Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us And Blessed Jolenta of Poland

Stand In The Gap With Us And Blessed Jolenta of Poland 6/12/2024.  

Jolenta was the daughter of Bela IV, King of Hungary. Her sister, St. Kunigunde, was married to the Duke of Poland.  Jolenta was sent to Poland where her sister was to supervise her education.  Eventually married to Boleslaus, the Duke of Greater Poland, Jolenta was able to use her material means to assist the poor, the sick, widows, and orphans. Her husband joined her in building hospitals, convents, and churches so that he was surnamed “the Pious.”  

As a young girl, Yolanda was sent to Poland to be tutored under the supervision of her sister, Kinga, who was married to the Duke of Poland.  During the time of her marriage, she was noted for her great services to the poor and needy of the country, as well as being a major benefactor of the monasteries, friaries and hospitals connected to them.

Upon the death of her husband and the marriage of two of her daughters, After his death in 1279 and the marriage of two daughters, Jolenta, Kunigunde, also now widowed, and Jolenta’s youngest daughter entered a Poor Clares convent.

Jolenta later became abbess of a convent she had founded with her husband. Also known as Helen of Poland and Yolanda of Poland, Jolenta and her third daughter entered the convent of the Poor Clares. War forced Jolenta to move to another convent where despite her reluctance, she was made abbess.

So well did Jolenta serve her Franciscan sisters by word and example, that her fame and good works continued to spread beyond the walls of the cloister. Her favorite devotion was the Passion of Christ. Indeed, Jesus appeared to her, telling her of her coming death. Many miracles, down to our own day, are said to have occurred at her grave.