June 12
Blessed Antonine Bajewski, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs
First Order ☩ Memorial
From 1939-1945, during the Nazi occupation of Poland, many Catholics, laypeople, religious, priests and bishops were killed because of hatred of the faith. On June 13, 1999, in Warsaw, Poland, Pope John Paul II beatified 108 martyrs. In the group of the martyrs there were seven Friars Minor Conventual of the Province of the Immaculate Conception in Poland: the priests Antonine Bajewski, Pius Bartosik, Innocent Wojciech Guz, Herman Stępień, Achilles Puchała and the religious brothers Boniface Zukowski and Timothy Troianowski. Five of them (Blessed Antonine, Pius, Innocent, Boniface and Timothy) had been with St. Maximilian Kolbe in the community of Niepokalanów. When St. Maximilian was arrested in 1941, he was Guardian and Blessed Pius Bartosik, Vicar. Blessed Herman and Achilles were working in the parish ministry at Iwieniec and Pierszaje (Belarus), where they were killed in 1943.
From the Common of Several Martyrs
Collect
Almighty God,
who to the Blessed Antonine, priest, and to his companions
you have given the grace to drink
of the chalice of the Passion of your Son,
come to the aid of our weakness,
so that, through the example of the martyrs,
who suffered death for love of you,
may we also always profess our faith
through the witness of our life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.