Sr. Mary Boromea (Weronika Narmontowicz)

She was born on December 18, 1916 in Wiercieliszki, near Grodno (Poland). Her parents were provincial nobility. Before joining the Congregation she helped out at home. She was accepted into the Congregation in December 1936 in Grodno where she also made her first vows after completing her novitiate. Immediately after taking the vows and before the war started Sister Boromea arrived in Nowogrodek where she mostly worked in the laundry. She was the youngest sister in the community. During the Soviet occupation she worked as a school custodian at the Russian school which replaced the Sisters’ own establishment in their building. After the school was shut down she helped with household and farming chores. She applied herself to live according to the Congregation’s rule. Although not of robust health she was very hardworking. Her lack of education caused her to be placed into the second choir, sisters performing physical labor and household work. She had a strong feeling of belonging in the noble class so she naturally resisted being treated in the same way as her peers from peasant families. She found it hard to accept criticism, to get a grip on herself and she tended to cry often. Twice during the war Sister Boromea left Nowogrodek. First (precise date unknown), she went home at the request of her parents and with her superiors’ permission. She did not stay long however because, as she wrote to her novitiate mistress “something inside rushed me to return to the sisters.” She said good bye to her parents and returned to Nowogrodek. The second time in the summer of 1943 she was on vacation in a small village about ten kilometers from Nowogrodek, because Sister Stella had doubts about allowing Boromea to take her next vows the following year. In her memoirs Sister Speranza wrote: “Mother Superior was inclined to extend her stay in the village. But Sister Boromea insistently asked to be allowed to come to town for a few days.” God Himself responded to her pleadings. He wished for Boromea to unite with Him not through vows but through actions.