Servant of God Fr. Janis Mendriks, MIC 1907-1953 Fr. Janis was born on January 21, 1907 to the family of Antoni and Anna Plocins of the Logocki village in the parish of Kalupe, near Aglona in Latvia. He joined the Congregation of Marian Fathers on October 26, 1926, made his perpetual vows on January 6, 1933, upon which he entered the Riga Seminary. On Sunday, April 3, 1938 Archbishop Antoni Springowicz ordained him to the priesthood at St. James’ Cathedral in Riga. After the ordination, Fr. Janis served as a vicar in the Marian Fathers’ parish in Vilani as well as several nearby parishes. For a period of time he served in the parishes of Lamini, Kondawa and Savile in Courland,[1] always carrying out his ministry with zeal and dedication. When the German army occupied Latvia, he was the pastor in Ostrone (Latvia). During his ministering in that parish, partisans killed a policeman who had collaborated with the Germans. The occupying authorities ordered a solemn Catholic funeral, but the Servant of God refused, because the man openly lived in sin with a concubine without entering into the sacrament of marriage. On the night before the funeral, unknown people filled the prepared grave with dirt and dug another one outside the cemetery grounds. The occupying authorities placed the blame on Fr. Janis – the parish priest. He was subjected to multiple interrogations and threats to be sent to a concentration camp. With his religious superiors’ consent, the Servant of God fled and went into hiding for about two years until 1944, when the Soviet re-occupation began and Fr. Janis was able to resume his service as a parish priest. On February 19, 1948 Fr. Janis was appointed pastor of the Jauborne and Elerna parish. After nearly three years of service, on October 25, 1950, he was arrested by the Soviet secret police and sent to a Riga’s prison. On March 24, 1951, he was sentenced to 10 years of forced labor for “anti-Soviet activism and organizing of anti-Soviet nationalist groups.” He was sent to Komi Republic to work at a coal mine near Vorkuta. While in the labor camp, Fr. Janis continued his pastoral work among the prisoners secretly and devotedly. He celebrated Holy Mass, heard confessions and administered Holy Communion. He always carried with him a small metal box fashioned as a cigarette case, where he kept the Eucharist. In the wake of the political thaw after Stalin’s death on March 5, 1953, the prisoners began a strike to regain freedom. The camp authorities called in the armed forces, which surrounded the camp on August 1, 1953. Convinced that he, as a priest, should be where the people were dying to prepare them to meet God, the Servant of God Janis moved to the first row of the prisoners. He was shot dead while reciting the formula of absolution: “Misereatur vestri Omnipotens Deus …”. Testimony given by Hippolyte Razbadauskas about Father Jan Mendriks, his pastoral ministry and death: “December 25, 1976, Forced labor camp in the Komi Republic, near Vorkuta, Russia, Pit No. 29, 1950-1955. On February 1, 1945, the Military Tribunal of the Soviet sentenced me to 10 years of forced labor at a camp and 5 years of exile. In order to serve my sentence, I was taken to Vorkuta, to a labor camp – a coal mine, pit number 29. I was there from 1950 to 1953, and it was then that I met a Latvian Catholic priest by the name of Janis Mendriks, another political prisoner who shared my fate. He was sharp-minded, joyful and energetic, endowed with a kind disposition, patience, compassion, and an apostolic spirit. He was truly a holy priest. Excerpt from Excerpt from: https://padrimariani.org/en/servant-of-god-fr-janis-mendriks-1907-1953/ In the Spotlight….
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