Today, November 19, is the memorial of Saint Raphael Kalinowski.
Carmelite friar.
He was born Jozef Kalinowski to a noble Polish family in Vilnius, Lithuania in 1835. When he turned 18, he joined the Imperial Russian Army and got promoted to Captain years later. He later resigned from the Army and became minister of war of a Polish insurrection. He vowed never to hand a death sentence to anyone. He later became a prisoner of war. His faith reached greater heights during this period; he even served as spiritual adviser to fellow prisoners.
Along the way, he almost got killed by firing squad, and became a researcher and a tutor to a teenage prince. All along Jozef held on to what was, in fact, his vocation.
In 1877, he joined the Discalced Carmelites and received the religious name “Raphael of St. Joseph.” He became a priest and a prior. He contributed greatly to the restoration of the Discalced Carmelites in Poland. He was known for his zeal for Church unity and by his dedication to his ministry as confessor and spiritual director.
He died of tuberculosis in 1907 at age 72. Pope St. John Paul II beatified him in Krakow, Poland in 1983. The same pope canonized him in Rome in 1991.