He was born in 1891 at Baranowka near Lubartow, now Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. He entered the Order of DIscalced Carmelites in 1908, taking the religious name Alphonsus mary of the Holy Spirit. He was ordained a priest andappointed as a professor, while dedicating himself to the education of youth. Afterwards he served in his Order as prior and bursar. In 1944, after having been arrested by the troops that had invaded his country, he was shot dead on August 28 at Nawojowa Gora, near Krzeszowice. He was beatified by JohnPaul II on June 13 1999, together with many other Polish martyrs. The picture of the Blessed Alphonsus Mary can be found at the website of the Discalced Carmelite publishing house website link: https://wkb-krakow.pl/obrazki/871-obrazek-bl-alfons-maria-mazurek.html
'Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness: the kingdom of Heaven
is theirs (Mt 5:10). In a particular way, this beatitude places the events of Good Friday before our eyes. Christ was condemned to death as a criminal, and then crucified. On Calvary it seemed he had been abandoned by God and left at the mercy of people's derision....he wanted the words of the sermon on the mount to be verified in himself: 'Blessed are you when people abuse and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you' (Mt 5:11-12).
To whom these words still apply? To many, many people throughout humanity's history, to whom it was given to suffer persecution for the sake of justice. We know that the first three centuries after Christ were marked by persecution, at times terrible, particularly under some Roman emperors, from Nero to Diocletian. Even though these ceased from the time of the Edict of Milan, nevertheless, they broke out again in various historical eras, in numerous places throughout the world. Even our century has written a great martyrology. I myself, over twenty years of my pontificate, have elevated to the glory of the altar numerous groups of martyrs: Japanese, french, Vietnamese, SPanish, Mexican. How many there were during the period of the Second World War and under the communist totalitarian system! They suffered and gave their life in the Hitlerian or Soviet extermination camps......I am happy that I was able to beatify, among others the one hundred and eight martyrs, Blessed Fr Alphonsus Mary Mazurek, a pupil, and much later, a well-deserving educator in the minor seminary connected to the Discalced Carmelite Monastery. I had an occassion of meeting personally with the witness to Christ, who in 1944, as prior of the Czerna monastery, sealed his faithfulness to God with death through martydrom. I kneel in veneration of his relics which rest in the church of St Joseph and I thanks God for the gift of the life, the martyrdom and sanctity of this great religious. Excerpts from the addresses of Pope John Paul II, June 1999.
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