Mary Theresa Dudzik

Faced with the financial crisis of 1893, which dramatically worsened poverty in Chicago, Józefina felt a pressing inner call to dedicate herself entirely to the most destitute. On the advice of her spiritual director and pastor, Father Vincent Barzyński (a priest of the Congregation of the Resurrection), she decided to found a religious community to structure this charitable work. On December 8, 1894, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Józefina and four Polish companions founded the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Blessed Kunegunda (today known as the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago). She then took the name Sister Mary Theresa. This was the first female religious congregation founded in the city of Chicago. To finance their mission and the care of the poor, the sisters performed sewing, cooking, and cleaning work in rectories and sometimes even resorted to begging. In 1898, the congregation opened the St. Joseph Home for the Aged and Crippled, the first Catholic home for the elderly and disabled in Chicago, which also served as the motherhouse. In 1899, they expanded their work by taking charge of the St. Vincent Orphan Asylum. On June 3, 1900, Sister Mary Theresa and three other pioneers made their first religious vows. Sister Mary Theresa served as superior of the community from 1894 to 1898, and again from 1909 to 1910. In 1898, following slanderous rumors regarding the management of funds collected for the construction of the home, Father Barzyński suggested she step down from leadership to avoid scandal. She accepted this decision with profound humility and obedience. In 1910, during the congregation's first general chapter, her friend Sister Mary Anna (Rosalie) Wysinski was elected superior general. Sister Mary Theresa spent the final years of her life in the shadows, tending the garden, sewing the sisters' habits, and training novices, without the new recruits knowing she was the foundress. Afflicted with cancer, she endured great suffering with patience and resignation. She died on September 20, 1918, in Chicago, surrounded by her sisters in prayer. At the time of her death, the congregation numbered 160 members.

The memory of Sister Mary Theresa's holiness and humility was rediscovered in 1940 during the sixth general chapter of the congregation, where historical archives were re-examined. In 1948, she posthumously received the honorary title of "Mother" in recognition of her role as foundress. The cause for beatification and canonization was officially opened at the diocesan level by the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1979, under the impetus of Cardinal John Cody. She was declared a Servant of God in 1982.

The diocesan process concluded and the file was transmitted to Rome to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. On March 26, 1994, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, thus conferring upon her the title of Venerable. For her cause to progress toward beatification, the official recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession is required. Several files of unexplained healings have been submitted for study by the Vatican (notably a healing following a serious accident in 1972 studied in the early 2000s, and another concerning kidney failure in 2020), but no miracle has yet been officially approved by papal decree. Her mortal remains, exhumed from Saint Adalbert Cemetery in 1972, now rest in a granite sarcophagus within the Sacred Heart of Jesus Chapel at the motherhouse of the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago in Lemont, Illinois.

The spirituality of Mother Mary Theresa Dudzik is deeply rooted in the Franciscan charism: evangelical poverty, humility, simplicity, and unconditional love for the poorest and the marginalized. Nicknamed the 'Apostle of Mercy of Chicago,' she left a testimony of heroic charity and self-effacement, accepting humiliations and the humblest tasks with joy and abandonment to the divine will. Today, the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago continue her work through various ministries: care for the elderly, education, child welfare, pastoral care, and welcoming victims of domestic violence (notably through the Madonna Foundation and St. Jude House).