Blessed Anna Kolesárová - Martyr of Purity like Maria Goretti

Martyr of Purity

Stories written by God end in a happy ending. I know one.

Maybe it was like that, maybe a little differently, but the sacrifice of love and purity in him is solid and undeniable like the stone that stands above her grave today.

According to the entry in the register of the guests of the sanctae castitatis (sacrifice of holy purity), it can be said that it was the sacrifice of a girl who knew what was right. The image of a village, as it is outside my windows, comes to life in my mind. Four girls run down the road. The braids reach almost to the waist. Anka has a wreath of dandelions on her head, she carefully holds another in her hand, because it is for the Virgin Mary. Heavenly Mother knows them all well. They travel to her, sing her songs, songs of carefree children.

When Anka loses her mother at the age of thirteen, she finds strength, as usual, in God. Still children's hands learn to cook, wash, clean. The household under her leadership is never deserted. Her friends, faithful companions, neighbors, and even aunts come to her closely to help her. Anka is fine with everyone. Her serious face softens in a beautiful smile as she invites her friends over for a cake and at the same time wonders if she has succeeded.

And braids grow like water. Summers pass by stalking in the river, winter days by singing and jokes in the kitchen at Kolesárovcov. Anka can already cook almost everything, she is a young lady. It is more often seen standing by a well and taking water to wash potatoes, watering animals. A few gulps will wash themselves. She can be seen by the stove and among the girls on the pilgrimage to the Virgin Mary in Klokočov. Again, it bears a wreath of simple dandelions. Simple beauty accompanies her entire pure life. War puts its burden on the pulse of village life, simple but joyful.

November is coming. There have been such before. But the girl feels that something is happening, that something is different. One day a neighbor notices her slim figure in a dress after a poor mother.

"What are you all in black soul?"

"I'm afraid, Auntie, they won't notice me. The soldiers must not find out that I am young, "replies 16-year-old Anka. Her plan is still working. He only has problems with the length of his clothes when he walks slowly in line to receive.

Even the evening before, she goes to church to strengthen herself with the Eucharist, perhaps unaware that this is the last time and that she will meet her God face to face.

The front passes through the village. Bullets fly from each side, grenades explode, people are hidden in cellars. Soldiers come to liberate the territory and behave like beasts in search of the enemy. They break into houses with submachine guns. When one runs into the Kolesárov family, everyone is in the cellar. The father, thinking that the soldier is seeking help, says:

"Hanka, give him a ride, he's certainly hungry!"

And the girl obeys. However, good intentions turn into tragedy. The soldier once or twice finds out that the rough dark fabric does not cover an adult, but a young girl. Beautiful and clean. The devil's lips whisper the worst words and the desire in the man with the submachine gun grows.

"Give in, give in, because you're dead on the spot," he shouts, urging.

The girl mentally projects her life, interwoven with traces of a loving God. He returns to childhood, to years without a mother and to beautiful moments on pilgrimages, in the village, among his own. She knows that she is loved, and sin opposes her, so she makes an admirable decision. At that moment, time seemed to stop. The frightened villagers in the next shelter have no idea.

The soldier sees that the girl will not break, so in anger he points at her and shouts:

"Say goodbye to your father!"

A helpless father, a witness to the most threatening theater in his life, asks God for mercy. And grace comes… Heavy air is intersected by the last words, pierced from within by a young soul with a strong sense of higher ideals:

"Apocco, goodbye! Jesus, Mary, Joseph! ”Then shots fall. One, then the other… two precise blows will end the heroic earthly life.

The next day, the men break up the barn and pull a small chest from the boards thus obtained. The women again prepare Ankina's limp body in the coffin. At night, they secretly bury the martyr of purity. Without a priest, without any solemn ceremonies. It is not possible otherwise. But once that time comes.

Today, in the place where Ankine's remains are stored, there is a stone with the inscription: RATHER DEATH THAN SIN. It is read by thousands of young people who see it as a role model. In them, too, the story of a simple girl, who shines like the sun in the sky, comes to life.

(More detailed biographical data and photocopies of important documents related to Ankina's sacrifice can be found in Bartolomej Gábor's book The Power of Pure Love . The second revised edition was published in 2008.)

PRAYER

Heavenly Father,
Blessed Anna Kolesárová,
as a martyr of purity
, bore witness to the richness of the
inner beauty of each person
and became an encouragement to young people and families
in building sincere and pure relationships.
Please
hear these pleas for her intercession
(now make your pleas ...)

and let us
venerate her on the altar as a saint.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.