Franciszka Siedliska

Maria Franciszka Siedliska, CSFN (12 November 1842 – 21 November 1902), known in religion as Maria of Jesus the Good Shepherd, was a Polish Catholic nun who founded the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in 1875.

In childhood Siedliska was indifferent to her faith but after a local priest had converted her she became aware of a call to the religious life which her parents opposed. However the death of her father in 1870 enabled her to pursue her vocation. In 1873 she decided to found a religious congregation that received the blessing of Pope Pius IX before being established during Advent in 1875. Siedliska expanded her congregation from Rome to her native Poland and elsewhere, including Great Britain, France and the USA where she visited during her extensive travels.

The beatification process for the late nun opened in 1941 under Pope Pius XII. She was declared a Servant of God, then confirmed as having led a life of heroic virtue. She was named Venerable on 29 April 1980 and in 1989 Pope John Paul II beatified her.

Life Franciszka Siedliska was born on 12 November 1842, the eldest child of Szlachta members, Adolf Adam Siedliski and Cecylia Marianna Morawska, of Jewish descent, in Roszkowa Wola, Poland.

She received a private education from governesses in a household indifferent to faith, until she met the zealous Franciscan Capuchin priest, Leander Lendzian, who prepared her for her First Communion on 1 May 1855 when she resolved to offer herself to God. The formal introduction to the cause came under Pope Pius XII on 5 February 1941 and she received the title of Servant of God as a result. Cardinal Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani oversaw the apostolic process from 6 June 1941 to 6 March 1946 with additional testimonies coming again from places she had visited in her lifetime. The Congregation for Rites validated the previous processes on 2 March 1952 and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and their consultants met and approved her cause on 21 June 1979; the C.C.S. alone approved it later on 22 February 1980. Pope John Paul II confirmed her life of heroic virtue and named her Venerable on 29 April 1980.

The miracle needed for beatification was investigated in Warsaw in a diocesan process overseen by Cardinal Józef Glemp from 21 February to 9 June 1986. The C.C.S. validated this process in Rome on 21 November 1986 before a medical board approved it on 18 November 1987. Theologians also assented to this on 15 April 1988 as did the C.C.S. on 5 July 1988 before John Paul II gave the final approval needed for it on 1 September 1988. John Paul II beatified Siedliska on 23 April 1989.