in the convent, offered refuge to partisans of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa), organized clandestine classes, and sent relief parcels to prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp. She also opened an orphanage for children who were victims of the war. At the risk of her life, she hid and saved several Jewish people, including children. For this heroism, she was recognized posthumously as 'Righteous Among the Nations' by the Yad Vashem Institute on February 22, 1993.

Affectionately nicknamed the "Mother of Zagłębie" by the local population due to her tireless charity, Mother Teresa died in the odor of sanctity in 1946. Her cause for beatification was officially introduced on October 14, 1983, in the Diocese of Częstochowa, following the receipt of the nihil obstat from the Holy See on June 18, 1983. The diocesan inquiry into her life and virtues concluded on December 31, 1988. The validity of this inquiry was recognized by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on May 11, 1991. On May 2, 2013, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her theological and cardinal virtues, thereby conferring upon her the title of Venerable.

Current status: Venerable. Process in progress: The cause is currently in the Roman phase. For Mother Teresa to be proclaimed blessed, the official recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession by the Holy See is required. Local devotion: The faithful and the Carmelite Sisters of the Infant Jesus pray regularly for her beatification. A mass is celebrated for this intention on the 12th of each month (the anniversary of her death) in the chapel of the motherhouse in Sosnowiec.

The spirituality of Mother Teresa of St. Joseph is deeply rooted in the Carmelite tradition and centered on the path of spiritual childhood, inspired by Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus. It is characterized by absolute trust in Divine Providence, humility, simplicity, and a burning love for Christ present in the Eucharist. She also held a particular devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. She insisted on the primacy of contemplative prayer, affirming to her sisters: "Let us learn to pray well and we will be happy already here on earth." Today, the Congregation of the Carmelite Sisters of the Child Jesus continues its apostolic and charitable work. The institute has approximately 460 religious sisters spread across 11 countries, notably in Poland, France (where they have been established since 1991, with communities in Toulon, Beaune, and Bagnères-de-Bigorre), Italy, Ukraine, Burundi, Rwanda, and Cameroon.