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Catholic Conversations #193: Making a Saint: The Remarkable Life of Mother Theresa Dudzik · Catholic Spirit Radio

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Catholic Conversations on Catholic Spirit Radio. Hello and welcome, friends.
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I'm Stan Ketzig. You know, some of the best conversations happen when we simply
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sit down together, maybe with a cup of coffee or tea in hand and talk about what matters most.
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The joys, the questions, the everyday moments where we find our faith.
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That's the spirit of this show. Welcome to Catholic Conversations.
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This is your place to listen in, to reflect, and to feel connected.
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Whether you're commuting, working at home, are actually sitting with that cup
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of coffee just like I am right now.
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I'm glad that you've joined us. Each week we explore the beauty,
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the depth, and the lived experience of the Catholic faith.
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We'll chat with interesting guests. We'll dive into timeless teachings and discuss
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how our faith illuminates our modern lives. So get comfortable.
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Let's start a conversation that matters. This is Catholic Conversations on Catholic Spirit Radio.
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Today we're discussing a topic that has inspired a heartfelt campaign.
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My guests are two fascinating people.
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One of them is driving right now and isn't on the phone with us yet,
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but the other is a fascinating... I'm going to have so much fun today.
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I don't know what's going to go on. This is Sister Jean...
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Too risky. Too risky. Too risky.
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Now, we were just laughing. We were having so much fun. Before we came on,
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you said you are too risky.
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Yes, too risky. Well, I guarantee anybody listening right now,
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you're not going to risk an hour. You're going to have an hour of fun.
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Sister Jean, you are—I'm fascinated in what you're doing.
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We have, in the state of Illinois, Archbishop Fulton Sheen is going to be a saint.
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Now you are pushing the effort for another saint, a very special person from Illinois.
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I'm just going to turn it over to you because I was fascinated talking to you off air.
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Fascinated. And I want you to fascinate the folks listening right now.
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So tell us what you're doing.
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I'm the promoter for the cause of Mother Teresa Dujic.
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She predates our dear bishop. machine by quite a bit of time.
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She was born August 30th, 1860. Now, what was going on in our country in 1860?
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I haven't a clue. The Civil War. Oh, okay. Oh, boy, you're back to class.
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You better get that ruler out. It's time to get me one of those,
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sister. I'm telling you.
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Yeah, so the Civil War was going on at that time.
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But she was born in Poland in a little bitty, tiny, tiny village of Pocic.
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Her family, like most Poles, were Catholic.
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And so you know how small the village was because it didn't even have a Catholic church. It was so tiny.
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So you had to walk three kilometers to the nearby village of Kamyen Krajenski in order to go to Mass.
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Okay. And a kilometer is what, about a mile and a half? Yeah. Okay.
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So it was a bit of a walk. Oh, my gosh. so she grew up there.
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But actually, if you went to look on a map to see Poland's,
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You would see that Poland did not exist at the time. Oh, okay.
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It had been completely divided up and taken over by other countries.
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Oh, all right. Okay. So the whole eastern part of Poland was being ruled by Russia. Hmm.
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Does that sound familiar? It's a little on the scary side. It sounds a little
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familiar. We know about that with our Ukraine situation today.
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The eastern section towards the north was ruled by Prussia and Bismarck.
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And the southern section was ruled by the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. All right.
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Now, with her section being ruled by Prussia, Prussia came in,
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and we thought that Hitler first had this idea, but you could see it goes all the way back in time,
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that the definitely Germanic culture was far superior to the Slavs.
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That definitely Lutheranism was far superior to Catholicism.
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And of course, the German language, culture, music, philosophy,
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and everything else definitely ruled the day.
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And so no one was to speak Polish anymore. Everyone was to learn German.
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And in fact, we even have a copy of Mother Teresa's original birth certificate.
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And the poor priest had to write it in German. Oh, no.
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Because you can very clearly see on the birth certificate the word geboren, which means born.
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Oh, my. Listing her date of birth.
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And so we know that Mother Teresa, before she ever came to the United States
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or to Chicago, already knew two languages.
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So she was bilingual in German, fluent in German and in Polish.
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Now, what age would she have come to the United States? So she came in her 20s. Okay. Okay?
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So, life was rough over there. There was a lot of pressure to conform,
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as you absolutely can, you know, conceive. Yes.
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And, you know, you didn't have the free speech. You didn't have any of the things
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that you wished you could have.
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Meanwhile, members of the village and other villages around had already moved
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to the United States and were writing glowing letters about how wonderful it
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was here and how the streets were paved with gold. Oh, my. So...
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Her family finally got up the gumption and said, okay, we're moving.
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So 1881, they immigrated here. Okay.
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And doing your subtraction, you would know that she is 1860, 1881.
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Sister, you got me. I'm looking over my notes right now. I'm 21.
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She's 21 years old. Okay. So the family moves here.
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However, it's only been 10 years since the Great Chicago Fire.
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That had devastated the area.
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So Chicago's building at that time? Chicago is building.
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However, there is now a ruling by the mayor that nobody can build in timber or wood anymore.
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Everything has to be in stone or brick or concrete or whatever. Okay. Well...
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We are not known for inexpensive brick. No, no, not at all. No, we don't have brick.
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Our river does not have the silt for brick making.
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And so people who had lost everything in the fire and didn't have State Farm
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or Allstate or FEMA or anybody to rely on had nothing.
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Yeah, there was no. And there was no way they could afford brick.
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There was, yeah, there was. So.
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Oh, my. That is something. And so a lot of people are out on the streets. Yeah.
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Just eating out of the trash and out of the sewers. It was a very tough time. Absolutely.
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They're going downtown to where the markets are, you know, and just taking,
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you know, picking up from the rotten vegetables or scraps that are thrown out.
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They're looking for anything left over from the stockyards to try and use.
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So it wasn't gold streets back in those days. It was not gold streets.
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However, Mother Teresa comes in and she is in a different situation simply because back in Poland,
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when they had outlawed any higher education for the Poles, but had allowed vocational schools.
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Mother Teresa had become a seamstress and tailor and lace maker.
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So she had skills in embroidery.
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And this is way before the Sears and the Montgomery Ward and any of those stores or catalogs existed.
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So the only way to get clothing is to have them custom made.
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So she, her reputation soon spreads, and she collects a bunch of North Shore accounts.
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Mm-hmm. The wealthiest of wealthy down there at that time, I would think.
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And so she begins making clothing for them. Okay. And has numerous accounts.
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So her family settles into renting in brick buildings.
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They don't own, but they rent, but they're living a middle-class life because
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of her earning abilities.
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So she's come from Poland. She's in the United States. She's in the Chicagoland
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area. And now she's, what age at this point? You said 21.
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She's in her 20s. Came over at 21. And in her 20s. Starting to see life evolve.
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And she's got a skill. Okay. And she's got skills and she's doing well. Okay. She moved into St.
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Stanislaus Kuska, which was the largest parish in the world,
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Catholic parish in the world at the time. And that was here in Chicago?
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In Chicago. Oh, okay. And if you've ever driven the Kennedy Expressway from
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downtown out to O'Hare, it's the church you almost hit into as the expressway bends.
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Oh, okay. Well, that real big, yes. So, the real big church there.
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Okay. Everybody's seen it.
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And if you've been in Chicagoland and traveled I-94, I-90, which are combined at that point in time.
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And so, she's a member of that parish. Doing well. She joins the choir.
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She joins a sedality. You know, she likes to be involved.
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And she's having a problem, though, as she's going to deliver the goods to people.
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She passes by all these homeless on the streets and sees them.
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And her heart is breaking. What can she do? You know, she gives some coins to
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them, but it doesn't seem to be enough.
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And she actually writes in her own memoirs, in the Chronicle,
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I felt the misery and suffering of others.
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Oh, my. And felt that I could never expect heaven. Thank you.
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Or please Jesus if I didn't do something to help them.
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So she not only sees them or looks at them and thinks like we do when we watch
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the news, oh, isn't that too bad? Yeah. Oh, how sad.
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You know what I mean? But she connected with her hearts. She connects with her heart.
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Yeah. And feels she has to do something. Oh, my. Right.
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So she talks to the ladies in the society and says to them, would you help me?
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I'd like to do more for these poor people. We've got an extra bedroom in the house we're renting.
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My mom and dad are okay with it. We could take somebody in. Would you help? You know?
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And of course, we're dealing with elderly people who are the worst affected.
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And there's loads of elderly and loads of orphans at the time.
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And you think to yourself, well, why would there be so many needy, particularly elderly?
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Well, we're dealing in the era before there's safety measures and factories.
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And so people are working in the steel mills, which are on the south side of Chicago.
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They're working in the stockyards. There's no eye goggles. It's a hard life.
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And you do not have an eight-hour workday.
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You're working 12 hours. Well, tell me what happens as you get to the 12th hour
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and you're working with this huge press coming up and down and you don't move
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your hand fast enough. Yeah. Oh, my.
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Okay. And we are pre-penicillin.
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Oh, my. So you get blood poisoning, you're gone. Oh, my.
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So, so many of the young men, so many of the young women working in factories
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and mills also end up losing their jobs, leaving the children behind and the elderly. Wow.
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And I can just imagine her heart if she was looking at those people that were
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homeless. And now she sees these people that are hurt, these people that are
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working hard, these people that are just existing with very, very hard lives.
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Her heart must have just been breaking.
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Holy cow, sister. So what happens next?
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So some of the ladies in the sedality say, yes, we're going to help you out.
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Well, I'll tell you, it isn't long before the gossip machine gets a hold of this.
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You know, there's always those holy ones and watchers of everything going on.
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And they start to see her taking in. Oh, they're jealous. Men. Okay.
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Okay. Well, what do you think she's up to?
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And those other single young women. and they're taking men in there.
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What do you think there's really going on over there?
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And the words reached the pastor.
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At St. Stanislaus Kuska, Fr. Vincent Barzynski, who is also her spiritual director.
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And he grabs a hold of her and he says, you know, Josephine,
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that was her name at the time, her baptismal name.
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You got to do something about this. We cannot have this going on.
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There's rumors going and your name is being sullied along with those other young
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women. I know what you're doing, but we got to change things.
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He says, the only way you're going to be able to continue in this kind of thing
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is if you and those young women with you decide to become nuns. Wow.
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Because then you would have your part of the house separate and the people would
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be in another section and that would quell all the rumors.
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Wow. Well, Josephine was never thinking of starting up an order.
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She was happy just taking care of her elderly parents and doing the sewing and helping the elderly.
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So she prayed about it and said, oh, my goodness, let me ask the women at our
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next fidelity meeting and see what they're going to say.
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So she presents it to them.
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Whoa, they're nearly barreled over. They're not thinking of being nuns either.
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Yeah, I mean, that's something that you feel is a calling. And this is just,
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all of a sudden, hey, I got a suggestion. Why don't you be a nun?
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Yeah. That's crazy. How are they supposed to know how to be nuns? Yeah.
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Besides, you know, none of them know anything about that. Sure.
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And so they ask for a year of prayer to think about it.
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Okay. Mother Teresa says, okay, I'll tell Father Barshinski, you know.
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Well, the year rolls around. Mother Teresa's dad dies.
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Now they have even more room. and her mom is helping with the cooking for all
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these people that they're bringing in. And she's supporting everyone with her sowing.
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Yes, with her sowing. So that's what's bringing in the revenue.
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That's how these people are living.
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That's the driving force. Okay. Okay, so she goes to the meeting and she says, Okay, the year is up.
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What do you think? What are you talking about?
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Well, you asked for a year of prayer. What do you mean, what am I talking about? What do you think?
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Should we form a religious order? Are you going to help me? What are you saying here?
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What does she say? You've got me on the edge of my seat.
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Well, she says, I'm going to go forward with it. And a couple of the others
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say, okay, we'll try out with you. Okay.
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But not everybody decides. Oh, wow.
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And her best friend, Anna, says to her, I would love to join you,
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but I have my parents and my deaf-mute sister here.
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To care for, so I can't join at this time. But I'll support you with whatever
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finances I have, and when I get the opportunity, I'll join you. Okay?
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So the big day comes.
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It's December 8th, 1894.
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They have a big mass at the parish, and Father announces that they are founding
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the Franciscan Sisters of Blessed Kunagunda.
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Wow. And you say, who, what? It sounds Hawaiian to me.
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Well, Kunagunda is actually a Hungarian name. Okay.
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And Pope John Paul named her a saint, but used her Latin name,
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Kinga. So that's Saint Kinga.
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Oh, wow. She's a Hungarian princess that married into Polish royalty and became
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a saint back in the Middle Ages.
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Wow. Time to take a break. Thanks for tuning in to Catholic Spirit Radio.
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You're listening to Catholic Conversations on Catholic Spirit Radio.
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Welcome back to Catholic Conversations. I'm Stan Ketsick. Today, Sister Therese Dujic.
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No, not Dujic.
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Dujic is our—we're trying to make her a saint, right?
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Am I saying, is it Therese? Every time I start thinking of Mother Therese,
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Sister Therese, I get all confused.
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And right now we have an incredible—Sister Jean is here, too.
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I went out and got a ruler while we were on break.
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If I get out of line, give me one of those, okay, sister?
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Oh, my goodness. We want to keep the conversation on point, okay?
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I'm having so much fun with you. But anyway, tell everybody why we're here today.
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We're here to share with you the story of a venerable Teresa Dujic.
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She's on that first stage towards sainthood.
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It's venerable, then blessed, and then finally a saint.
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Okay. And so at blessed, you need a miracle in order to move you to the next
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stage, beatification or being blessed.
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Gotcha. Now, we're going to get to that miracle at the bottom of the hour.
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But right now, we were just talking about the fact that she traveled from Poland. She came to Chicago.
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She used her skills. She's supporting some people. Her priest offhandedly said,
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hey, we need you to become a bunch of nuns.
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And that's where we're at right now. Now, how do you just become a nun without,
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I mean, do you have to go to schooling?
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Do they just call you a nun back in those days?
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No, no, no. You're right. You go through training.
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And so the whole thing is they're founding the order. Okay. But they need some training.
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And once they have the training and learn about the three vows of poverty,
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chastity, and obedience, there's a whole period of time at which they consider
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this, and then they make their vows to do this.
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And that's when they officially become sisters.
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Well, what does her life look like at this point then? So you say you have to
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have a vow of poverty. She was making money.
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Does she stop with her sowing at this point? Does she move into it?
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Take us to the next level of her, you know, the progression of her life at this point.
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What the poverty is going to mean for them is instead of having their own personal
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money that they can just decide willy-nilly how they're going to spend,
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you know, they will pool all their money into a common fund. Okay.
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Okay. And then that will be going for their bare necessities and then for all
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these other charitable things that they're doing.
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Okay. Right now it's caring for the elderly.
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So she's continuing to sew, she's continuing to make clothing,
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they're generating revenue, and they're trying to help the poor.
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Yes, and they're beginning to pool all their funds.
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Okay. And not only their funds, but they're also going to pool their resources.
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And at that time, people...
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Had spare clothing. Like all of us have closets of things, right?
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We got our winter clothes. We got our summer clothes. Sure.
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They've moved into Chicago. You have to have multiple wardrobes,
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you know, to deal with the weather.
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Especially back then. Your main fabrics are cotton and wool.
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You know, nylon and polyester, and none of that's been invented yet.
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So those are the main fabrics. There's also silk, but who can afford that?
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There's also linen, but that too is a little pricey.
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So mainly you're living with cotton and wool. Okay.
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And so as people are joining with her, these others that have committed to it
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are supposed to be bringing in all of their wardrobes.
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And if they used to have, let's say, three winter coats just to change off,
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you know, for variety, now they just have the one that they really,
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really need as poverty, and the other two could be used by the elderly.
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So that's what you're looking at. Her first goodwill. It's like goodwill in
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a way, you know. I mean, she's getting everyone to donate. Yes. Okay.
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So, the first conflict comes with this whole business of poverty.
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Okay. Okay. A couple of them who had joined had some really nice wool.
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There's wool and there's like cashmere.
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You know what we're talking about there? Expensive, beautiful, luxurious.
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Yeah, and soft and not scratchy, itchy stuff.
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And so they have these blankets and things that they put away in these steamer
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trunks because that's how they traveled by ship from Poland over here with the steamer trunks.
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So they kept their trunks and they have all these supplies in there.
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They're not sharing with anybody. Oh, well.
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One who did give everything in to Mother Teresa catches sight of what these
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other two are up to and comes to tell Mother Teresa, you're not going to believe it, Mother Teresa.
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They've got steamer trunks and they got all these blankets and things in them.
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I thought we're all supposed to be sharing.
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And Mother Teresa says, yes, we sure are.
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Tell me, dear, would you be willing to go back and tell them you saw what they
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got and you agree with me that they should be turning this in.
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And? She did not want to do that.
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Uh-oh. She didn't want to be the bad guy.
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So she comes up with another way to handle it. She runs off to the rectory, knocks on the door.
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Father Barshinski, Father Barshinski, Mother Trace is supposed to be the superior,
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but she's making me do all the dirty work.
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And she won't tell those guys to turn in everything like they're supposed to.
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Oh, my. Tattletale. Yeah, tattletale. And Father Barszynski is like,
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I've got enough here with all these priests in this rectory and all these parishioners.
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The last thing I need are all these women to be dealing with all their craziness.
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So he pulls Mother Teresa and gives her a serious reprimand and says,
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get your act together and go and do your job.
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Well, Mother Teresa had always been very, very shy.
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And so getting her ears split over that really hurt.
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Because she was a sensitive soul. Sure. Oh, yeah.
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And so that just became part of what she felt she had to do.
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So that was something that... That was something that she had to step up to.
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Can I ask you real quick? But it was not her favorite thing.
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You know, I want to ask you, we went from her just being Sister Teresa to Mother
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Teresa. How did she become the mother?
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How was she named the head of everything? Well, we're so used to calling her
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mother. She's actually sister's sister.
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She was never elected the head of the whole order and given the title mother.
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But by 1940s, we sisters thought, you know...
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She really was our head. Okay. She was the one who founded all of this.
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And so we gave her the honorary title mother.
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And we keep using that because we're so used to it. Okay. So father didn't call her mother.
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No, he called her sister. I was a little confused. Yeah, sorry. That's okay.
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Can I get that ruler that you're holding? I think I've got to give you a swat now. Oh, no.
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Oh, no. I feel like I'm back at St. Ann's school when I was a kid.
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Oh, no. Oh, no. I was mischievous.
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But so far, this is very fascinating. It's almost sounding like it'd make a
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great play or a movie or something. This is phenomenal.
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And your quest is to make this wonderful woman a saint.
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Where do we go from the story there? Okay, she's now—her heart's been broken
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by the things she's seen.
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Her life has changed because she wants to spread love to people.
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She wants them to not go through the hard times.
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She wants them to know that someone loves them, that someone's there to help
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them. How does she go from—.
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Everything you're talking about to now, we want her to become a saint.
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I mean, how does the story progress to where people go, wow,
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she's really something?
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Yes. And it is the Holy Spirit, really, that makes saints.
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It was the Holy Spirit that she listened to as she went through these troubles,
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as she took on, you know, the troubles and sorrows.
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At one point, they were all arguing about who had the heaviest load in the house.
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And they said, sure isn't that Sister Teresa.
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She sits there and the heaviest thing she lifts is a needle.
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Give me a break. And here we are, you know, lifting all these tubs of hot water
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and doing laundry with a scrub board, you know, and a bar of soap.
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And, you know, lifting all this heavy cotton soaking and boiling water and our
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hands are red and blistered.
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And she's so far there sitting in a chair and sewing.
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And so to put an end to that, she redesigned the schedule.
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And took on the hardest work for herself and started working overtime.
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So she would do the worst of the laundry, the really dirty stuff.
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Now, we are talking, this is
27:57
pre-Depends, Attends, any of those other products that are out there now.
28:03
This is all dealing with cotton diapers, and you're having to scrub them.
28:09
Oh, my gosh. Okay, it's just pieces of cloth that is being used at this point.
28:14
And you got soiled bed linens.
28:17
Okay. And it's not like you just popped it in the washing machine like these
28:20
days. No. And there's no washing machine.
28:22
It's these tubs. Yeah. You know? And you're wringing it out and then dumping
28:27
out the water in this heavy tub and adding in the rinse and then a second rinse
28:33
and then taking this heavy wet stuff outside to dry it on a line with old wooden clothespins.
28:40
On top of that. You know? And then bringing it back in.
28:43
Sprinkling it and ironing it with those old irons that you warmed up in the fireplace.
28:49
Nothing is using anything, you know, Bernina steamers or any of the other kind
28:55
of conveniences we have nowadays.
28:57
So if you're just tuning in, we are talking to Sister Jean about the canonization, what do we call it?
29:05
The cause of Mother Teresa Dujic.
29:08
We're following the progression of her life. She goes from Poland. She comes to Chicago.
29:13
She uses her skill to make money. The next thing you know, she's got people
29:17
living in her home. She's helping them because she's seen the homeless.
29:21
Her heart's broken at the poverty and just the problems that she witnesses every day.
29:28
Her priest calls for her to become a nun with friends of hers. She's a nun.
29:34
Now she's the head of the nuns. Do they call it the Franciscan order at this point?
29:40
Yes, they're Franciscan sisters. They're named the Franciscan sisters.
29:44
Okay, so where does her life go from here? Now she's taking on the worst possible
29:49
tasks that she can take on.
29:52
Yeah, and her mom, who's doing the cooking in that, is very upset.
29:57
You see, when she was born, she
29:59
was baptized just three days later because she was so frail and sickly.
30:03
Okay. So she has never really been a hale and hearty person.
30:07
Okay, so she's doing more.
30:09
Way over the top. Way more over the top of what she should. And her mom is going,
30:13
look, slow down. And her mom is really afraid. Okay. Really afraid.
30:17
And she's just meeting with resistance on every side. Is she in good health
30:21
at this point or is she sickly or?
30:23
Her health is holding right now, you know, but it's not going to last real long.
30:30
Oh, it's not. Okay. No. Okay. So, you know, they're taking care of the elderly,
30:35
and there's just more and more knocking on the door of the rectory.
30:38
And Father Barzinski keeps saying, go over there.
30:42
Mother Teresa, Sister Teresa will take care of you, and the nuns over there
30:46
will take care of you. And there's not enough space.
30:49
Oh, my. So they end up finding area up in Avondale, which is unincorporated.
30:56
Okay. That neighborhood.
30:58
They build St. Joseph Home.
31:01
Okay. Named after her baptismal patron. Remember, she was Josephine. Okay.
31:07
So, and she believes St. Joseph's going to help her.
31:10
So, they build a home over there, and now they have room for the elderly. Hmm.
31:16
And our earliest photographs...
31:19
Show lines of mismatched beds, iron beds, single beds with the springs. Oh, my gosh.
31:27
But you ought to see these double pillows, goose down filled.
31:33
She's gathered the feathers and stuff, all with perfect seams,
31:38
everything pressed. Because she sewed them.
31:40
Yeah, everything is to be beautiful as best they can for the elderly.
31:46
Wow. And, of course, her first thing is they have to have a chapel there with
31:51
the Eucharist, and they have to have a place to pray.
31:55
So she just feels that God and St. Joseph are just going to help her.
32:01
And they do? And make it work. Wow.
32:03
It's gotten harder, however, being out in Avondale, because Milwaukee Avenue
32:10
ends, and it's just kind of a plank road.
32:13
It's not paved all the way. Sure. Yeah, it's not like it is today.
32:16
So it's just boards, and then it ends in mud. Okay.
32:19
And you know how like three seasons of the year we have mud. Yes, yes, yeah.
32:24
And so bringing up wagons with food, with medical supplies, with anything is really problematic.
32:32
And so they're having troubles because the area really isn't developed yet. Gotcha, gotcha.
32:38
And so they turn back to the parish asking for donations.
32:42
She goes there, and she has to beg.
32:45
And she is just totally ashamed to beg because she never thought in her whole
32:52
life that she'd have to ask somebody for something.
32:56
She had always managed for herself.
32:59
She had her skills. Right. She earned money. She knew how to survive.
33:05
You don't go begging for coins.
33:05
Oh, gosh. And so that became a really, really rough thing for her.
33:09
Okay. And again, adding to her virtue, because she's willing to step up to these
33:14
humiliating things, standing with a tin cup.
33:18
In order to help. Are people looking at her at this point and thinking she's a saint?
33:24
And I know that's the cause we're after, but is she set apart from the others?
33:31
Do people just look at her and go, there is something about her that's different
33:35
than the rest of us. She's got a bigger heart.
33:37
She's doing more. Because I'm trying to get to the point where how do we get
33:41
to the point where she is now, you know, someone who's being pushed to be a
33:45
saint? That comes a little bit later when her health fails.
33:49
Her health fails. She goes to St. Elizabeth Hospital over in Chicago,
33:53
and they find out she has abdominal cancer.
33:57
Oh, and what age is she at this point?
33:59
So she would be in her early 50s. Oh, my.
34:04
Late 40s, early 50s. So she was working hard. She has a couple of surgeries and stuff.
34:09
So they decide to give her something easier to do.
34:13
And gardening.
34:16
I often wondered how is that easier to do than laundry and sewing.
34:22
But, you know. Goodness. So she's out doing the gardening, and then they ask
34:27
her if she would help with training new recruits.
34:30
And it's actually the new recruits who see it. I see.
34:35
Who see it. Who see the difference. I got you.
34:38
Those are the fresh eyes. It's not the people that are jealous and that have
34:42
worked alongside her. It's the people that are just coming in.
34:45
They go, wow, there's something about her. There's something about her. Okay.
34:49
Well, if you are just tuning in, you are listening to Catholic Conversations. I'm Stan Ketsick.
34:55
Sister Jean is telling us all about Mother Teresa Dujic. When we come back,
35:00
we're going to talk to Father Don.
35:01
Thank you for tuning in today. This is Catholic Conversations on the Catholic
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36:06
This is Catholic Conversations on the Catholic Spirit Radio Network.
36:10
I'm Stan Ketsick. Today we are talking about the sainthood possibilities of a fascinating nun.
36:17
I've got Sister Jean with me. Sister Jean, who's that fascinating nun that we're
36:21
talking about today that's putting a smile on our faces?
36:24
That is Venerable Teresa Dujic. Dujic. I love that name. That's a Polish name. I'm Polish.
36:30
I called her. I didn't get that pronunciation right. I don't know what...
36:34
Thank God you corrected me and took a swat at me with your ruler.
36:38
I'm glad you did. And our guest, Father Don, is Polish, too.
36:41
Yes, Father Don Roszkowski.
36:44
Before the break, Father Don, thank you. By the way, thank you for joining us
36:47
on Catholic Conversations today.
36:49
Czankuja. Czankuja. Oh, no, I know that's Polish. Part so.
36:54
You guys are losing me now. Before the break, Father Don, we were talking about
36:57
the history of Mother Teresa, and we were getting to the miracle part.
37:01
And the fascinating thing about this conversation today on Catholic Conversations
37:06
is that the miracle has something to do with you. Would you mind explaining it?
37:13
Well, I absolutely would love to. First of all, hello, Sister Jean.
37:16
Sorry I couldn't be there.
37:19
My grandparents lived about two or three blocks away from where Mother Zucic
37:24
was working and doing mission work. Wow.
37:29
And so they learned about her and I don't know for sure, but I'm suspect that
37:35
they've met her at some time or another, at least in passing.
37:40
And so my grandfather and grandmother spoke to my dad about her.
37:46
So he knew about her from a very long time ago.
37:49
And he decided that when my mom started getting sick and he was getting,
37:55
oh, he had a whole list of issues of, you know, anywhere from heart difficulties
38:00
and diabetes and a whole list of things.
38:04
One of my favorite things that dad used to say was, Dad, where do you hurt?
38:08
Or don't you hurt? And he says, oh, my eyebrow is the only thing in my body that doesn't hurt.
38:13
Oh, he had a good sense of humor. He did. And I was very blessed with some great
38:18
parents. There's no doubt about it. Sounds like it.
38:20
So, Dad, my mom started getting sick. He meditated a lot about marriage and
38:27
particularly talking about promising her father,
38:32
his father-in-law, my grandfather, great-grandfather, that he would take care
38:36
of her to the day she died.
38:38
And he saw an ad in the local Catholic paper here down in Peoria,
38:43
Illinois, the Catholic Post.
38:45
And they had a little, small little advertisement for her.
38:50
And he said, oh, I remember this story. And he started telling me and then he
38:55
says, I'm going to start praying to her every day so that I can be strong enough to take care of her.
39:00
And he did that for, oh, about a good six, seven years.
39:03
So he's praying to Mother Teresa then? That's correct.
39:07
And he so he he had a picture up on his little on his little on his little table
39:14
and he went and offered the rosary with their intention and,
39:18
So it's interesting because then dad got diagnosed with lots of infections and
39:24
struggles in many different ways. And the doctors didn't think he would live too much longer. Oh, my.
39:30
And the day that the day came that we went to the doctor's office,
39:36
they couldn't find the infection that was taking. It was just gone. Wow.
39:42
So after praying to Mother Teresa, the infection disappears.
39:46
Yeah. And so he still had a lot of issues going with him, but he had such passion
39:53
a little for taking care of mom.
39:56
And it's one thing about us Polish people. We tend to be hard workers and very strong, loving people.
40:04
And the Catholicism is in the DNA. You know, it's just the whole thing.
40:09
Part of who we are. Yes. And so eventually March 9th, my mom died from Alzheimer's
40:19
and all kinds of health issues.
40:22
And dad was with her holding her hand to the very end.
40:26
And part of the situation is 18 days later, my dad died. Oh, my.
40:32
And so. So his prayer was answered to be able to take care of your mom.
40:36
And he died. He was at peace because he knew mom was well taken care of.
40:42
Wow. He did a lot of the caretaking.
40:45
It was just a beautiful way to die.
40:48
No, and you know, with Sister Jean here, who is your, do you have as much fun
40:51
with her as I have had this afternoon talking to her?
40:55
It's been a little while, Sister, but we got to get together to break bread. That's for sure.
41:00
Yes. And how about that reenactment that you did? God have mercy on my soul. That was beautiful.
41:05
What reenactment are you talking about? We did a reenactment for the movie,
41:10
They Might Be Saints, that Michael O'Neill, the Miracle Hunter,
41:14
put together for EWTN. Okay.
41:17
And Don played himself, the son. Oh, okay. And we had an actor play his dad.
41:23
But I'll tell you, Don was so good.
41:26
You would never guess that that was an actor. He was reacting to that fella
41:32
as if it really were his dad living, standing, breathing right there.
41:38
Oh, my gosh. That is phenomenal to hear. Can you tell us about this movie?
41:41
By the way, people can get this movie. Is it through your website that you were telling me?
41:45
No, you're going to go down to the EWTN catalog on the Internet.
41:51
And you can get They Might Be Saints.
41:55
Okay, so on EWTN. Mother Mary Teresa Dujic. Okay. And it's the They Might Be Saints series. Okay.
42:02
Mother Mary Teresa Ducic. It's on EWTN. Okay.
42:07
And so, Father Don, are you going to continue to be a priest or are you going to be an actor now?
42:11
Well, first of all, I didn't even pay sister for those wonderful words.
42:18
Well, she's quite a lady. Maybe we'll
42:21
have to bring her some pierogies or something. Oh, now you're talking.
42:26
Oh, that is phenomenal. I want to thank you for relaying the story of the miracle.
42:31
Now, have people recognized this as a miracle? or what is the next stop to taking
42:39
this actual event and presenting it to someone to have it be investigated?
42:46
The case needs to be taken by Rome, and then they'll send a delegate from Rome
42:52
to Chicago and investigate all these, anything she may have written,
42:57
speeches she may have given, or any stories like mine would be investigated,
43:02
and not just by one person.
43:04
And it'd be done by some ecclesial, like cardinals and bishops and then doctors
43:09
and lawyers and psychiatrists and even an atheist. Okay.
43:14
Just to make sure, you know, somebody's not smudging and...
43:18
Saying things that are, so it's to be proven that these are truly things that
43:22
were brought by your intercession.
43:25
Sure, but you lived it, and you know it's a miracle because it sounds like it wasn't.
43:29
You know, the Vatican hasn't called me yet, so we'll figure that out.
43:33
Well, Sister Jean's here, so she'll be on it. I can just tell this.
43:40
But I want to thank you. She's not taller than me anyway. Oh, wait a minute.
43:46
Are there any other miracles that either of you know about that are going on
43:49
right now that are being investigated or something through Mother Teresa?
43:57
That you could talk about. We know there's an entire criteria,
44:01
a multiple-point criteria.
44:04
And here in the United States, it's very difficult to get a miracle through
44:10
as a healing simply because there can't have been a previous medical intervention
44:18
to which the change could be attributed.
44:22
Oh, I see. Okay. See, and with everybody going to doctors, Yeah,
44:27
that's almost impossible to not have any kind of medical intervention.
44:31
Yeah, and there's a lot of medical intervention, and that would be the same
44:35
thing in the case with John.
44:37
Yes. You know, and so...
44:41
I am just finishing up putting together our Heritage Hall, our History Museum of the Order.
44:46
And on one of the walls, we're going to have the cause of Mother Teresa.
44:51
And I have reports. And, of course, Don, your dad's story will be one of them.
44:57
But he is one of 16 other documented, you know.
45:04
So people are praying to her. You know, changes in people's health that occurred
45:10
because of their praying to Mother Teresa.
45:13
Now, they're probably not going to meet that Vatican criteria.
45:18
We did try with the Jerry Lisetsky case, which is how that article got in the paper in Peoria.
45:25
But so far, we have not had luck simply because, you know, the miracle has to
45:33
be instantaneous. It has to be complete.
45:36
There has to be no previous, you know, medical thing that it could be attributed to, you know.
45:44
And the person has to have only prayed to that particular person.
45:50
It's not like I pray to the Blessed Mother and I pray to St.
45:54
Joseph and I pray to Mother Jesus.
45:56
Well, how do you know which one is the one that actually caused the miracle?
46:03
So you've got those various things.
46:06
But we keep praying, we keep plugging along,
46:10
and who knows if someone out in our audience today might have exactly the case
46:17
that they turn to in prayer, and it becomes the miracle that takes it over the top.
46:24
And the blessed thing about it, Don, is that the beatifications now take place in the diocese. Diases.
46:31
So that would take place here in...
46:35
Chicago, right? Oh, my. Because she's part of the Archdiocese.
46:41
Mother Teresa, Fulton Sheen, and who else?
46:45
Augustus Tolton, I know, the first black priest in the United States.
46:51
Wow. And his cause is going forward.
46:53
You might know about that a little bit, Don, do you?
46:57
Not a whole lot, but I do know as far as where his status is.
47:00
But I do know that down in, oh, what's the name of it?
47:05
Anyway, but a number of people from here, from Peoria, take a pilgrimage to his grave.
47:12
Quincy, Illinois, that's it. Quincy. Yes. Wow. Yeah, and so it's exciting, too.
47:18
But living in Peoria, we're very ecstatic because we have Bishop Shane's body here in Peoria.
47:23
Yes, and that is so wonderful. Amazing.
47:27
We're in the hot bed of Satan here in Illinois. This is beautiful.
47:29
And then with the Pope coming from Illinois, hey, woo!
47:36
There's only two things in my life I never thought would happen,
47:39
is that the Cubs would win the World Series and that we'd get a Pope from Chicago.
47:46
Both were miracles. There is no doubt about that, Father Don.
47:49
Thank you so much for joining us today.
47:51
My pleasure. We're going to let you go. All right. That is Father Don Roskowski.
47:56
He's got the miracle that Sister's talking about. Sister Jean right here is
48:00
pushing to make Mother Teresa Dujic the next saint.
48:04
We're in the process of this. So, you know, before we brought Father Don on,
48:08
we're talking about her history. We were talking about,
48:11
where she came from, what she did, where she's going. Are there places people
48:16
can go and find out all about her life?
48:19
Do you have websites or other books you want to tell us about, sister?
48:23
Some way that they can investigate her. And what can the listener do right now
48:27
if they want to help you out with your cause to make her a saint?
48:31
If you'd like to find out about her, there's quite a bit of material that's out there.
48:37
If you go to our sister's website and just do a search for Chicago Franciscans,
48:44
you'll find our website.
48:47
And on the website, you'll find an interview that we did with EWTN with Michael O'Neill.
48:53
You'll find that movie we've been talking about with the reenactment of the
48:58
miracle, you know, with Father Don in his starring role. So you can't miss that.
49:06
You'll also find we're going to have this interview up there, too.
49:10
So that'll be on the website. And then there's other books that are out there
49:16
that you might be interested in.
49:18
Michael O'Neill, The Miracle Hunter, if you watch EWTN, has a book called They
49:24
Might Be Saints, On the Path to Sainthood in America.
49:28
And Mother Teresa's life is in Chapter 11.
49:32
But also in this book, he's listed all of these people from the United States
49:38
who are in the pathway there.
49:40
So Bishop Sheen is in the book.
49:43
Also, Augustus Tolton is in the book.
49:47
And do you remember Father Patrick Payton?
49:50
Some of you old-timers might remember, you know, the priest who favored the
49:55
rosary devotion, the family that prays together, stays together, those famous words.
50:01
So you'll find a lot of them featured in that book. So you could see that.
50:07
Also, we have from the sisters, her chronicle, Mother Teresa's own handwritten memoirs.
50:15
Now, as a book with that beautiful quotation about feeling that,
50:20
you know, feeling the misery and suffering of others and all the rest of the
50:25
stories of her sufferings and trials.
50:27
And then some of the testimony of that younger generation who could see holiness
50:34
peeking out I love it behind those little glasses Well, how did you see it?
50:40
How did you become the person that got to the forefront of this? Well,
50:46
I always had an interest in computers, so I learned how to do PowerPoint.
50:53
And the Mother Superior came to me one day, Sister Diane Marie Collins,
50:58
and said to me, there's a Polish association of priests in the United States
51:04
who are going to be meeting in Chicago, and they are looking for anybody of
51:09
Polish roots who might be on the way to sainthood.
51:12
Could you put together in PowerPoint a little bit of the story of her life and
51:18
do a presentation for them?
51:21
Oh, sure, I could do that. And that was the beginning.
51:25
And it's just snowballed ever since. Yes, it's taken off.
51:30
Well, gosh, I just feel so bad because we're at the end of our hour.
51:34
I don't even feel like I got going. It was crazy here.
51:38
Once again, can you give us a wrap-up of what we're trying to accomplish with this conversation?
51:45
Because nobody can say it better than you, sister.
51:47
Yes. What we're trying to do is to get you interested in her story,
51:51
to take a look at her life, and for you yourself to see the misery and suffering of others.
52:00
If all we do is take a look at saints' lives or saints in the making's lives
52:05
and say, oh, isn't that wonderful?
52:09
Oh, I'm so inspired, but knew to do nothing about it. What good is that?
52:15
What do you see in your neighborhood that needs someone's having a good heart?
52:22
Are there some seniors there who needed help with snow?
52:26
Or leaf raking, or maybe someone to bring a hot meal where you've made too much.
52:32
It's beautiful. What are we doing with others?
52:37
Have we cleaned off anybody's car from snow this winter?
52:41
Have we looked and seen and felt the misery of suffering and did something about it?
52:49
Because then Mother Teresa's life and charism would still be alive.
52:56
And it'd be alive in you.
52:59
So besides your prayers for the success of her sainthood,
53:03
all that means nothing if we don't pick up where she left off and bring her
53:09
charism, her love, that spirit to a new generation.
53:15
Today. Sister Jean Turisky, you are phenomenal.
53:19
Lamont is very lucky to have you. Oh, my gosh. You're out in Lamont,
53:23
Illinois, and we were talking about a place where seniors are at.
53:27
Yes, we're still in elder care from Mother Teresa.
53:30
Okay. And tell us a little bit about that, too. So, we have Franciscan Village
53:34
out there with all levels of care.
53:37
So, we have independent living, assisted living, memory care, rehab, skilled care.
53:47
Inpatient and outpatient rehab.
53:50
And the name of that place? Franciscan Village. Franciscan Village,
53:54
okay. Then in Homer Glen, which is nearby, we have Marian Village.
53:58
How do we know if we're getting closer to getting her to St. Hood?
54:01
Look at our website. It'll lead you also to, she has her own website for the
54:07
cause. So you can go there.
54:10
It connects off of the Chicago Franciscan website.
54:13
So you'll keep up to date with that. We also publish a newsletter called Crossroads
54:19
that you could become a subscriber to.
54:22
And you'll always see in there whatever's the latest and greatest on what's
54:27
happening with the cause.
54:29
Also on our grounds, and to be completed by the end of this April,
54:35
so it's coming up pretty quick, right?
54:36
After Easter will be Heritage Hall, which has an entire wall listing all those
54:43
16 wonders I talked about, including the story of John Roshkoski.
54:48
So come and take a look at all of that. See the history.
54:52
Go to our chapel, and her body is in our chapel above ground in a sarcophagus,
54:59
which means it's covered with granite on either side.
55:02
And you can go there and open up your cell phone to where you've got your gallery
55:07
of pictures, put it face down and pray for all those whose pictures Mother Teresa definitely can see.
55:15
And ask for her prayers for them. Wow. So come and visit us.
55:20
One last thing. Can you just give us a prayer before we leave?
55:24
I know we're going a little long here, but you got a lot of wind in you,
55:27
and I think that wind will help anybody driving down the road. Yes.
55:32
Dear Lord, we ask your inspiration for all of us.
55:38
We saw how you've inspired Mother Teresa to make a difference in her time.
55:43
From 1860 to 1918, she made a difference in Poland and also here in the United States, in Chicago.
55:55
We ask you to inspire all of us in our own small ways to make a difference in this time,
56:03
in this place, to bring peace to this world, to bring a compassionate look on those in need,
56:11
to have a heart for others, and to take from our own resources,
56:17
knowing that they're not really ours.
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You gave them to us to share with others who are in need.
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Make us people of your own heart, people like her heart.
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We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Amen.
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Thank you, Sister Jean. You made my day. God bless everyone who is listening.
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podcast, which you can find on catholicspiritradio.com.
56:50
Thank you again.
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We'll see you next week. You've been listening to Catholic Conversations.
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