Janina Woynarowska

The professional life of Janina Woynarowska is intertwined with her charitable and spiritual commitment. In 1961, she joined the Secular Institute of Christ the Redeemer of Man (Instytut Świecki Chrystusa Odkupiciela Człowieka) in Krakow, where she pronounced her first temporary vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. On June 5, 1966, she committed herself definitively through perpetual vows received by the Archbishop of Krakow, Msgr. Karol Wojtyła (the future Pope Saint John Paul II). A highly qualified nurse, she became a head nurse and departmental instructor in Chrzanów. Anxious to perfect her training to better serve, she undertook higher education and in 1979 obtained a master's degree in psychology and Christian philosophy at the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Krakow. Her social action was immense: she served as a social worker, a delegate for child protection (kurator społeczny), and an advisor to an adoption center to find foster families for abandoned children; she co-founded the Home for Single Mothers (Dom Samotnej Matki) in Chrzanów in collaboration with Father Zbigniew Mońko; she organized holiday stays and spiritual retreats for the sick, the elderly, and the isolated at the Marian sanctuary of Płoki; she collaborated actively with Blessed Hanna Chrzanowska (a Polish nurse beatified in 2018), whom she met during the Pastoral Synod of the Archdiocese of Krakow (1972-1979). Janina also expressed her faith through writing. She contributed to several medical and nursing journals (Pielęgniarka i Położna, Służba Zdrowia, Zdrowie) and composed numerous poems and spiritual writings (such as Zarys teologii pracy or Refleksje), which were only published after her death.

On Saturday, November 24, 1979, while traveling by car between Bochnia and Chrzanów in the company of Dr. Emilia Szurek-Lusińska, their vehicle skidded on a snowy road near Krakow (Pasternik) and struck a tree. Janina died instantly at the age of 56. Her funeral was held on November 29, 1979, in the presence of a huge crowd. The funeral mass was presided over by Bishop Jan Pietraszko, auxiliary bishop of Krakow (himself later declared venerable), assisted by Father Witold Kacz, founder of the Secular Institute of Christ the Redeemer. She was buried in the family tomb at the parish cemetery in Chrzanów. Her reputation for holiness, already well established during her lifetime among the sick and the poor of Chrzanów, spread rapidly after her death.

The cause for beatification was introduced at the initiative of the Secular Institute of Christ the Redeemer of Man. On April 26, 1999, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints granted the nihil obstat. On June 18, 1999, Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, Archbishop of Krakow, officially opened the diocesan inquiry. The diocesan inquiry was closed on April 24, 2002. The decree of validity for the diocesan inquiry was signed in Rome on February 8, 2008. The Positio on her heroic virtues was published in 2017. On May 21, 2022, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, thereby conferring upon her the title of Venerable. For her beatification to be pronounced, the official recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession by the Holy See is now required.

The spirituality of Janina Woynarowska is based on secular consecration: living the evangelical counsels fully in the heart of the world, without a distinctive religious habit, by making her daily work a continuous prayer. For her, the nursing profession was not a simple job, but a priesthood of charity. She said that to do good, one must first be good, and that the weight of duty was measured by the proportion of the lack of love. Her legacy remains alive in Chrzanów and throughout Poland. A street in Chrzanów now bears her name in tribute to her exceptional dedication. Her spiritual and poetic writings continue to inspire healthcare professionals and laypeople engaged in charitable work.