Bl. Angela Truszkowska

Zofia Kamila Truszkowska was born in 1825 in Kalisz, Poland, into a comfortable family. In 1854 she opened a shelter for orphaned children in Warsaw and joined the Franciscan Third Order. Her spiritual director was the Capuchin Honorat Koźmiński, later beatified.

In 1855 she dedicated herself to serving the poor, and this was the start of the Felician Sisters, named after St Felix of Cantalice. In 1857 she and nine companions took the habit, and she became Sister Mary Angela. A contemplative branch was later added.

From 1869 she lived in retirement, and from 1872 she suffered stomach cancer, offering her pain for the work. She died in Kraków in 1899. John Paul II beatified her in 1993.

Angela Truszkowska was beatified in 1993 by John Paul II.

Beatification allows public veneration, usually in a particular region or religious family. Canonization extends it to the whole Church.