August Czartoryski

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Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II
Feast8 April

August Franciszek Maria Anna Józef Kajetan Czartoryski, SDB, (2 August 1858 – 8 April 1893) was a Polish of the Salesian.[1] He was born as in Paris during his family's exile and came from a notable noble house; his constant frail health saw much of his childhood being shuttled to various health spas. Raphael Kalinowski OCD tutored him; the prince turned to the priesthood instead of pursuing the aristocratic life.[2][3]

But his path into the Salesians was not set in stone for Don Bosco believed his frail health would become an impediment to his ecclesial studies. But Bosco allowed him to make his novitiate after Pope Leo XIII intervened.[2] Czartoyski was ordained a priest in 1892 and settled as a pastor in Savona where he died from tuberculosis. He was beatified on 25 April 2004.[3]

Life

His parents c. 1860s.

August Franciszek Maria Anna Józef Kajetan Czartoryski was born in

María Amparo Muñoz. His noble household was one of the most powerful families in Poland but the Russians later exiled them to France around 1830 where the clan set themselves up at the Hôtel Lambert in Paris.[1]

To his parents and other relatives he was known as "Gucio"; he was often frail having contracted tuberculosis from his mother in 1864 and he inherited his mother's title upon her death from the disease in 1864 and he held this until 1876 when it was made a dukedom and until his death as the first duke. Much of his life was spent being shuttled to different health spas in the mountains and along beaches that had "good air" for the afflicted and he was moved to places such as Switzerland and Spain before being sent to doctors on the Italian peninsula and later in Egypt.[1] From 1868 until 1875 he studied in Paris and in Kraków though some of that period from 1870 saw him homeschooled due to his poor health. He had been forced – due to his status – to attend court functions and other social gatherings though had no interest in those things. In 1878 he wrote to his father to tell him that he grew wearisome from all the social engagements he had to attend and expressed his dissatisfaction with them as mere vanities.[2][3] Marriage proposals were offered to him though he never gave an outright refusal out of respect even though he had been firm on never accepting such offers. He made his First Communion in 1871 at Sieniawa.

In 1872 his father remarried to

altar server when the priest celebrated Mass at the Hôtel Lambert for his relations.[1][3]

His father desired that his son pursue a diplomatic career but the prince felt a different calling that was aimed towards the priesthood; Pope Leo XIII encouraged him in his vocation to join the Salesians when the two met in Rome. He had met with Bosco in 1887 asking to be admitted though Bosco was reluctant since he thought the prince's frail health would be an impediment to his ecclesial studies (he left to meet Bosco with his father's assent).[2] But Leo XIII had intervened and convinced Bosco to allow him admittance. Once he announced his intentions to his father the latter disapproved but said he could not change the will of God and therefore his reservations were to be kept silent. He joined their ranks in Turin with the blessing of an ailing Bosco on 17 June 1887 and in his novitiate was under the care of Father Giulio Barberis; he received the cassock from Bosco himself on 24 November 1887 at the Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians, Turin,[4] who whispered words of encouragement to him.[1][2] But his father continued to attempt to convince him to leave and reclaim his noble status but his son kept on refusing the offer. There was even one occasion when his father tried to get Cardinal Lucido Maria Parocchi to dismiss his son from the Salesians though the prince sent a letter to both expressing his commitment to God and the seriousness of the vows he had made.[3]

The prince made his vows as a Salesian at Bosco's grave on 2 October 1888 after Bosco had died. He began his theological and philosophical studies though his health began to decline while he became close friends with Andrea Beltrami in

San Remo and his most of relations – who discouraged his calling – refused to attend the ordination. His stepmother and stepbrother Witold Kazimierz attended the celebration.[3] He celebrated his first Mass on 3 April. But he was reunited with his father and other relatives at Mentone on 3 May 1892 where his father reconciled with his son's decision and had expressed his happiness. He was assigned to the Salesian community and school in Alassio, but on account of his illness was largely confined to his room overlooking the boys' playground.[1][2][5]

He died from tuberculosis during the evening on 8 April 1893 in Savona. His remains were interred in his house's mausoleum in Sieniawa after being transported to Poland though were later buried at a Salesian church in Przemyśl.[1] One of his descendants is Jan Franciszek Czartoryski.[3]

Beatification

Czartoryski's tomb in Przemyśl

The beatification process commenced first in an informative process that opened in the

venerable after Pope John Paul II confirmed that Czartoryski had lived a life of heroic virtue
.

His beatification depended on the investigation and approval of a miraculous healing attributed to his intercession; one such case was investigated and sent to the Congregation who validated this process on 22 June 2001. The medical experts approved this healing on 23 January 2003 as did the consulting theologians on 2 May 2003 and the Congregation on 7 October 2003. John Paul II approved this miracle on 20 December 2003 and beatified Czartoyski on 25 April 2004 in

Saint Peter's Square. The postulator
for this cause is Pierluigi Cameroni SDB.

Lineage

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Blessed Augustus Czartoryski". Saints SQPN. 9 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Augusto Czartoryski (1858-1893)". Holy See. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Blessed August Czartoryski". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  4. ^ http://en.donbosco-torino.org/basilica/ Archived 2019-05-17 at the Wayback Machine]
  5. ^ Salesian Proper Offices [Rome, 2011], p. 268
  6. ^ a b Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum (in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January 1953. p. 28.

External links

Spanish nobility
Preceded by
María Amparo Muñoz
 Count of Vista Alegre
1864–1876 		Countship elevated
into dukedom
Countship elevated
into dukedom 		Duke of Vista Alegre
1876 – 8 April 1893 		Succeeded by
Fernando Sánchez de Toca
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Augusto Czartoryski.
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