There are various ways in which we get to know a person of the past. Through the extensive writings of Columba Białecka, we meet her in person, and not only in historical studies. A gentle woman of her time, we find Columba is known for being an educator. She teaches novices on the many tenets of Dominican life. She also acts as the leader of her young religious community; a leader guided by God and driven by a vision. As such, she advises, admonishes, and supports sisters in mission houses and long trips abroad where they collect funds for their new convent. She demonstrates the skills and intuitions of a socially-minded organizer who effectively communicates with ecclesial and civil authorities. We learn most, however, when at last we see her stripped of all public roles and duties; in a place where she is simply herself: the inner chamber of her heart. There we meet a humble spouse of Christ who, out of love for her Beloved, assumes any hardship of self-mastery and divine purification. Her goal is perfect spiritual unity.
The selection of Columba’s writings come from various sources. The main ones are the formation manual called Directory for the Novitiate; Letters to the sisters, priests, and other people; her personal journal titled Inspirations; the original Constitutions of 1888, and other often very short expressions of her soul. In all of them, Columba Białecka comes across as a person hidden in God and consumed with the desire for His glory. Meet then the real woman who, strolling the earth, inhabited Heaven.