Saints
Raffaele di San Giuseppe (Kalinowski)
Biography
Joseph Kalinowski was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 1835,
He was a military engineer and captain of General Staff. He worked on building railways and fortresses. He participated, albeit reluctantly, in the Polish-Lithuanian uprising against the Russians. Because of this, he was condemned to forced labour in Siberia, where he brought with him the Gospel, the «Imitation of Christ» and a crucifix, comforting those whom he met. Finally set free, he entered the Carmel of Graz at the age of forty-two. Having become Br Raphael of Saint Joseph, he went to Poland, to Czerna, where he spent his days exercising the ministry of Confession for hours upon hours. He would have liked to stay there, but his Order called him to found new communities in the country.
The last one to be founded was in Wadowice, where he died in 1907.
The beatification ceremony was held on June 22, 1983. The solemn ceremony of canonization on November 17, 1991.
Procedure
1. The canonical norms concerning the procedure to be followed in the Causes of Saints are stated in the Apostolic Constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister promulgated by John Paul II on 25 January 1983 (AAS LXXV, 1983, 349-355).
2. To initiate a Cause it is necessary that at least five years pass after the death of the candidate. This is to allow for greater balance and objectivity in the evaluation of the case and to allow the emotions of the moment to decant. There must be a clear conviction among people about his/her sanctity (fama sanctitas) and about the efficacy of his/her intercession with the Lord (fama signorum).
Iconography
