Catholic priest guillotined by Nazis is beatified in Poland

Semeraro proclaimed the beatification formula in Latin and an image of Macha was unveiled.

Members of the new blessed’s family brought his relics to the chancel. The relics consisted of Macha’s last letter to his parents and siblings before his execution, a rosary he had made, and a blood-stained handkerchief.

Ahead of the beatification ceremony, Cardinal Semeraro visited the parish church where Macha was baptized, praying at the baptismal font at St. Mary Magdalene, Chorzów Stary. He also visited a seminary in Katowice preparing men for priestly service in the Silesia region.

Archbishop Skworc released a pastoral letter devoted to Macha in the run-up to the beatification.

“As the community of the Church of Katowice, we gratefully welcome the new blessed as a martyr for merciful love, as a gift of Divine Providence for today and tomorrow, as a call and a reminder of the vocation to holiness,” he said in the Nov. 10 message.

“Fr. Jan Franciszek as a victim of persecution and war makes us aware of its deadly effects. May his tragic death inspire and encourage us to work for the strengthening of peace and reconciliation, especially between Poles and Germans. The fates of these nations met in an exceptionally dramatic way in the death of Fr. Jan.”

Macha wrote a letter hours before his execution asking his family to arrange a “quiet corner in the cemetery, so that from time to time someone would remember me and say the Our Father for me.”

His request was fulfilled in October 1951 when his classmates established a symbolic grave in the old cemetery of St. Mary Magdalene church.

Macha has inspired a show called “Hanik 1257” (referring to the number of days he served as a priest) performed by the theatrical group Teatr Cordis. The group’s members helped to organize a prayer vigil ahead of the beatification, which ended with a musical performance featuring a restored violin that Macha himself used to play.

The priest was also the subject of a 2011 documentary film “Without One Tree, a Forest Will Stay a Forest,” directed by Dagmara Drzazga.

The title comes from a line in a letter Macha wrote to his family shortly before his execution.

“This is my last letter. In four hours, the sentence will be carried out. So when you read this letter, I will no longer be among the living! Stay with God! Forgive me for everything,” he said.

“I am going before the Almighty Judge who will judge me now. I hope that He will accept me. My wish was to work for Him, but it was not given to me. Thank you for everything!”

He continued: “I die with a clear conscience. I have lived a short life, but I believe that I have achieved my goal. Don’t despair! Everything will be all right.”

“Without one tree, the forest will stay a forest. Without one swallow, the spring will come, and without one man, the world will not collapse.”

In his homily, Semeraro described these words as Macha’s “supreme teaching.”

He said: “He testifies that everyone on this earth was created in view of a mission to fulfill.”

“He describes the good as greater than the interests of individuals: aspirations to happiness are authentic if they become the defense of justice, service to the common good, sharing, acceptance, respect, attention to the needs of others.”

“Finally, he invites us to remain with the Lord, to seek him in prayer and interior dialogue, to glorify him in a holy life.”

He added: “From this image of the forest, from which one of the trees has been removed, we understand the Gospel even better: the grain that fell into the ground died, but it can, indeed it must, continue to bear abundant fruit in us today.”

“Jan Franciszek Macha, the new blessed, like a tree cut down at an early age, laid the foundation for the construction of a stable home for future generations, to whom he delivers, with his life sealed with his own blood, a clear message: ‘No one has greater love than this, to lay down his life for his friends’ (John 15:13).”