Blessed Bronislava

Bronislava was born into a devout Catholic family of Polish nobility about  the year 1200. Around 1219, Bronislava entered the Norbertine cloister at Zwierzyniec, Krakow, which had been founded by her grandfather. Adjusting to a life of obedience and sacrifice, away from family and luxury, and learning to accept all the different temperaments of her new Sisters, she grew deeply in her knowledge of the Cross of Christ. After her profession in 1223, Christ Crucified appeared to her and said, “Bronislava, as my Cross has been your cross, so my glory will be your glory.” The wisdom that came from her close union with God made her a much sought-after adviser, even for the most illustrious personages, while still devoting herself to the Norbertine novices under her care.

In 1241, Tartar invaders destroyed the monastery and abruptly brought the quiet cloister life of Zwierzyniec to an end. As they sought to escape, but became trapped within the monastery’s subterranean passages, Bronislava reassured the Sisters, saying, “Do not fear anything: the Cross will save us.” She then knocked on the wall with her crucifix, at which a corridor opened before them and they all escaped into a nearby forest. From there, some of the Sisters joined another surviving convent, while Bronislava and a few others built huts on the ruins of their former home, the place in which they had vowed for life to serve God and the Church. Since the enclosure was suppressed, they ministered to the poor, sick, and homeless of the surrounding countryside, who were also victims of the ravaging Tartars. Reconstruction was slow, and Bronislava never saw the new convent. She died in 1259, two years after the death of her Dominican cousin and spiritual director, St. Hyacinth, whom, in a vision, she had seen in Heaven with the Virgin Mary. Both of them had been devoted to the holy Mother of God and to her Rosary in its earliest form. Blessed Bronislava is the patron saint of Krakow and is always pictured with the Cross, the center of her sacrificial life.

(Saint drawings courtesy of Saint Norbert Abbey, De Pere, Wisconsin.)