1. Biography

2. References

Maria Roszak (sister Cecylia) (March 25, 1908 - November 16, 2018) - was a Polish nun, Dominican sister, Righteous Among the Nations and supercentenarian.

Biography

Sister Cecylia was born on March 25, 1908, as Maria Roszak in the town of Kiełczewo, German Empire, presently located in Kościan County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland.^[1] Roszak graduated from the State Trade and Industrial School of Female in Poznań.^[1] At the age of 21, she joined the convent of Dominican cloisters in Kraków, {{ill|Church of Mary of Snow in Kraków|pl|Kościół Matki Boskiej Śnieżnej w Krakowie}}.^[1] On February 7, 1931, she made her first religious vows taking the name of Cecylia and she took her final vows in 1934.^[4] In 1938, she came to Vilnius in order to establish a new monastery with a group of Dominicans in {{ill|Kolonia Wileńska|pl|Kolonia Wileńska}}.^[4] The sisters worked on a five-hectare farm, away from the city. They lived in a wooden house with a small chapel.^[1]

During the occupation in Vilnius, together with other nuns, she helped many refugees. The nuns also sheltered Jewish refugees from the Vilna Ghetto; namely fifteen members of the youth scouting group Hashomer Hatzair, including Abba Kovner, Izrael Chaim Wilner, Haika Grossman, Elye Boraks, Chuma Godot and Izrael Nagel.^[2] The nun's monastery became a base of the local Jewish resistance, and it was the place the Jewish resistance organization Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye was formed in. In 1943, the Germans arrested the mother superior and closed the monastery, but the nuns, through deprived of their main base, continued their activities. In 1944, Sister Cecylia became a prioress.^[4] That year she also took two children whose parents were murdered during the war.^[3] After the war, due to the borders' change and the loss of Vilnius by Poland, she returned to Kraków.^[4]

She had many functions in the Dominican convent in Krakow. She was a porter, organist and cantor - she taught and initiated choral singing. She was also a prioress of the monastery several times.^[4] She learned foreign languages and took care of the monastery correspondence.^[1] In recognition of her merits, she was awarded with the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" in 2009. She was 101 at the time. On Mar. 25, 2018, she celebrated her 110th birthday.^[4] She was called "the oldest living Cracovian (inhabitant of the city of Kraków)".^[5]

Maria Roszak died in Kraków on November 16, 2018.^[6]

References

Citations

• Bakic (surname)
• Baki-Dou
• Baki Dō
• Baki Ehalisinin Seher Baginda Gezintisi (1900)
• Bakighaye
• Bakikhanov Tofig Ahmed-agha oglu
• Baki language
• Bakildzhar
• Bakili
• Bakili Baku
• Bakilid
• Bakili PFK
• Baking Bad
• Baking Chocolate
• Baking industry
• Baking mix
• Baking Mix
• Baking mould
• Baking peel
• Baking Pot
• Baking powder biscuit
• Baking Powder Creek
• Baking soda submarine
• Baking With Julia
• Bakin (Indonesia)