Honoring the Legacy of Venerable Paul Smolikowski, C.R

Today, September 11, the Congregation of the Resurrection celebrates the 100th anniversary of the death of Venerable Paul Smolikowski, C.R. Father Paul was a Resurrectionist priest who lived his life with great love as he followed the inspiration of our Lord and trusted his entire life to him.  Recently, the Church determined that Father Paul lived the life of Christ to a heroic degree and pronounced him “Venerable.”

Father Paul’s  faith in Jesus throughout his entire life was personal and profound. His trust in God never wavered even in the most difficult of times.  His love for God and his fellow religious was warm and deep.

He also had a wonderful way of expressing his trust in God. He thought of each day as part of God’s plan for him, a beautiful plan like a musical composition. He lived with awareness of the presence of God. In those moments of life when happiness surprised him, he could hear God’s Voice in the melodies of robins and sparrows singing on a Spring morning. And, he thought kindly of everyone he would meet that day as an image of Our Lord.

He had his tough days, too, when like the first bars of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony he felt a sense of impending doom. Father Paul had a few strong, low notes sounded in his life but he always rose to the occasion with grace.

When Father Paul knew that he was going to pass from this life, he turned to one of his friends and said warmly: ” I think that the music of my life is now complete.” He was an old man embracing his passing from this life with complete trust in God just as he had done all of his life.

You are encouraged to pray to Venerable Paul Smolikowski, asking him to intercede for you and your intentions before the throne of God.