Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Vol. 106 (2006): Our Past

Articles

Blessed Rafał Chyliński 1694-1741

  • Zdzisław Gogola
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52204/np.2006.106.197-216  [Google Scholar]
Published: 2006-12-30

Abstract

The beatification of Father Raphael Chylinski brought him out of the darkness of the past and made him known as a chaplain, a caretaker of the sick and a good confessor. The figure of Father Raphael has a special charm when seen from the perspective of the times in which he lived and worked. The Saxon period, also known as 'Lent', 'the time of consumption', was characterised by extravagance and primitive amusements. During this time, the intellectual and moral level of society declined sharply. Years of war, plundering and the constant movement of foreign armies through Polish lands led the country into economic and political ruin. Despite this, Christian asceticism associated with penance and mortification became very popular in certain circles. According to some sources, Father Raphael had a strong influence on those around him. One sensed in his character great strength, moral greatness, a green attitude towards his fellow men and a selfless dedication to others. This charisma of love enabled him to go beyond his frail physical strength. It must have been a tremendous and special charisma for people living in Saxon times, where spiritual values meant so little, to come to Father Raphael with their personal problems and those related to social and political life, seeking help, seeing in him a patron of an afflicted homeland. Raphael's cheerful nature was inspired by the environment in which he flourished and found favourable living conditions. His character of holiness was formed without publicity. He lived and worked according to the principle of penance. In time, this Franciscan priest dedicated to the poor became a symbol and hope for the moral rebirth of the people.

References

  1. Bernatek L., Czcigodny Sługa Boży O. Rafał Chyliński, Warszawa 1982. [Google Scholar]
  2. Chudek J. M., Żywot czcigodnego Sługi Bożego Rafała Chylińskiego, Łagiewniki 1927. [Google Scholar]
  3. Feldman J., Polska w dobie wielkiej wojny północnej, Kraków 1925. [Google Scholar]
  4. Grabowski G., Pamiątka z Łagiewnik z nowenną do św. Antoniego, Warszawa 1896. [Google Scholar]
  5. Grabowski G., Pamiątka z Łagiewnik, Warszawa 1896. [Google Scholar]
  6. Kitowicz J., Opis zwyczajów za panowania Augusta III, Wrocław 1970. [Google Scholar]
  7. Kubit A., Czcigodny Sługa Boży O. Rafał Chyliński, Kraków 1937. [Google Scholar]
  8. Piasecki J., Krótki rys życia Sługi Bożego Rafała Chylińskiego, Warszawa 1844. [Google Scholar]
  9. Piasecki J., Wiadomość historyczna o cudownym objawieniu się św. Antoniego z Padwy w Łagiewnikach i o fundacji tamże kościoła i klasztoru XX. Franciszkanów z przydaniem krótkiego rysu życia Rafała Chylińskiego, Warszawa 1844. [Google Scholar]
  10. Zwiercan A., Rafał Chyliński, w: Hagiografia Polska. Słownik bio-bibliograficzny, red. R. Gustaw, t. 1, Poznań-Warszawa-Łódź 1971. [Google Scholar]

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.