June 12 Blessed Anthony Leszczewicz and Blessed George Kaszyra, Priests and Martyrs Together with the 106 Martyrs of World War II Memorial Blessed Anthony Leszczewicz was born on September 30, 1890. He was ordained in 1914. In 1937, he entered the Congregation of Marian Fathers. In accordance with his desire, he was sent to the Marian house in Druya in the Vilnius province, where he dedicated himself to pastoral work, house management, and teaching in the school. After the Germans occupied Druya in 1941, he was made the superior of the Marian mission to Catholics in the former Soviet territories on the other side of the Dvina River. There he conducted evangelization, working together with a group of Marian priests and religious sisters (the Handmaids of Jesus in the Eucharist). During one of the retributive actions conducted by the Nazis against the partisan forces, Blessed Anthony chose to remain with the people of Rosica, and on February 17, 1943, he was burned in a barn along with them. He was a very zealous priest, always eager to serve others, much liked and respected by all. Blessed George Kaszyra was born on April 4, 1904. His family was Belarussian Orthodox. In 1907, George’s mother converted to Catholicism, and in 1922, he also became a Catholic. He entered the Marians, and was ordained in 1935. For a year he was in charge of the Marian seminarians in Vilnius. The next two years he worked in Druya as a school prefect and educator of young religious order men. In 1942, Fr. Anthony Leszczewicz summoned him to the Marian mission to Catholics in Belarus. Responding to his summons, Fr. George went to Rosica, where together they ran the mission. Blessed George volunteered to stay with the detainees in Rosica during the Nazi retributions, providing them pastoral ministry and saving them from despair. He died on February 18, 1943, burned in a house with some of the faithful. He was a model of peaceful coexistence and unity between Catholics and Orthodox. On June 13, 1999, Pope St. John Paul II beatified Fr. Anthony Leszczewicz and Fr. George Kaszyra as part of a group of 108 World War II martyrs.
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