of the Merciful Master
(Alvina Kozielska)
February 6, 1938 – July 11, 2006
Sacred Heart Province
DesPlains, Illinois
....constant and continuous prayer ... suffering and sacrifice joined to the sufferings of Christ secure divine graces for us and bring God’s blessings for the Congregation. (Letter to Mother Lauretta, May 16, 1900)
Sister Julitta was the only child born to Alexander and Eugenia Kozielski on February 6, 1938, in Dnierpo Petrovsk, Poland. On March 3, 1938, she was taken to the Parish Church and baptized Alvina Mary.
Sister Julitta spend most of her childhood surrounded by the fears and anxieties that most Europeans faced during World War II. In her autobiography she recalls the fear that enveloped her as she looked into the pitch-black sky, studded with millions of stars, as she was carried to the cellar during air-raids. Often her family spent the night in dark cellars sleeping on crates.
In 1943, when Sister was only five years old the German army occupied the city. She and her family along with over a hundred people were taken by freight train to Sigmarigen, Germany. It was here in a work camp that she spent most of her childhood often seeing her mother only on Sundays, because they were able to attend Mass and did not have to work. She was eight years old when the French army invaded Germany and, once again, she witnessed some of the horrors of war. From 1945 to 1951 her family was moved to various camps the French organized for displaced persons.
These difficult years never dampened her spirit, but made her faith and trust in God grow deeper. She learned to find beauty in the simple things of life and filled her with a desire to create it when and wherever she could. She loved nature, and would often lose herself in picking wildflowers and feeding the animals. “As gold is tried in fire” so to Sister Julitta, in spite of being moved from camp to camp and school to school, was able to be positive and master four languages – German, Russian, Ukrainian and French. She was bright, inquisitive and excelled in her studies. Each challenge she faced helped her to develop the spiritual, intellectual, physical and moral aspects of her life.
In 1951 her family emigrated to the United States. She arrived in New York on the warship “General Miur” September 21. Her mother enrolled her in the public school for a short time. Once again it was an unstable situation and they had to move several times. They found a small home and Sister was able to attend and graduate from St. Fidelis School in June 1953.
She enrolled at Holy Family Academy. It was here that she found a place that she felt “at home.” As usual, she excelled in her studies and graduated with honors. Just five months before she graduated, she faced another challenge when cancer claimed her mother’s life. She graduated in June 1957 and two weeks later, left her aunt and cousins, her only remaining family and entered Nazareth. She became a naturalized citizen in Apri1 1958. She was invested July 16, 1958 and pronounced her first vows July 16, 1960.
It seems as though she spent most of her youth moving from place to place. The Lord asked her to do the same in religious life. After spending six months at DeLourdes College she was asked to go to St. Camillus to teach. In June she returned to the college for a year. She then went to St. Emily for a year and graduated from DeLourdes College. Sister was chosen to study Theology at Regina Mundi in Rome. During the three years she spent in Rome, she had the opportunity to return to Germany, a country she learned to love, to teach religion to the American children at the army base. At the end of her studies, she pronounced her perpetual vows on July 16, 1966, taking the mystery Merciful Master.
Upon her return to the United States she was assigned to teach at St. Ann and after six months she went to Immaculate Heart of Mary. Three years later she was transferred again to the Provincialate to become the Director of Aspirants. After a year, the aspirants were sent to Holy Trinity Convent so that they could attend Holy Family Academy. Two years later, the Provincial Administration asked her to begin studies in occupational therapy so that she would be ready to work with the sisters when the construction of the retirement home would be complete. That meant she would once again move to St. John the Baptist in Harvey to attend Thornton Community College. She completed her course of study in 1974 and moved back to the Provincialate where she would begin her new ministry in occupational therapy at Nazarethville. She stated in her autobiography – “I am not very old yet, but after all this moving around, I think I deserve to retire for a while. I wonder how long I will stay at my new assignment; I hope it will be at least a few years. I don’t enjoy feeling uprooted, but that is how I was all my life so far.”
God really did answer her prayer for she ministered to the sisters and the residents at Nazarethville for 32 years. Her dedicated, joyful spirit and artistic talents enriched their lives and they were surrounded by beauty that she helped create. For those many years, she would gently guide their tired, worn out hands to complete projects that won recognition at the annual Golden Arts Fair. The fair was held at the Museum of Science and Industry. It was not unusual for the projects to win “Best of Show” or First Place Ribbons. In 1991, Catholic Charities, sponsors of the fair, awarded Sister Julitta a plaque in recognition for the sixteen years of service for setting up the craft exhibits for the various participating nursing homes.
Sister Julitta loved to decorate Nazarethville, for every holiday and season. The patio garden was a virtual wonderland of color. She loved nature and easily found God in all of nature. That is probably the reason she cared for every flower and animal no matter whether it crawled, flew or walked. If she worked in the patio garden or in our home in East Troy, Wisconsin she found pleasure in taking care of God’s world and adding her own personal touch.
Sister was a woman of prayer, deep faith, generous, honest and hard working. She had a gentle way of letting you know exactly how she felt or where she stood on an issue. She was gentle and firm with the sisters and knew how to draw out the best in them. She loved her sisters and the community , never refusing to do whatever was asked of her.
Sister Julitta loved to travel. She believed that vacation was a time to relax and re- energize her body, soul and spirit in order to serve God and the sisters with greater enthusiasm. She loved the element of surprise in daily life. Halloween was one of the holidays that gave her great joy and showed her creative talents. Each year she would show up at Nazarethville and also at the Provincialate, dressed in a very unique costume that she designed. No matter how unique, you could be sure that it would never surface again.
On July 8, Sister was all prepared to leave for her vacation to East Troy with two Sisters. She had cut the grass, cleaned the lake, and taken care of the flowers on Saturday and everything was ready for the sisters. This time she was going to simply be and rest. When the sisters arrived on Sunday afternoon, the table and the home was beautifully decorated and the dinner was exquisitely prepared. They relaxed and enjoyed the outdoors and each other’s company with laughter and stories. On Tuesday morning sister had planned to prepare breakfast for them. However, it seems that for some reason known to God alone, he called sister home from the place she loved to be, and in the way she hoped her life would end ... as she lived ... quietly, caring for others, close to nature and in an element of surprise.
Sister Julitta’s life was forged in trials and suffering, lived in faith, trust and love, ending in complete surrender and peace. Truly the words of Mother Foundress to Mother Lauretta quoted at the beginning of the necrology remind us that Sister Julitta’s life was one of continuous prayer, suffering and sacrifice joined to the sufferings of Christ and secured God’s blessings on us and our Congregation.
May she know eternal happiness and rest in the arms of her Merciful Master who found her to be a faithful servant in all circumstances of her life.
Digitized by S. Brendan O'Brien, CSFN
Instructor
School of Arts & Sciences
History Department
Holy Family University
9801 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19114
215-637-7700 x3279
srbrendan@holyfamily.edu
http://web3.holyfamily.edu/srbrendan
Last updated: September 2006