SHE WAS TEACHING HOW TO LOOK AT THE OTHER COAST OF LIFE
THE CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY
On 18 February 2017 in Trzebinia and on 19 February in Libiąż there was a funeral of the late Helena Kmieć, a volunteer murdered in Bolivia on 24 January 2017. The Holy Mass in the sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Trzebinia, in the intention of the tragically deceased missionary was presided over by bishop Jan Zając, kin of Helena.
– On 24 January an orphanage for children in Bolivia became the Golgotha of life of the late Helena, a volunteer of the Salvatorian Missionary Volunteering Salvator. At night, in a room covered with silence, among flowers which she had painted herself, God gave her quite a significant key, so that on a bright Resurrection day she could open the door of Heaven – the provincial of the Salvatorians Fr. Piotr Filas SDS began his homily, referring to a poem by Marek Skwarnicki. – Looking at the coffin in which you are resting, I see this famous photo which has spread nearly all over the world. And I would like to remember you as such: smiling, with the guitar, with the Salvatorian logo of the volunteering and motto: ‘Undertake the calling’ which you realized in one hundred percent – he emphasized.
The provincial of the Salvatorians thanked Helena that - as bishop Zając said about her – ‘was a spark which aroused a big fire in our hearts’. – On behalf of those who met You, who shared their testimonies about You, I thank you that you were brave, dynamic, steadfast, when you had to serve to God and people – he said. Fr. Filas thanked for peace and joy which Helen had sowed where she had appeared; that she had not kept her talents only for herself, which she had received from God; he thanked for her singing with which she had praised God and thanks to which she had been leading others to God.- Thank you that you wanted to be with others – said the provincial of the Salvatorians, and , referring to the calling from the first reading from the Leviticus: ‘be saints’, he noted that Helen had been such. – Personally I would like to thank you that you were teaching me a beautiful looking at the other coast of life – he added.
After the Holy Mass a prayer vigil at the coffin with the body of late Helena began. Among the others, a ten of the rosary was said – a particular prayer for the Missionary Volunteering Salvator – volunteers say ‘a ten of the rosary at ten o’clock’ in the intention of the volunteering and all missionaries every day. The prayer vigil ended with the Jasna Góra Appeal Prayer.
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„Niedziela” 09/2017