The Marian Martyrs of Rosica

CHAPTER NINE EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT TO AMAN OF DEEP FAITH FR. GEORGE BRIANCHANINOFF, MIC, MELBOURNE I don’t know the details concerning the departure of Fr. Anthony Leszczewicz from Harbin to Poland. I was still very young then and the Fathers did not discuss the reasons for their departure with us. When I later heard that Fr. Anthony joined the Marian novitiate I was glad, because I always considered him a priest worthy of respect. When I heard the news about his tragic death with his parishioners, I was not surprised either, because he was a man of strong character and deep faith. I have long been convinced that not only Fr. Anthony but also Fathers Andrew Cikoto, Fabian Abrantowicz, and Walter Mazonas are real martyrs deserving to be raised to the altar. In my morning and evening prayers, I ask their support in daily difficulties and I am sure that their prayers are pleasing to God. Father Anthony departed to begin his novitiate in Poland shortly before my decision to join the Marians. He deserved to go back to his own country after so many years and to go through the novitiate there. He had been a friend of our Fathers in Harbin for a long time, and that probably contributed to his joining the Congregation. They shared a language and a native land. Father Anthony taught me Latin. He was conscientious, fair, and showed no favoritism. During the Latin examination, he asked me about the comparative and superlative in translation from Russian into Latin. I used the comparative, he corrected me, instructing me to use the superlative. One of the examiners then explained to him that bolshuyu and menshuyu should be translated as minorem and maiorem rather than “minimum”