Leonia Maria Nastał

Leonia Nastał (born Maria Nastał; 8 November 190310 January 1940) was a Polish religious sister from the , a mystic, religious writer, Venerable of the Catholic Church, and advocate of the idea of mystical spiritual infancy. She entered the Congregation of the Sisters Handmaids of the Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculate in Stara Wieś in 1925 at the age of 22. In the 1930s, she claimed to have mystical revelations of Jesus Christ, during which she was shown a way of life based on humility and unlimited trust in God. In her final years, afflicted by illness, she spent time receiving treatment in Szczawnica. She died in January 1940 in Stara Wieś, regarded for her holiness.

Early life

Youth Maria Nastał was born in Stara Wieś, a village near the town of Brzozów in the in the Outer Subcarpathia. Her parents, Franciszek Nastał (born 1879) and Katarzyna née Jopów, were smallholding peasants. Church records indicate that Maria's father was an unbalanced man prone to drinking and quarreling. Therefore, we will not be surprised by the remarks made in the church records that Franciszek Nastał was an unbalanced man prone to quarrels, fights, and drunkenness. Serious reservations are also expressed there regarding his behavior. Perhaps these negative traits were somewhat balanced by his resourcefulness in life, entrepreneurship, and diligence, and over time, they also underwent serious moderation . He ruled the family with an iron fist and demanded absolute obedience. Her mother, on the other hand, was balanced, cheerful, and very devout; Maria Nastał had an older sister, Stefania, and a younger brother, Stanisław. Two other siblings died in childhood. Due to the poverty prevailing in Galicia, her father emigrated to America for work for 18 years in the early 20th century. In Maria's hometown, there are still Jesuit monasteries and convents of the Handmaids of the Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculate. Maria attended the village primary school from 1910 to 1916.

The outbreak of World War I worsened the family's already difficult financial situation and led to a break in contact with her father. Maria Nastał's mother, Katarzyna, seeing her younger daughter's abilities, did not want her to interrupt her education and sent her for private English lessons in Brzozów.

During her youth, the Jesuit priests leading the parish had a significant influence on her, especially Father Kutyba, who was her confessor and taught her about sacrificial love for Jesus Christ and striving for perfection. The conviction of her religious vocation appeared very early, at the age of only three. At the age of 18, she secretly burned the name of Jesus on her chest with a hot nail, which became infected. Her father Franciszek, who returned from America in 1921, vehemently opposed her desire to enter the convent, but due to his daughter's act with the nail, he stopped trying to change her decision, although he did not reconcile with it.

Religious life Finally, Franciszek Nastał announced to his daughter that he did not want to see her in his house, and after 8 years of efforts, Maria entered the , a religious order founded by Father Edmund Bojanowski, on 31 December 1925. She first underwent a 3-month postulant; she attended Holy Masses, participated in spiritual exercises, and prayed together with the sisters. On 18 April 1926, the ceremony of investiture took place; Maria Nastał received the name Leonia and henceforth wore a habit and veil. Then Leonia Nastał began a 2-year novitiate, under the guidance of Sister Zofia Szmyd. She was well-liked by other novices. She knew how to play the pump organ and sometimes replaced the organist.

In July 1927, after completing her first canonical year of novitiate, she went to near Lviv for a mission, where she was to become more acquainted with the works of the Congregation and the duties of her vocation, and also to discern whether she would be capable of receiving religious vows. Her immediate family, except for her father, attended the ceremony. However, she did not get the visa from the American consulate, so she did not leave. On 30 November 1932, she externally passed the maturity exam at the X Male State Humanistic Gymnasium in Lviv. In September 1934, Father Kazimierz Schmelzer became her spiritual director. With his permission, she began to write down her spiritual experiences in September 1935. After being diagnosed with infiltrations and tuberculosis lesions in her lungs, she went for treatment to Szczawnica on 29 October 1937. While undergoing treatment, Sister Leonia devoted herself primarily to literary work, but also served as a sacristan in the convent chapel, helped the sisters with daily tasks, and corresponded with her superior. Her health condition continued to worsen, and the disease attacked her digestive tract. In December 1939, sensing her impending death, Sister Leonia, with the consent of the Mother Superior, moved from Szczawnica to Stara Wieś. In mid-December, at the direction of the Mother Superior General, she began writing her autobiography, which she completed on 2 January 1940.

She died around 4:30 pm on 10 January 1940, in her hometown. In 1979, her remains were exhumed and placed in the crypt of the congregation's motherhouse in Stara Wieś. After the conclusion of the cognitional process on 15 September 1980, the documents were sent to the Holy See on 31 October 1980. Henceforth, she holds the title of the Venerable.

Spirituality While in Poznań, Leonia Nastał experienced mystical encounters in which Jesus Christ allegedly revealed to her the path to holiness based on humility and unlimited trust in God. Initially, Leonia Nastał drew inspiration from St. Thérèse of Lisieux and her spiritual childhood. However, later the main idea of her mysticism, as described in the book Uwierzyłam miłości, became what is known as spiritual infancy. It was characterized by humility, awareness of one's own weakness and inability to act without God's help, sincerity, simplicity, gentleness, sweetness, and innocence. In one of her letters, she wrote that, in her opinion, spiritual infancy is the shortest way to heaven. She believed that submitting to God's will as a spiritual infant was more valuable than voluntary martyrdom. She consulted everything in her inner life that the voice of Jesus commanded her with her confessor.

Leonia Nastał reportedly experienced periods of spiritual "dryness" and ecstasies. She would sometimes burst into tears uncontrollably. She voluntarily undertook ascetic practices: she fasted several times a week, used disciplines, slept on wooden planks, and whipped herself. She did this to compensate God for her own imperfections and to obtain grace for others. She considered prayer, which she defined as the soul's being with God, to be the most effective means of sanctification. In her youth, she mainly prayed using the rosary. Every day, she did examination of conscience. She made a private vow to maintain chastity even before entering the convent.

Leonia Nastał exerted a significant influence on the sisters of the Congregation. According to the testimony of Mother Eleonora Jankiewicz, her presence and behavior contributed to raising their level of religious life.

Among the saints, she particularly revered the Mother of God and Saint Joseph, the two patrons of the Congregation. She was also inspired by St. John of the Cross and Piotr Semenenko. The motto of her life was I Believed in Eternal Love. Her favorite book was The Story of a Soul by St. Thérèse. In a letter to her spiritual director, Father Kazimierz Schmelzer, she wrote: The Lord Jesus will heal Rev. Spiritual Father; he promised me this, and I thanked Him in advance'', but Father Schmelzer did not recover.

Literary works Leonia Nastał wrote poems, plays, speeches, stage works, and essays; they were used for educational purposes as well as in various church ceremonies and the educational activities of the Sisters of the Congregation of the Sisters Handmaids of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculate. She wrote on commission, most often for the sisters or individuals involved in educational work. Her literary work was a source of religious knowledge, addressing issues of moral education as well. In her works, she taught love for one's neighbor, kindness, respect for the elderly and disabled, as well as patriotism and the search for God in nature and in other people.

The writings of Leonia Nastał can be divided into three groups: various educational works in terms of genre, letters, and notes concerning her inner life. Her literary legacy consists of 1,620 pages of manuscript.