Album of the Deceased Marian Fathers and Brothers

In 1901, Father STANISLAUS OKNIŃSKI (Ok-nin'ski), a religious for 65 years, died at the age of 84. In 1862 he was elected vicar general. After the suppres- sion of religious orders in 1864, he served as rector of the church in Stawiski, where he is buried. In 2016, Father GEORGE PREDKO , a member of the Portuguese Vicariate, died at the Bragança Hospital, where he had been admitted for surgery. He was 81, a religious for 63 years and a priest for 56. He is buried in Balsamão. A PrIl 5 On April 5, 1818, Father GASPAR KALISZEWSKI (Kali-shef-ski), a “Father of the Order,” died at the age of 72 at the monastery in Miroslavas. A reli- gious for 48 years, he was highly praised for his “very strict observance of the Rule and Constitutions” and called a “lover of poverty and obedience.” He is buried in Miroslavas. In 2018, Archimandrite GEORGE BRIANCHANINOV (alias: Branch), a Russian by birth, passed away in the St. Joseph’s Home of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Northcote, Australia, at the age of 99. He was a religious for nearly 80 years and a priest for 74. After ordination, he ministered to the Russian deported persons in camps in Italy, many of whom were received into the Catholic Church in the Byzantine Rite. He then continued his ministry to Russians who had fled to the U.K. before World War II. In 1957, Fr. George was sent to Australia to assist Fr. Andrei Katkov —later a bishop, his personal friend and fellow Marian— first in Sydney and then in Melbourne in ministering to Russians in Australia. In 1979, he was raised to the rank of Archimandrite in recognition of his service to the Church and the Russian community. He was awarded the Medal of the Order ofAustralia for his service to the Russian Community of Melbourne in 2004. He is buried in Fawkner Cemetery in Melbourne with his mother, as he had wished. In 2020, Brother LEONARD KONOPKA , a member of American Province, of the B.V.M., Mother of Mercy, died at the Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home in Washington, D.C. He was 86, and was a professed member for 67 years. He helped with the construction of the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, by carving some of the decorative wood pieces. Later on, he served the community in many different capacities, including: provincial councilor, member of the Provincial Formation Committee, house treasurer, and superior of the Stockbridge and Brookeville houses. In the late 1970s, he was a cofounder of the Mother of Mercy Prayer Group at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy. Zealous promoter of the message of the Divine Mercy, he organized in 2000 the annual Divine Mercy Sunday celebration at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. He also established a † A LBUM OF THE D ECEASED F ATHERS AND B ROTHERS † 56