HOLY ARTIST

 

Another religious artist, not known in our country, was  ST. ALBERT ADAM CHMIELOWSKI who was  born in 1845, near Kraków as the eldest of four children in a wealthy family.

Then, Poland formally didn’t exist: The once-mighty Polish state was partitioned between Austria, Prussia and Russia. Yet the Polish people refused to accept this, and many rebelled against the oppressors. One such upheaval was the January Insurrection of 1863-1864, directed against the Russian Empire, in which the Poles fought bravely yet were brutally suppressed.

Not yet 18, Adam took part. During one battle, a Russian grenade killed Adam’s horse and badly damaged his leg, which was amputated. Adam, however, didn’t take pity on himself; he stoically taught himself to function with a wooden limb and offered up the dismemberment to God for the cause of Polish independence.

After the uprising, Adam decided to pursue a career in painting and was accepted at the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, where he studied with many famous Polish painters. Upon returning to Poland, Adam worked as a painter 1870-1885. In total, he produced 61 paintings. He quickly became one of the most feted Polish artists, living briefly in Warsaw and then in artsy, intellectual Krakow. Adam’s social circle consisted of the best-known Polish artists, actors and writers.

Yet Adam Chmielowski wasn’t happy with this glitzy life of celebrity.  He knew that he needed to grow closer to God. Adam briefly thought of becoming a Jesuit, but his enthusiasm fizzled after entering the novitiate. He kept asking God what he wanted of him.

Adam returned to Kraków and became a Secular Franciscan. In 1888, when he founded the Brothers of the Third Order of Saint Francis, Servants to the Poor, he took the name Albert. They worked primarily with the homeless, depending completely on alms while serving the needy regardless of age, religion, or politics. A community of Albertine sisters was established later. To finance the improvements, Brother Albert auctioned off his paintings to improve the material conditions. He asked the poor to work (making exceptions for the elderly and those with disabilities), teaching them practical skills, and lectured on the Catechism and the Gospels.

 Brother Albert worked to help as many poor persons as possible until his death in 1916, amidst World War I. During that bloody conflict, he sent Albertine Brothers and Sisters to the trenches to aid war invalids. After his death, thousands of Kracovians visited his tomb, convinced that he died a saint.

 Pope John Paul II beatified Albert in 1983, and canonized him six years later. His Liturgical Feast Day is June 17.

Reflecting on his own priestly vocation, Pope John Paul II wrote in 1996 that Brother Albert had played a role in its formation “because I found in him a real spiritual support and example in leaving behind the world of art, literature, and the theater, and in making the radical choice of a vocation to the priesthood” (Gift and Mystery: On the Fiftieth Anniversary of My Priestly Ordination). As a young priest, Karol Wojtyla repaid his debt of gratitude by writing “The Brother of Our God”, a play about Brother Albert’s life.

(Top painting- Leon Jan Wyczolkowski

            St. Margaret Mary  with Christ  by St. Adam

                        “Ecce Homo"  by St. Adam)