Saint Wincenty Matuszewski

Wincenty Matuszewski (born March 3, 1869, in Wola Chruścińska, died May 24, 1940, in a forest near Witowo-Kolonia) was a Polish Catholic priest and a blessed of the Catholic Church. He was the son of Józef and Józefa, née Strużyńska. He was ordained a priest on February 17, 1895, after graduating from the Major Seminary in Włocławek. He performed pastoral work in Widawa, Nieszawa, and Włocławek, followed by service at St. Sigismund's Parish in Częstochowa (1901–1906), before becoming the administrator of the parishes of Ostrowąs and Moszczenica in 1909. In 1918, he became the parish priest in Osięciny. He served as the honorary president of the Osięciny Fire Brigade and was a member of the local municipal council. His tolerant attitude earned him the respect of the local Jewish community and the local Germans. In his ministry, he dedicated much of his time to the poorest. World War II found him at this post. Shortly after the invasion (September 10, 1939), the occupiers detained the parish priest as one of 22 hostages. A year later, he was murdered by the local police station commander Johan Pichler, commissary mayor Ernst Daub, and Willy Fritz Haack, along with his prefect, Father Józef Kurzawa. The grave of the martyr priests became a place of pilgrimage. On May 24, 1988, on the 48th anniversary of their deaths, the murdered priests of Osięciny were given the title: Martyrs of the Eucharist and Priestly Unity. Both were beatified by Pope John Paul II in Warsaw on June 13, 1999, as part of the group of 108 Polish martyrs. On May 24, 2001, the relics of Wincenty Matuszewski and Józef Kurzawa were translated to the church in Osięciny. In 2007, he and Father Józef Kurzawa were declared patrons of the Gmina Osięciny. Primary School No. 1 in Brzeziny was named in his honor, and his likeness was featured on a postage stamp commemorating the beatification.