St. Rafael Kalinowski


St. Raphael Kalinowski OCD (1835-1907) is the spiritual father of the Order of Discalced Carmelites in Poland.  He renewed the Order after the period of wars and upheavals.  He was renowned as an outstanding confessor, spiritual director, and superior, who brought others to Christ more by the example of his faithful and heroic love of neighbor than by word.

 

This monument, unveiled in 2007, on the 100th anniversary of the death of this illustrious Discalced Carmelite saint is called The Golgotha of the East, which recalls the victims of the Katyń Forest massacre (1940), inflicted on Polish officers and members of the Polish intelligence by Communist Russia, as well as the tragic fate of thousands of Polish people who gave their lives for God and Country.

 

Saint Raphael, distinguished son of the Polish Carmel, is their patron. While devoting his life to the service of his country, he himself suffered the pains of exile and the torture of the labor camps. Further, as priest and confessor, he managed to transform suffering and the cross into faith and love. This became an instrument of reconciliation between man and God in the Sacrament of Confession and among nations in conflict with each other. At the feet of St. Raphael stands the white eagle, the symbol emblazoned on the Polish coat-of-arms, along with a small stone urn containing soil brought here from the Katyń Forest.

 

St. Raphael, who had been not only a military engineer but also a teacher and educator prior to his religious life, is the patron of the Polish School located at this monastery.


1A. Monastery
1B. St. John Paul II Hall
2A. Figure of Our Lady of Ludźmierz
2B. Arcades

2C. Jubilee Cross
3. Chapel of Our Lady of Mercy
4. Office
5. Gift Shop
6. Restroom
7. Banquet Hall
8. Grotto of Mother of God
9. Grotto of the Lord’s Tomb
(Station XIV)
and Calvary (Station XII)
10. “Scala Sancta” (Holy Stairway)
11. Highlander’s Chapel
12. Picnic Areas


I-XIV  Stations of the Cross


A. St. Raphael Kalinowski Statue
B. St. Maximilian Kolbe Statue
C. St. John Paul II Statue
D. Statue of St. Therese with Her Father
E. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Statue
F. St. Bernadette Statue
G. Our Lady of Lourdes Statue
H. Sacred Heart Statue