Józef Andrasz (born 16 October 1891 in Wielopole, Nowy Sącz County; died 1 February 1963 in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

) was a Polish

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest, writer, translator and editor. A member of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

, he was a confessor of

Faustina Kowalska Maria Faustyna Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament, Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, OLM (born Helena Kowalska; 25 August 1905 – 5 October 1938) was a Catholic Church in Poland, Polish Catholic religious sister and Christia ...

. On November 12, 2024, Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski of Krakow announced the initiation of Fr. Andrasz'

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

process, granting him the title of

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

Career

Andrasz worked in the

Apostleship of Prayer The Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network is a Pontifical Society of the Catholic Church which encourages Catholics to prayer and action as part of the church's universal mission. The Network provides monthly prayer intentions determined by the Pope. I ...

publishing house in Poland (''Wydawnictwo Apostolstwa Modlitwy''). He was responsible for the publication of 41 volumes in the series The Library of the Internal Life (''Biblioteka Życia Wewnętrznego''). They were mostly translations of great works on

asceticism Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...

that he had worked on himself. He was also the editor-in-chief of the popular Catholic paper "The Messenger of the Heart of Jesus" (''Posłaniec Serca Jezusowego''). He was also national manager of the ''Apostleship of Prayer'' and of ''Catholic Action for Family Consecration'' -(''Dzieło Poświęcenia Rodzin''). While

stayed with her order in Kraków, he became her confessor. She mentioned Andrasz many times in her ''Diary'' in terms such as follow: :"It is a strange thing that, until I met Father Andrasz, confessors could neither understand me nor set my mind at rest concerning these matters he revelations (p.111), and :"I am very grateful to the Lord for having given me an enlightened priest" (p. 1596).The Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy
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Initiation of Divine Mercy

In 1943 Andrasz initiated public devotion to the Divine Mercy in the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Kraków. The same year, under his direction, a popular version of the Image of Divine Mercy since exhibited in the sanctuary, was painted by Adolf Hyła.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrasz, Jozef 1891 births 1963 deaths People from Nowy Sącz County People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria 20th-century Polish Jesuits Divine Mercy (Catholic devotion)

Career

Initiation of Divine Mercy

See also

References