JUNE 7
BLESSED MICHAL TOMASZEK and
BLESSED ZBIGNIEW STARZALKOWSKI
Martyrs, I Order
The Blessed Three Martyrs of Chimbote were a group of two Polish Conventual Franciscan priests and one Italian missionary priest murdered in Peru in 1991 by the Shining Path communist guerillas. The Franciscans are Fr. Michał Tomaszek and Fr. Zbigniew Adam Strzałkowski were murdered on 9 August 1991.
Blessed Michał Tomaszek was born on 23 September 1960 and was a professed member of the Conventual Franciscans; he received the Franciscan habit on 4 October 1980 on the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi.
Tomaszek was baptized a month after his birth in Saint Michael's parish in his home town and was an altar boy at the time he received his First Communion in 1969 at the same time his father died. He graduated from high school in 1975 and continued his studies in a Franciscan seminary, professing his temporary vows in 1981. He commenced his novitiate after five years of study and studied theology from 1981 to 1987. He studied both philosophy and theology and defended his thesis on moral theology
He was ordained to the priesthood on 23 May 1987.
On 24 July 1989, he was dispatched to Peru and despite threats against him, he continued his missionary activities alongside fellow Franciscan Zbigniew Adam Strzałkowski. In 1991, he was abducted and murdered by the Shining Path Communist guerilla faction.
Blessed Zbigniew Adam Strzałkowski was born on 3 July 1958 and was a professed member of the Conventual Franciscans. He was baptized a week following his birth and made his First Communion in 1967.
He graduated from secondary schooling in 1978 and he joined the Franciscan order the following year. He studied both philosophy and theology while in the seminary and after this was ordained as a priest on 7 June 1986 by Henryk Gulbinowicz. He served as the assistant rector at the minor seminary in Legnica for two years.
He professed his solemn vows on 8 December 1984 prior to his ordination.
He commenced missionary work in Peru from November 1988. He tended to the ill who often referred to him as "our little doctor" since he helped the ill to get better through words of comfort or providing them with the Eucharist. It was during the course of his work in Peru that he met Michał Tomaszek. Both were abducted in 1991 and were murdered by a Communist guerilla group.
Both Polish Franciscans dedicated their work to the faithful of Peru in charitable and merciful acts that appealed to their Franciscan charism, taking as their models for their work both Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Maximilian Kolbe. In response to a drought in 1989, the two friars brought with them food from Caritas to cater to the immediate needs of the people. Yet the two also catechized the faithful and preached on various saints, in the process, revitalizing the faith of the Peruvian people.
Pope Francis approved the beatification in 2015 which occurred on 5 December 2015; Cardinal Angelo Amato presided over the mass.
The pope venerated the relics of the two Poles at a Franciscan convent on the occasion of his visit to Poland for World Youth Day 2016.
The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments approved the request of the Franciscans - on 26 February 2016 - that the liturgical feast for the two Poles be moved from 9 August to 7 June.
Let us pray.
Almighty God,
by whose grace and power your holy martyr, Blessed Michał and Blessed Zbigniew triumphed over suffering and was faithful unto death:
strengthen us with your grace,
that we may endure reproach and persecution and faithfully bear witness to the name of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
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