Lac La Biche - History - Religious Communities

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Aves and Lighted Candles

Brother Anthony Kowalczyk spent a part of his remarkable life at Lac La Biche Mission. He is now on the way to beatitude, awaiting the decision of Rome. His life's story is presented here.

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Anthony was the sixth child of Lucy and Ignatius Kowalczyk. He was born in 1866 at Kzierzanow which was under the Prussian domination. It was a tiny Polish village, comprising one large piece of property and 25 smaller farms worked by the villagers. Although there was a railway station, the village was without a church or even a chapel. The pastor of nearby Lutogniew served Dzierzanow and several other communities.

Less than twenty years had passed since the cruel suppression of the revolt against the Prusians who had attempted to annihilate the Polish race by an all-out attack on its language and its Catholic faith. Poland and Catholic Germany resisted the attacks of the Prussian liberals, atheists and anti-clerics.

At this point, events in Germany were taking place which affected Poland. Bismarck was afraid of an alliance between German Catholics and Poles, and so he unleashed his persecution towards the Poles as well. The government continued its attacks by deposing and imprisoning a number of bishops, parishes were without priests, religious institutions were closed. Ten years after his elevation to the Papacy, Leo XIII won a restoration of religious freedom. Such tensions marked the youthful years of Anthony. The family would fervently pray for heaven's protection each night. Here Anthony would say his first Aves.

His first day at school, at the age of 7, was a terrifying experience. Their teacher forbade them to speak Polish: "From now on, you speak nothing but German. Poland is dead." There were no crucifixes, no pictures or statues like those at home. Every polish word he spoke brought punishment. The sign of the Cross and prayers were from now on said only at home. When his first day at school finally ended, Anthony brought the sad news to his mother. She took it upon herself to provide what was lacking in school. She brought out a Polish grammar and history book.

At the age of thirteen, already Anthony fed the horses and chickens, herded the cattle into pasture, and worked in hoeing the potato field, as was the custom for boys to put aside their books to assist in the more important work of the fields, the garden and barnyard.

Lucy was hoping that they could give Anthony a piece of land to set up beside their own but Ignatius thought that he must learn a trade. Apprenticeship to Krotoszin, the blacksmith was arranged. Anthony enthusiastically accepted the challenge of learning a trade. He learned quickly. Though the blacksmith was not a Catholic, Anthony was free to practice his religion. Those who wished to learn more sought work in the industrial centers of Europe. To enable himself to prepare for his own future and to assist his family financially, Anthony decided to emigrate from the poorer eastern provinces to the mining and industrial centers of Westphalia and Rhineland. He moved south to Cologne. His traveling companion, another Catholic worker, told him about the life of Father Kolping who was the Apostle of the Workers. Instead of praying at the Cathedral, Anthony found his way to the church of the Minor Friars, where Father Kolping was buried.

While in Cologne, he was drawn to the Friars' Minor church as if by some unseen hand. He would meditate and pray at the tomb, begging for God's grace. Suddenly his decision was made to "remain chaste". There too was a voice that seemed to command: "Go to Mulheim-on Rhine", it ordered.

Anthony went to Mulheim. There he located a Catholic family with a room to rent. The landlady had a son who was studying with the Oblate Fathers. Fearing that he was too old to enter the religious life, it was Madame Prunnenbaum who told him of the great need of the Fathers for workers like him to carry on their work in Africa and North America. She outlined the vocation of a lay brother, who together with priests both suffer and share in the apostolate.

He stayed one and a half years at the Prunnenbaum home, and Madame Prunnenbaum invited Anthony to make a pilgrimage to Kevelaer, a town near the Dutch border. Thousands of people journeyed there to venerate a miraculous picture that had attracted pilgrims for more than two hundred fifty years. Since he could not afford to go, Madame Prunnenbaum paid for his expenses.

Ignatius was sixty years old when he received the letter of his son asking permission to volunteer for the foreign missions. Considering his age and thoughts of the distant and cold shores of Canada, Ignatius would not give his consent. Anthony did not want to go without that so he waited and tried to convince his father, to no avail. His confessor's counsel was "God comes before your parents". On hearing this, Ignatius gave his blessings.

Together with another Polish Blacksmith, James Ciesielski, he proceeded to St. Gerlach in Holland, where they became novices at the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

In the autumn of 1894, he was chosen to work as mechanic at St. Joseph's Orphanage in Colombo, Ceylon. Three days after receiving his Obedience, the Provincial told him to unpack because he was unworthy for the missions. Though his feelings bordered on despair, he took the rebuke in all humility without a word.

His opportunity did come. The orders came transferring him to the missions in Western Canada. The Superior at St. Charles wrote: "It is a great honor for me to send one of our forest workers to the Canadian West. He is the best of our lay brothers - a saint in the making."

Brother Anthony arrived at Quebec City on June 1,1896. Bishop Vital Grandin, Bishop of St. Albert wrote in his diary, "On the 11th of June, the good Brother Kowalczyk came to us. He is Polish and an engineer. He is capable and most of all an excellent religious."

There was plenty of work at Lac La Biche. Despite this, Brother Anthony managed to spend many hours in prayers and meditation. A year after, and, although it was a holiday, Brother Anthony was at work when an accident occurred which mangled his arms. Only an amputation could save his life. Because anesthetic was rare, instead of being strapped at the table, Brother Anthony requested that his Oblate Cross would be enough. After a short prayer, clutching his cross, he endured the operation without a cry of pain. Brother Anthony's worry on his sickbed was that because of this accident, he would not be permitted to take his final vows. Bishop Grandin had given the necessary permission for him to take the vows in case his condition grew worse.

It was on January 17, the feast of his patron, St. Anthony, that he took his lifelong vows before Bishop Legal, together with another brother.

He was sent to help Brother Therlen who, at the invitation of Father Lacombe, set out to help the Cree Métis who lived in squalor and misery. It was a shack town, with no buildings to shelter the few animals they brought with them. Trees temporarily housed the machinery. For ten years, he struggled to give them relief from their despair. He was engineer, mechanic, gardener and swine herder.

The Mission of St. Paul des Métis played an important role in the development of that section of Alberta. Living conditions improved. As the mission grew, the problems of feeding and clothing more people multiplied rapidly.

As the role of missionaries was changing, a college to train boys in the priesthood was established at Pincher Creek in southern Alberta. In October, 1911, Brother Anthony arrived at St. John's College in Edmonton. There he became the blacksmith, furnace stoker, laundryman, gardener, keeper of animals, bell-ringer and sacristan. He was entirely faithful to the routine of ordinary life and looked for no escape even when at times, orders seemed unreasonable. He was eager to serve his brothers and the boys. He strove for perfection in doing ordinary things. For him, the secret of life was in his love of God. He breathed prayers like mankind breathes air. Where he prayed made no difference. He was handicapped, lacking in learning, yet he did the work of four men. Silence was his Golden Rule.

On December 13, 1942, he celebrated his 50th anniversary as a Lay Brother. He thought that no one would notice it but he was wrong.

He had spent thirty years at St. Johns. The makeshift altar there was transformed through donations in answer to his appeal, to one of permanence and beauty. Through him, a permanent shrine in honor of our Lady (depicting the apparitions at Lourdes) was built. As his first Ave had reached millions, the lamps he lit before the statue of the Blessed Virgin were countless. No one ever seemed to say his surname, Kowalczyk - in Polish meaning "The Son of a Blacksmith". He died a most holy death on July 10, 1947.

The Diocesan Process to obtain the glorification of the Servant of God, Brother Anthony, began April 14, 1952, with Archbishop J.H. MacDonald presiding. From the Episcopal Palace, the tribunal was moved to St. John's College where 113 sessions took place with 44 witnesses testifying. Approval of his writing, 1970.

Acknowledgement: From a booklet containing prayers ‘Blacksmith of God’, by P.E. Breton, OMI.

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