“I am writing you to congratulate you on your 100th birthday.
You are now the dean of the Order, and your long years of service
to the little ones of the Lord fills us with a sense of gratitude and awe.”
-From the letter of the Minister General, Friar Carlos TROVARELLI, to Friar Łucjan.
September 7th marked the 100th birthday of the oldest friar in the Order, Friar Łucjan KRÓLIKOWSKI. A celebration of the event took place at St. Stanislaus Church in Chicopee, Massachusetts, USA. The Consul General for Poland, Mr. Maciej GOLUBIEWSKI was present, as were Friars Marian GOŁĄB and Jarosław ZACHARIASZ, the current and former Ministers Provincial of the Province of Cracow.
Friar Łucjan began his Franciscan formation in Niepokalanów, Poland, in the days of St. Maximilian Kolbe. He was exiled to Siberia by the Soviets during World War II. While there, he joined the Polish Free Army. He completed his theological studies in Beirut and was stationed in a refugee camp for Polish orphans in East Africa. Friar Łucjan was instrumental in the resettlement of those orphans to Montreal and many of them (and their children and grandchildren and even great grandchildren) hold him in the highest esteem.
In 1966, Friar Łucjan was transferred to Athol Springs, New York, USA, to work in the Friar Justin Rosary Hour, a Polish language radio program which was broadcast on radio stations throughout the United States and Canada. Later, Friar Łucjan moved to St. Stanislaus Parish in Chicopee, Massachusetts where he worked as a parochial vicar and lived in the senior friars’ residence. He now resides at the Our Lady of the Angels Care Center in Enfield, Connecticut, USA.
Over the years, Friar Łucjan has written four books on his experiences working with the orphans during the War (in Polish and English).
Friar Jude WINKLER, Assistant General for the CFF
