The Marian Martyrs of Rosica

110 The Marian Martyrs of Rosica The old lady said that she had no sins to confess because after the pastor was taken away, she said to herself: “Don’t sin, because there is no one to absolve you.” Another person was an 18-year-old maiden who had not left her bed since her First Communion. She was a strange invalid — always smiling and singing and always busy. She handed me a piece of lace to be used for the cloth of the great altar — six meters long and 50 centemeters wide. She had made it her- self with beautiful patterns of lilies and roses. In the evenings, the young people would congregate at her bedside to admire her and to learn from her the patience and joy which she pro- jected. They regarded her as their saint. One night, the partisans came to her. One of them asked: “So you believe in God?” “I do.” “But what has this God given to you? Look, you have been lying here for ten years!” “That is just how much God has given me, so that I could lie here for ten years!” One of the partisans turned around to wipe away a furtive tear. Such were the people we had there! After we left the sick, we went the three kilometers to the Dvina, where Fr. Leszczewicz was already waiting. He looked somewhat concerned. THE BEGINNING OF THE END “Listen” he said. “You must go back to Druja because you are needed there, and Fr. George Kaszyra will come here in your place because the authorities refuse to register him as a resident in Druja.” “How can that be?” I said. “Am I supposed to drop every- thing? I was supposed to take a lot of commemorative photos.” “So you will come some other time and take them!”