catholicmartyrs - Bishop Antony Malecki

Antony Iosifovich Malecki was born on St. Petersburg on the 17th of April 1861. He completed studies at the St. Petersburg Seminary and ordained a priest in 1884. In 1896 he organized a boy's shelter, and the first Polish lycee. He was arrested in March of 1923 and sentenced to three years of confinement. In January of 1926 he returned to Leningrad. On the 13th of May, 1926, he was consecrated bishop and appointed Apostolic Administrator of Leningrad. In November of 1930, he was arrested and sent to exile in Siberia. In 1934 he was freed because of the intervention of international organizations, and was sent to Poland in exchange for another prisoner. His health, broken by the sufferings undergone during his imprisonment, was in a very precarious state. He died in Warsaw on the 17th of January 1935. He is buried in the Cathedral of St. John in Warsaw. In 1961 he was reinterred in the Powonzki Cemetery in Warsaw.

In his work in St. Petersburg Bishop Malecki devoted a great deal of energy and attention to the young and to children's education, for which he came to be called "The Don Bosco of Petersburg." Even though he was taken off to Poland in 1934, he had resisted going, citing his pastoral responsibilities.

Among the faithful the memory of Bishop Malecki is widespread, as is the recognition of his sanctity. Prayers are offered for his beatification, and images of him are kept with reverence. A symposium to his memory was conducted in St. Petersburg, Russia, and a memorial tablet honouring him has been placed in the parish of St. Stanislaus. Several publications have been dedicated to him, and there is a society named in his honour.