Bł. Dorota z Mątów Wielkich w pomezańskim Kwidzynie (1391–1394–XXI w.)

• Authors: Jan Wiśniewski

Title variants

EN

Blessed Dorothy of Montau in the pomezanian Kwidzyn (1391/1394–21st c.)

Abstracts

EN

Dorothy of Montau moved to Kwidzyn in 1391 and stayed at the house of women who were servants at the cathedral. Following her confession to rev. John of Marienwerder, she spent most of the day praying and mortifying herself. She refused to eat. It was already then that she started having visions, such as visions of Hell and Purgatory. She was then allowed to receive the Holy Communion more frequently and finally to build a hermitage (reclusory) adjacent the cathedral, where she wanted to devote herself entirely to the Creator, on the model of women mystics of the “devotio moderna” movement (her visions were described in the “Seven Graces” [Septililium] by father John of Marienwerder). On 2 May 1393 Dorothy was walked to the reclusory, where she found the right conditions and place to develop her contacts with God. She believed that “the soul becomes like God when (…) God, who is a form of the soul, imprints himself strongly in the intellect, feelings, that is in the will and memory.” This union required frequent consumption of the Eucharist, which Dorothy was encouraged to by Lord Jesus, and she accepted him with a great piety and awe. Father John accepted as genuine Dorothy’s revelations, including those about the condemnation of the Master of the Order Konrad von Wallenrod and punishment in Purgatory. Dorothy died on 25 June 1394 and on 30 October her body was laid in a special grave. Immediately documentation was sent to the Pope asking him for her elevation to the altars, as the faithful informed the chapter of miraculous healings through the intercession of Dorothy. Within a year, until 7 May 1405, 257 witnesses testified to Dorothy’s holiness and 112 accounts of miracles through the intercession of “blessed” Dorothy were reported. Her cult has continued ever since. The canonisation process did not even start because the documents were lost in Rome, so in 1486, the Pope ordered that notarised true copies of the original canonization process documents be submitted again. This time, lack of money prevented its completion. Despite this, the cult of “saint Dorothy” continued among the people of Pomezania, also in publications, and thus in 1636, bishop Jan Lipski ceremonially resumed in Kwidzyn the public worship of Dorothy. However, it was not until 1933 that the bishop of Warmia M. Kaller, supported by the synod of Gdansk, made a request to Rome for the elevation of Dorothy of Montau to the altars. Finally, on 9 January 1976, Pope Paul VI approved the cult of Dorothy shown to her from times immemorial. The mortal remains of blessed Dorothy were never found, because they were removed from the tomb in 1544. However, in 2007 a brick crypt was discovered in the bottom part of the of the Pomezanian cathedral presbytery, which could have been the original place of entombment of blessed Dorothy of Montau.

Keywords

EN

Kwidzyn (Marienwerder); Dorothy of Montau; recluse; cult of Dorothy; canonisation; raising to the altars; grave of blessed Dorothy

• Publisher: Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne Diecezji Elbląskiej w Elblągu
• Journal: Studia Elbląskie
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 14
• Pages: 271-288

Dates

published

2013

Contributors

author

Jan Wiśniewski

• Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie
• Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne Diecezji Elbląskiej

• https://orcid.org/0000000310852517

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Identifiers

Biblioteka Nauki

2166750