JOY IN A SHORT LIFE

 

One can tell by the many photos of this new martyr, that she radiated joy.  “The greatest gift is that I know God and I can’t keep it to myself, I have to spread it! If I can help someone, make them smile, make them happier, teach them something, then I want to do it.”

One can ask, why such a giving person, who gave her life to others in such a joyful way, can be taken so young? But perhaps, like many saints, she will do more good  now then when on this earth.

Soon to be blessed,  HELENA AGNIESZKA KMIEC was born on February 9th 1991 in Kracow. She grew up in Libiąż. In 1998, she began her education at the primary school run by the Catholic Educators Association in Libiąż. She attended the middle school and secondary school there, but having completed the first year of secondary school, she left for Great Britain winning a two-year scholarship at Leweston School in Sherborne.

 After graduating in 2009, in October she began her studies at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology of the Silesian University of Technology, with classes conducted in English. Having received the MSc degree in 2014, she started work as an airline stewardess. 

She loved music and began attending the solo singing class of Joanna Wojnowska at the 1st and 2nd degree State Music School in Gliwice. During the four years of musical education, she performed on stage on numerous occasions, such as concerts and shows, the most important of which was her diploma recital. Singing was always present in her life, and she was a permanent member of the Campus Ministry Choir in Gliwice.

Apart from singing and music, she led an active life: hiking in the mountains and cycling. But her real goal was to help others. She worked with children at a Caritas day room and was involved in the activities of the Catholic Academic Association in Gliwice. 

 In 2012, she joined the Salvator Missionary Volunteering group, associated with the Salvatorian Society. As a member of the group, she was sent for two-week trips to Galgahévíz, Hungary, and to Timisoara, Romania, where she ran day camps for children at Salvatorian parishes.

Before being sent on one of these missions, Helena wrote: “I received the grace of God, … the gift freely given to give to others, and I have to share this gift! All the skills I have, the abilities I acquire, the talents I develop, are not meant to serve me, but so that I can use them to help others.”

In 2013, she went on a two-month mission to Zambia, where she worked with  street children, teaching them to read and write, teaching English and mathematics, and helping them in everyday life at the Salvation Home in the capital city of Lusaka, and the Kulanga Bana Farm in Chamulimba, located around 70km away. 

 On January 8th 2017, she started her service at the missionary outpost led by Servant Sisters of Dębica in Cochabamba, central Bolivia. On January 24th, the day care center for children, where Helena stayed with another volunteer, Anita Szuwald, was robbed. During the incident, the attacker stabbed Helena. She died despite efforts to save her.  She was 26 years old.

In March 2018, a Bolivian court sentenced her killer. Romualdo Mamio dos Santos, to 30 years in prison. 

The President of the Republic of Poland  on February 7, 2017, posthumously awarded the Gold Cross of Merit for her achievements in charitable and social activities and commitment to people in need of help. 

 The  Mass  was presided over by Cardinal  Stanislaw Dziwisz. The funeral ceremony was of a state nature. Helena Kmieć was buried in the cemetery at the parish church of St. Saint Barbara in Libiąż.

 

The beatification process of Helena Kmieć will begin on May 10, 2024 in the Chapel of the Archbishops' Palace of Krakow and from now on she will be entitled to the title of Servant of God. In May 2017, the Society of the Divine Savior established the Helena Kmieć Foundation, whose aim is, among other things, to promote Helena and help children and young people in missionary countries.