Blessed Jan Macha

Jan Franciszek Macha (18 January 1914 – 3 December 1942) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest. He was once rejected for ecclesial studies so studied law for some months before being accepted as a seminarian. He was ordained just months before the outbreak of World War II and was assigned to a parish church as a vicar on 1 September 1939 just as the Nazi forces invaded Poland in an attack that sparked the conflict. Macha aided student and scout activities and set about providing material assistance to families who lost sons and husbands to the war. He was arrested in 1942 and was moved from prison to prison before being executed by the guillotine. Pope Francis beatified Macha on 20 November 2021. Jan Macha was born in Chorzów as the first of four children born to Paweł Macha and Anna Cofałka. He was often referred to as "Hanik" at home. His two sisters were Róża and Maria and his brother was Piotr. He did his grammar schooling in his hometown from 1921 to 1924 and then right after leaving made an application to the Silesian Theological College in 1933. But Macha was rejected due to the high number of candidates and so decided to do his education at the Jagiellonian in the law department. In 1934 he commenced his ecclesial studies (succeeding in his second application) and became known among his fellow seminarians for his deep devotion for his empathetic traits that made him a liked peer. He was elevated to the diaconate at a Mass held on 1 May 1938 in Katowice. Macha received his ordination from Bishop Stanisław Adamski in Katowice on 25 June 1939 and from 1 September 1939 onwards (the time that the Nazi forces invaded Poland) served as a joint vicar for the Saint Josef parish in Ruda Śląska. Macha celebrated his first Mass in the Saint Mary Magdalene parish church in his hometown on 27 June 1939. It was just before his first Mass - as he vested for it - he told his sister Róża that he would die soon and that it would not be a natural death.