He is a man of myth and leg-end and he still walks

among us. On the verge of celebrating

his 100th birthday as well as his80th jubilee as a Franciscan Friar(both in 2019), Fr. Lucjan Kro-likowski is literally a windowinto the past, specifically theWorld War II era of the last cen-tury. He is also one of last livingFriars to have lived and workedwith St. Maximilian Kolbe inwar-torn Poland.

Inspired by the work of St.Maximilian, Fr. Lucjan enteredthe seminary in Niepokalanów,Poland in 1934 at the age of 15and began an amazing journey ofservice, sacrifice, persecution andheroism that would have madeSt. Maximilian proud.

“I grew up in a Catholichome with parents who werevery simple, but saintly, said Fr.Lucjan during a 2015 interviewwith the National Catholic Regis-ter. “My father was a baker; mymother worked in a grocery store.I was an avid reader of Maly Dzi-ennik, the daily newspaper ofNiepokalanów; Father Maximil-ian was a contributor. I read itfrom cover to cover. From ayoung age, I wanted to be apriest like Maximilian Kolbe.”

When Fr. Lucjan enteredNiepokalanów it was a thrivingseminary and monastery of morethan 800 friars, dedicated topublishing. At that time, St.Maximilian Kolbe was in Na-gasaki, Japan, establishing a simi-lar Franciscan media enclave, butFr. Lucjan got to know him wellwhen he returned to Poland in1937.

“I knew him for three yearsand met with him almost everyday,” said Fr. Lucjan. “Hewanted all of us to be Franciscanmissionaries.”

He recalls playing chess withSt. Maximilian who he called a

“mathematical genius.”“St. Maximilian could beat

anybody and he would play fiveor six of us at the same time,”

The St. Anthony

Volume 7, Number 2CompanionCompanion

LooK WhAt’S InSIde…

KoLbe RefLectIon ...........................4-5

bucKneLL PARtneRS In ShAMoKIn.....6

God GAve uS bRotheRS...................7

A direct link to history & St. Maximilian Kolbe

Fr. Lucjan Krolikowski, OFM Conv., acontemporary of St. MaximilianKolbe, has lived an incredible life ofservice and sacrifice.

Continued on Page 2

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said Fr. Lucjan. “But, sometimeshe would give us a chance towin.”

Fr. Lucjan’s time with St.Maximilian, who he described asstrict but very loving and mater-nal towards the young Friars,came to abrupt end in 1940when Fr. Lucjan was taken pris-oner by invading Soviet troops atthe start of World War II andsent to a concentration camp inSiberia. He spent 13 or 14 hoursper day cutting down trees. Withcommunists firmly in control ofPoland, they drafted Fr. Lucjaninto the Polish army and senthim to the Middle East. Heeventually gained his freedom

and was finally ordained a priest,in 1946 at St. Joseph Universityin Beirut, Lebanon, before beingassigned to become the chaplainof the Polish orphans fromSiberia at an East African settle-ment.

It was in East Africa wherehe met Polish children who wereorphaned after their parents per-ished in Soviet prisons duringthe war. At this time, Poland wasunder communist control andthe communists demanded thesechildren be repatriated to Poland.Fr. Lucjan, however, had otherideas.

In a heroic effort, Fr. Lucjan,despite being charged with kid-napping by the Polish govern-ment, risked his life to help the

children migrate to Canada, viaan elaborate journey, where theywere able to start a new life andremain free.

“I knew that personally I hadno responsibility for these chil-dren, but I began to take care ofthem anyway,” said Fr. Lucjan.

The children were firstboarded on a secret train fromItaly to Germany and then sailedto Canada, the only country thatwould agree to sponsor them.Through the years, Fr. Lucjanhas remained in contact withthese children, many who arenow elderly themselves, and hasenjoyed several reunions withthem.

Fr. Lucjan Krolikowski, OFM Conv. has always had a special affinity for children, especially the Polish orphans hesaved from communists rule by leading them from East Africa to Canada near the end of World War II. Here, hevisits with young children at a school of Polish language and culture in 2015, in Western New York. (Photo cour-tesy of Monika Satur Photography)

Continued on Page 3

Continued from Page 1

In 1983 Fr. Lucjan published the first of histwo books, Stolen Childhood: A Saga of Polish WarChildren, which detailed this incredible story.

Later, Fr. Lucjan would publish Siberian Pris-oner and Displaced Person, which provided more de-tail on his time in Russia.

Fr. Lucjan has lived in the United States for thelast 34 years having arrived in Athol Springs, NY, in1966. In the spirit of St. Maximilian Kolbe, whodid his missionary work through his media, Fr.Lucjan spent 32 years as a member of the editorialstaff of “The Father Justin Rosary Hour,” a Francis-can radio program aired in Western New York.

During those programs Fr. Lucjan often spokeof the great adventures of his life and revealed thatfaith was the greatest factor in his ability to survive.

“We prayed every day,” he said. “Those who be-lieve in God survived. Others couldn’t find themeans to go on. Some committed suicide.”

In 2013, Fr. Lucjan, at the age of 93, was in-ducted into the Order of the Smile, an interna-tional honor founded in Poland in 1968 andawarded at the request of children.

He also spoke of hunger.“The greatest plague is hunger. I can’t explain

hunger to you. You have to live it. They told us youwill forget everything about yourself: your religion,

your family, your country. It was true. We weredreaming about a piece of bread.”

His enduring message to the young is, “Avoidideologies.

“Mein Kampf was beautifully written, but it wasa poison. Ideologies are ideas born in the heads ofpeople, especially atheists, who look at you as ananimal. Maybe a better animal, but still an animalthat can be killed or do whatever they want. Hitlerhad an ideology.”

Fr. Lucjan resides at Our Lady of the AngelsCare Center in Enfield, Connecticut.

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Continued from on Page 2

At right, Fr. Lucjan Krolikowski celebrating Mass in 2015 at the age of 96. At left, he is pictured celebrating Masswith orphaned children aboard a ship in the Indian Ocean, 1942. He turns100 in 2019.

Fr. Lucian reunited with some of the children he helpedrelocate to safety after World War II, circa 2000.

4

Nearly 30 years ago, beforeour friary in Ellicott City,Maryland, became the Shrineof St. Anthony that we allknow today, it was a house offormation for friars startingFranciscan life. At that time, Ibrought there a very elderlygentleman from Poland, whohad survived the AuschwitzConcentration Camp, Mr.Francis Gajowniczek.

Among Mr. Gajowniczek’sfellow Polish prisoners atAuschwitz, was the FranciscanFriar, Father Maximilian Kolbe.Mr. Gajowniczek had been inthe Polish underground resist-ance army and ended up inAuschwitz as a captured pris-oner of war. When a fellowprisoner escaped in the sum-mer of 1941, the Nazis chose10 men from the escapee’s bar-racks to be executed in reprisal.In the ranks of those 600 or somen were Francis Gajowniczekand Maximilian Kolbe.Gajowniczek was one of theunlucky 10 to be chosen. Hecried out, "What will happento my wife and my children?"Moved by the plight of this fa-ther, Father Kolbe, steppedforward to the commandantand said, "I'd like to take thatman's place."

Surprisingly, the substitu-tion was allowed. Gajown-iczek's life was spared by theheroic gesture of Father Kolbe,

who with the nine others wastaken to their terrifying placeof execution. They were allstripped naked and forced intoa subterranean bunker that be-came known as the “Block ofDeath.” They were deprived offood and water. After twoweeks, six of the 10 had died.Among the four still clingingto life was Father Kolbe. TheNazis hastened their deathswith carbolic acid injections.

Forty-one years later, in1982, St. Maximilian Kolbewas canonized a saint, the firstto be given the title “Martyr ofCharity.” Since that time,shrines and chapels have beendedicated to St. Maximilian allover the world. However, there

exists no tomb, where pilgrimsmay honor this saint-martyr,seeking his heavenly interces-sion. At Auschwitz, all the vic-tims, including MaximilianKolbe, were cremated and theirashes were dumped in nearbymarshes. No remains were left.

In the case of St. Maximil-ian, however, something didremain – a unique relic pre-served by the Providence ofGod, namely, his beard. Hereis how that happened. In 1930when he went on mission toJapan, it was the custom formissionaries to grow longbeards. Six years later, when hereturned to Poland, he keptwearing the beard. After theNazi invasion of Poland in

St. Maximilian Kolbe: A ReflectionBy Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv.

1939, Father Kolbe wanted to carry on his largepublishing ministry as long as possible during theNazi occupation. In order to buy time before theNazis shut down his presses, he decided he wouldbe more inconspicuous without the beard.Against Fr. Kolbe’s wishes, the friar-barber whoshaved his beard actually kept it! Those precioushairs from his beard are now the only existingrelics from St. Maximilian’s earthly remains.

Why would we honor hairs from the beard ofa holy man like Maximilian? You can still visitAuschwitz, which is now a museum. You can de-scend the same steps to the starvation bunker inwhich St. Maximilian died. Why did Maximil-ian offer his life there? He did not simply wantto save the life of Mr. Gajowniczek. He wanted,as a friar, and as a priest, to minister to thoseother nine who were condemned. Think of it!

In Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 25, Jesus said,"I was hungry. You gave me to eat. I was thirsty.You gave me to drink. I was naked. You clothedme. I was homeless. You sheltered me. I was sickand in prison, you visited me." Maximilian wentinto that bunker because those other nine con-demned were hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless,sick, imprisoned! Maximilian understand that byministering to them, he was ministering to Jesus– the hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, sick, im-prisoned Jesus! To those prisoners in the starva-tion bunker, Maximilian demonstrated that Jesusfeeds our hungers and quenches our thirst, thatJesus clothes us with Himself, shelters us in Hishome which is the Kingdom, and heals and freesus from whatever holds us captive. Maximiliantaught his bunker mates that Jesus shared theirplight, and that Jesus was present with them.

I have interviewed scores of survivors ofAuschwitz and asked them to tell me what hap-pened while Maximilian was in that bunker. Thegist of their testimony was this: "You wouldn'tbelieve its. Instead of hearing the usual moansand groans and shrieks and cries and curses, weheard songs and prayers emanating from the win-dow of that bunker. We heard the rosary. Weheard hymns to Our Lady." Maximilian turned

that horrible death cell of Auschwitz into aprayer cell, and it became an oasis of love.

Today, long after World War II and the Nazimonstrosities, we scarcely remember the namesof those leaders at Auschwitz who tormented thepoor prisoners, but we do remember that littlefriar-prisoner with the number 16670 stitched onhis uniform and tattooed on his arm. MaximilianKolbe demonstrated that love triumphs over hate.That is why Pope John Paul II declared him asaint: because in our troubled and difficult cen-turies, we need witnesses who show that good tri-umphs over evil and that love conquers hate.

I shall never forget how Mr. Gajowniczekended his final talk on his last visit to America.He said, "Saint Maximilian Kolbe did not diejust for me. He died for all of you – to show allof you that love without limits is possible. Theyburned his body, but his ashes have spread to theends of the world." He used the ashes of Maxim-ilian as a metaphor for the saint’s lesson of lovewithout limits. I hope that every one of you willbe inspired by his witness to keep practicing thatcharity--without limits.

5

“...we heard songs andprayers emanating from the

window of that bunker.”

About Fr. JamesThe Very Rev. Fr. JamesMcCurry, OFM Conv. waselected the first MinisterProvincial of the Our Ladyof the Angels Province in2014 and was re-elected toa second term in 2018. Fr.

McCurry is a past president of the Militia Im-maculata and a scholar of St. Maximilian.

6

bucknell partners with church efforts in coal region

Pierogi, a Polish delicacy con-sisting of a savory filling wrappedin dough, is the unlikely firstcourse of an outreach by theFranciscan Friars of the Our Ladyof the Angels Province to helptwo struggling coal mining citiesof Northeast Pennsylvania.

Pierogi making is part of theculture at parishes in the regionwhere they are made regularly aspart of their fund raising efforts.It also presented a chance forMother Cabrini Church pastor Fr.Martin Kobos, OFM Conv., co-founder and former Director ofthe Companions of St. Anthony.

Fr. Martin noticed how aparish in a neighboring town hadengaged with students of Buck-nell University and explored howhe could bring them to Shamokin.

“A number of things seemedto have converged all at the righttime,” said Fr. Martin. “Bucknellhas the 40 Mile Project, by whichthe University gives back to thelocal region with the knowledge

and enthusiasm of its senior in-terns and the expertise and re-sources of its professors.”

To bring the interns toShamokin, Fr. Martin and hisstaff went to Bucknell and made apresentation about the parish’spierogi program. Drawing uponwhat they learned from theirManaging for Substantialitymajor, five students observed allaspects of the program and ulti-mately presented a detailed reportwith suggestions to sustain, im-prove and grow the program. Therelationship with Bucknell was es-tablished.

In addition to MotherCabrini, the Friars minister at twoother local parishes in the region -Our Lady of Hope (Coal Town-ship, Pa.) and St. Patrick (Trevor-ton, Pa.). Earlier this year, theFriars hosted a gathering of ap-proximately 30 stakeholders fromall three municipalities to brain-storm possible broader topics ofinterest for the Bucknell interns.

To assist with the effort, OurLady of Hope pastor Fr. StevenFrenier, OFM Conv., donatedthe use of a former rectory build-ing as a work space. A generousdonation of furniture and house-hold items was made from theFranciscan Center, a former OLAProvince ministry in Buffalo, NY,to outfit the facility.

“The people of this region arestruggling,” added Fr. Martin.

“The coal is all gone and with itthe economy of this region is de-pressed. In addition, residue ofthe coal mining days has nega-tively impacted the area.”

The efforts of the CabriniFriars are an example of the Fran-ciscan commitment to Justice,Peace, and Integrity of Creation(JPIC). "This work we're doingfits perfectly with the mission ofour JPIC office, directed by Fr.Michael Lasky, OFM Conv. Fr.Michael continually helped us,providing guidance and expertisein moving the program forward."

Bucknell students with Fr. Martin Kobos (holding a portrait of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini – aka Mother Cabrini,and her plate of Pierogi).

7

2018 Jubilarians

On July 12, 2018, Friars fromthe four Franciscan Friars Con-ventual Provinces of North Amer-ica, including our own Our Ladyof the Angels Province, gatheredat the Interprovincial St. Francisof Assisi Friary Novitiate (ArroyoGrande, California) to celebratethe 2018 Investiture of the newclass of five new Novices and toSend Forth five graduatingNovices onto their continuingstudies. Four days later, duringthe OLA Province Jubilarian cel-ebration in Ellicott City, MD, Fr.Alejandro Maria Arìas Mosquera,OFM Conv., Fr. Fabian Adderley,OFM Conv. and Fr. RichardRome, (pictured above with Fr.Mark Szanyi, OFM Conv), Pro-fessed their Simple Vows. Thetradition of Professing on the daywe celebrate our jubilariansbegan in 2017, to create a dayfull of fraternal witness. Pleasecelebrate in prayer our 2018Jubilarians and newly Professed.

From Investiture andSending to Simple Vows

(Above left) On June 22, 2018: Friar Emanuel Ventura Vasconcelos,OFM Conv. (at left) and Friar Moises Maximilian Avila Pacheco, OFMConv. (at right), both friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province, were Or-dained to the Sacred Order of the Priesthood at Saint Louis RomanCatholic Church in Buffalo, NY. (Above right) Friar Christopher Dudek,OFM Conv. celebrated his Diaconate Ordination on July 7, 2018 at theBasilica of St. Stanislaus, Bishop & Matyr (Chicopee, MA).

The St. AnthonyCompanion

is a publication of the Companions of St. Anthony

12290 Folly Quarter RoadEllicott City, Maryland 21042

410-531-9200Visit us online at

www.companionsofstanthony.org

Profession Jubilarians70 years

Friar Emmett Carroll, OFM Conv.60 years

Friar Benedict Fagone, OFM Conv.50 years

Friar John Ruffo, OFM Conv.Friar Justin Ratajczak, OFM Conv.Friar Carl Zdancewicz, OFM Conv.

40 yearsFriar Kenneth Lucas, OFM Conv.Friar James Doyle, OFM Conv.

Friar Gerald Waterman, OFM Conv.Friar Michael Duffy, OFM Conv.Friar David Blowey, OFM Conv.

Ordination Jubilarians60 years

Friar Duane Mastrangelo, OFM Conv.Friar Briant Cullinane, OFM Conv.Friar Alvin Somerville, OFM Conv.

50 yearsFriar Hilary Brzostowski, OFM Conv.Friar Romuald Meogrossi, OFM Conv.Friar Nicholas Swiatek, OFM Conv.Friar Charles Jagodzinski, OFM Conv.

40 yearsFriar Mark Szanyi, OFM Conv.Friar Ross Syracuse, OFM Conv.Friar Dennis Mason, OFM Conv.

25 yearsFriar Brad Milunski, OFM Conv.

On July 16, 2018 the Friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province honoredour Jubilarians celebrating the anniversaries of their professions and/or or-dinations. The celebration began at the Daily Noon Mass at the Shrine ofSt. Anthony in Ellicott City, MD, for friends, family and pilgrims, which wasfollowed by a luncheon.

Priestly and Diaconate Ordinations

“God Gave us brothers…”Franciscan Vocation News

For some, the swirling cloudof questions surrounding thewhole topic of writing one’s willcan be so confusing that it para-lyzes the individual into inaction.

Do I really need a will? Howdo I get started? What will itcost? Is there a way I can remem-ber my favorite charities in mywill? Can I make changes in mywill without rewriting every-thing? These are a few of the typ-ical questions people ask whenthey think of writing their wills.

Unfortunately, inaction inthis important area of one’s lifecan lead to heartbreak and mis-understanding for one’s survivors.Inaction can also compromiseassets for which one worked sohard during one’s lifetime. But, itneed not be the case.

Perhaps the best first stepone needs to take in the responsi-bility of writing a will is to findan attorney competent in thisfield. Friends, family members,one’s doctor, parish priest,coworkers or neighbors are allgood sources for recommenda-tions of competent attorneys.

A simple phone call initiatesthe process and the attorney willbe able to answer your questionsand guide you through the willwriting process.

After remembering familymembers and special acquain-tances, you may also wish toremember the Companions of St.Anthony in your will. By doingso, you will honor the memoryof St. Anthony and further the

important mission of his Francis-can brothers in today’s world.

There are several ways tomake distributions to the Com-panions in your will. The follow-ing are some examples you maytake to your attorney.

Percentage“I give, devise, and bequeath

to Companions of St. Anthonyof 12290 Folly Quarter Road,Ellicott City, MD 21042,_______% of my estate for itscorporate needs and purposes.”

Residue(Whatever is left after other

bequests have been granted.) “Allthe residue of my estate, includ-ing real and personal property, Igive, devise, and bequeath toCompanions of St. Anthony of12290 Folly Quarter Road, Elli-cott City, MD 21042 for its cor-porate needs and purposes.”

Specific Dollar Amount“I give, devise, and bequeath

to Companions of St. Anthonyof 12290 Folly Quarter Road,Ellicott City, MD 21042,$___________ for its corporateneeds and purposes.”

Specific Property“I give, devise, and bequeath

to Companions of St. Anthonyof 12290 Folly Quarter Road,Ellicott City, MD 21042 (de-scription of property) located at(Exact Location), for its corpo-rate needs and purposes.”

A remembrance in your Willallows us to care for our ailingand senior friars, educate ouryoungest friars in their formationyears, support our missionariesand their good works in some ofthe poorest parts of the world,and advance the Kingdom ofGod through our various Fran-ciscan ministries.

even is cloud has a Silver Lining