Saint Who?
Saints Who Worked with Their Hands
Blessed Hanna Chrzanowska
Laywoman († 1973) Feast: April 29
Hanna was born in Warsaw into a wealthy family known for its support of culture, science, and charity. Her aunt, for example, had funded a children’s hospital, and Hanna was admitted to that same hospital as a child due to her many health problems. As she watched the nurses caring for their patients, Hanna became convinced that nursing was her vocation in life.
Hanna was an excellent student, and her family tried to direct her toward a more lucrative career. But she persevered and completed her training as a nurse. Her excellence in her field led her to become the editor of a Polish nursing magazine and gave her opportunities to study nursing methodology in other countries. The trauma of life in Poland under the Nazi occupation during World War II deepened her prayer life, while she worked to organize food banks, soup kitchens, and refugee services to prevent starvation.
Hanna was not shy about her Catholic faith, so when the communists took control of Poland after the war, she was forced into retirement. But in that “retirement,” she quietly organized and trained volunteers to provide at-home nursing care for the elderly, the disabled, and others in need all over Kraków. As she was dying of cancer, one of her volunteers and greatest admirers, Archbishop Karol Wojtyła, personally cared for her.
God our Father, may we never outgrow our love
of serving you.
