Servant of God Archmandrite Fabian Abrantowicz (1884-1946) He finished his studies there in 1906, and then went to the Theological Academy of St. Petersburg. On November 9, 1908, he was ordained to the priesthood, and in 1910, he graduated with a Master’s Degree in Theology. For two years he taught religion in different gymnasiums and state-owned schools in St. Petersburg. Then he went to study philosophy at the university in Louvain (Leuven) in Belgium, where he also attended Cardinal Mercier’s lectures. Father Fabian received his Doctoral degree in philosophy for a thesis, in which he compared Thomism and intuitionism of M.O. Loski. In the fall of 1914, he conducted pastoral work in the Russian capital, St. Petersburg, and served as a professor at the Mohyliv Diocesan Seminary in St. Petersburg. Toward the end of WWI, when the Czar (tsar) was deposed, the Holy See began staffing anew the dioceses located in the former Russian-partitioned territories. On November 7, 1917, Pope Benedict XV reactivated the diocese of Minsk, naming Fr. Zygmunt Lozinski its Ordinary. When in May 1918, the Bolsheviks closed down the seminary in St. Petersburg, Bishop Lozinski opened a seminary in Minsk and named Fr. Fabian Abrantowicz its rector, also charging him with the school’s organizational matters. Seventeen alumni from the closed St. Petersburg Seminary, natives of the Mohyliv region, enrolled along with five new candidates. Classes began on October 14, 1918, in the former Dominican monastery, which housed a seminary before the suppression of the diocese, but which had since been occupied by the army. A few months later, Fr. Andrzej Cikoto, Pastor in Molodeczno, came to offer his services to Fr. Abrantowicz. In view of the approaching Bolshevik invasion, on July 9 and 10, 1920, the seminary was evacuated to Wloclawek, [Poland] and then, a year later, moved to Kielce, [Poland] where the remaining seminarians were ordained. In 1920, Fr. Abrantowicz went back to his hometown – Nowogrodek. There he helped organize the school system and taught religion in a local gymnasium. When the treaty of Riga was singed, and it became clear that there was no possibility of returning to Minsk, Bishop Lozinski established his temporary residence at St. Michael’s Church in Nowogrodek and opened a Minor Seminary there. For several years Fr. Abrantowicz attended the lectures of the Rev. Prof. George Matulewicz and became well acquainted with the Congregation of Marians, which some of his colleagues joined. Bishop Matulewicz wanted to have religious orders in his diocese or, at least, to open monasteries for Belarussian people. He engaged Frs. Cikoto and Abrantowicz in the work of putting this plan into action, because he hoped that they would join the Marians. Father Cikoto entered the Marian novitiate in Mariampole in 1920, and Fr. Abrantowics also planned to join, but he was essential to Bishop [Lozinski] who wished to organize the diocese of Pinsk. Finally, on June 15, 1926, Bishop Lozinski granted Fr. Fabian permission to join the Congregation of Marians. He started hi s novitiate in Druva [Belarus] in the beginning of August of 1926, under the directin of Fr. Cikoto. He pronounced his first religious vows on August 3, 1927. Having made his vows, Fr. Abrantowicz remained in Druya, dedicating himself to pastoral work. His sermons were particularly remembered. However, his service did not last long, because on May 5, 1928, Pope Pius XI made him the Apostolic Administrator for Russians Catholics of Eastern Rite who lived in China. In July he went to Rome. He stayed there for a period of time taking care of necessary formalities, learning about the situation in China, and seeking assistants. On August 2, 1928, the Pope received him in audience, during which he also recalled their earlier meeting in Warsaw. On August 3, Fr. Fabian Fr. Abrantowicz was born on September 14, 1884, in a village of Wereszkowski, in the district of Nowogrodek [Belarus (White Russia)]. His father had a small farm. After graduating from school in Nowogrodek, Fabian entered the seminary of the Mohyliv Diocese in St. Petersburg in 1900.
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