Anna Ernestine Bialecka, née Radziejowska

No official documents showing Anna Ernestyne Bialecka’s birth have yet been found. Based on the information from Mother Columba’s biography, it can be established that she was born in 1802.

Anna Ernestyne was the daughter of Michał (Michael) Radziejowski and Józefa (Josephine), of the house of Czosnowski. Ernestyne’s life was marked with much suffering. She lost her first four children. In addition, her husband died when the youngest child was 15 years old. Her trust in Divine Providence never wavered. Her faith was profoundly influenced by the Dominicans. She was a member of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary and she received the scapular of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. After her husband’s death, the provincial delegate of the Order received her religious profession in Lviv where she was the superior of the Dominican Tertiaries for many years. As her letters testify, she was genuinely interested in the affairs of the Congregation founded by her daughter. They also reveal a profound spiritual bond between the two, as well as a truly maternal care for the other sisters.

She died at the age of 87, on June 8, 1889 in Lviv and was buried next to her husband and two other daughters at the Lychakiv Cemetery.