June 5, 2025, marked the 81st anniversary of the allied invasion of Normandy, an event that signaled the beginning of the end of World War II. To commemorate the occasion, a ceremony was held in Gueutteville, France, at the monument marking the site where Friar Ignatius MATERNOWSKI, OFM Conv., was killed just hours after parachuting into France with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. Friar MATERNOWSKI is believed to be the only U.S. military chaplain to have lost his life in the invasion.
For this year’s commemoration, the U.S. Navy and Marine Brass Ensemble played the national anthems of the United States, Germany, and France. Among the speakers was Helen PATTON, granddaughter of the famous WWII General George PATTON. A French woman named Marguerite shared a story, recounting how her mother, Marie, was the first to hear the gunshot that killed Friar MATERNOWSKI.
Later, during a vigil at Cauquigny Chapel in Amfreville, (Normandy), Friar James MCCURRY, OFM Conv., had this to say: “The humble Father MATERNOWSKI would never have imagined that three quarters of a century later his memory would be enshrined on a stained-glass window here in this Norman chapel where all of us are gathered in tonight’s vigil. May the candles which we have lighted symbolize our remembrance of Father MATERNOWSKI and all the heroes of D-Day. May they enflame our hope for freedom, justice, and peace in the world.”
Friar James, the former Minister Provincial of the Province of Our Lady of the Angels in the USA, has been at the forefront of his Jurisdiction’s efforts to honor Friar MATERNOWSKI’s memory and has participated in many D-Day commemorations in Normandy over the years.
At this years’ service, the chaplain of the 82nd Airborne Division offered an exceptional reflection on the link between Friar MATERNOWSKI and the Canticle of the Creatures by St. Francis of Assisi. He distinguished between the “first death” (spiritual conversion and self-renunciation) and the “second death” (physical death). He praised God that Friar MATERNOWSKI’s “first death” during his life as a friar prepared him to meet his “second death” without fear.
Friar James continued: “A great theme of reconciliation, peace, and unity pervaded the whole ethos of these D-Day commemorations, lauding our heroes as instruments of peace and justice, and expressing the hope that respect for the dignity of every human person, and the integrity of all creation will be the ultimate legacy of those who offered to God and country their ‘last full measure of devotion.’”
Kevin A. KEENAN
Director of Communications, Province of Our Lady of the Angels in the USA
