Angela Hospice is named after Blessed Mary Angela, the foundress of Angela Hospice’s own founding body, the Felician Sisters. Today, May 16, 2025, marks the 200th anniversary of her birth. In honor of this special day, Sister Danat Marie Brysch, Minister General of the Felician Sisters, issued the following letter to the Sisters. We share this with you to invite you to learn more about Blessed Mary Angela, and how her life and ministry continue to inspire us today.
Dear Sisters,
Greetings to all as we continue our joyous celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the birth of our foundress and mother, Blessed Mary Angela!
Born as a frail infant, whom the family feared might not survive infancy, Sophia Camille Truszkowska was first baptized at home soon after her birth. On January 1, 1826, she was baptized sacramentally in St. Joseph Church in Kalisz and her name was entered into the parish registry. Against human expectations, and by the graced plan of God, Sophia not only survived, but thrived intellectually and spiritually in her loving family home.
At an early age, through the inspiration of her parents, she developed a tender heart for those less fortunate in society. This blossoming concern for the needs of others was intertwined with her devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist. As Sophia matured, and as she eventually came to be Sister Mary Angela, her heart grew ever more spacious, seeking to make the love of God real for those caught up in an oftentimes uncaring world. This open heart is what she bequeathed to us, her daughters.
Mother Angela refused to be a bystander while others suffered.
She refused to be paralyzed by hopelessness even when circumstances became increasingly dire in her beloved country. Believing that what she and the sisters were undertaking was from God and would not be destroyed, even the suppression of the young Felician Congregation could not diminish her determination to continue making His love and care known. As we well know, in the end her persistent faith and that of her sisters was vindicated.
Reflecting on our present times, theologian Tomáš Halík has indicated that as the world attempts to shrink its space for God, we need to search for Jesus more and more in those places where he is “anonymously present.” He suggests, “Let us search for him ‘by his voice’ like Mary Magdalene; let us search for him in strangers on the road like the disciples on the road to Emmaus; let us search for him in the wounds of the world like the apostle Thomas; let us search for him whenever he passes through the closed doors of fear; let us search for him where he brings the gift of forgiveness and new beginnings.” Like Mother Angela, it is into those places we must go, grasping a hope that gives us the courage to live the gospel and continue to carry it to the peripheries of our age.
Like her, we must have faith that we have the call and the power to make God’s loving face more visible to those whose sight is faltering.
Emulating Blessed Mary Angela, may we offer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary our own sorrows, hopes and joys; that which we do well and that which we struggle to do. May Jesus her son continue to transform this living offering into a gift for the Church and the world.
In Christ our Risen Hope, with gratitude for the life and call of Mother Mary Angela,
Sister Danat Marie Brysch
Minister General
