The first step towards raising the founder of the Stary Sącz monastery to the altars was the collection of accounts of 21 miracles worked by God through Kinga’s intercession. These miracles were written down in the years 1307-1312, less than twenty years after Kinga’s death. The short, concise accounts were compiled from the monastery’s records under the title “Miracula Sanctae Kyngae”. The work was completed in 1329.
A clear trace of efforts to have Kinga counted among the saints is the appeal that Jan Długosz addressed to the Bishop of Kraków, Jakub of Sienno. Among other things, he stresses the sloth and ingratitude of the Polish nation, because of which the cause of Kinga’s canonisation had not been taken up, and says that the Bishop of Kraków above all should make up for the nation’s neglect by working hard for Kinga’s canonisation.
Primate Jan Łaski, Archbishop of Gniezno, while seeking in Rome in 1514 the canonisation of Prince Casimir, suggested that at the same time efforts should be made for the canonisation of the saintly Kinga, John Cantius, Hyacinth Odrowąż and Simon of Lipnica. We have no historical evidence, however, that King Sigismund I or representatives of the Commonwealth took up the appeal of the Polish Primate Łaski or made any efforts for the canonisation of these Servants of God.
After years of religious conflict following the appearance of Luther, Cardinal Jerzy Radziwiłł, as Bishop of Kraków, took the Stary Sącz monastery under his authority. After a canonical visitation he concluded that efforts should be made to raise to the altars the saintly founder of the Stary Sącz monastery, Kinga. Her biographer Frankowic noted that Cardinal Radziwiłł, travelling to Rome for the jubilee year of 1600, intended to ask Pope Clement VIII for the canonisation of St. Kinga, but was prevented by his early death. Frankowic also notes that Bishop Piotr Tylicki, who governed the Diocese of Kraków in 1607-1616, showed goodwill in the efforts for Kinga’s canonisation.
The estates of the Commonwealth, renewed and strengthened in their Catholic faith, flocked to the tomb of the Lady of Sącz as a powerful patron of the Kingdom of Poland. The faithful gave her public veneration in the firm conviction that her cult had already been approved by the church authorities. For a long time no Bishop of Kraków opposed these practices.
On 13 March 1625 a decree of the Holy Inquisition approved by Pope Urban VIII was issued, and on 5 July 1634 a second decree of the same pope was published.
According to the guidelines contained in these decrees, the beatification process had to be carried out quickly.
The synod held in Piotrków in 1628 presented Pope Urban VIII with a request concerning the possible canonisation of John Cantius, Stanislaus Kostka, Kinga, Salomea and Josaphat Kuntsevych.
King Sigismund III supported the petition of the synod of Polish bishops concerning Kinga’s canonisation with a separate letter. The Bishop of Kraków, Marcin Szyszkowski, submitted a separate letter to the pope about Kinga’s canonisation. Through the same bishop, the Poor Clares of Stary Sącz petitioned Pope Urban VIII for the canonisation of the founder of their monastery as soon as possible.
Without waiting for a reply from Rome, Bishop Szyszkowski appointed a special commission, which on 27 May 1628 began collecting the relevant documents. 82 witnesses were heard, the oldest lives of Kinga were studied and the miracles worked through her intercession with God were described. The files of the cause were sent to Rome.
After examining the files, the Congregation of Rites found the material insufficient and ordered a new process. The process was conducted by Fr Marcin Kłociński, Fr Jan Kwaśnicki, Fr Bartłomiej Fusoriusz and Fr Mikołaj Kownacki. All four were approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites. For almost a whole year from 8 June 1629 the process continued concerning the holiness of Kinga’s life, the miracles worked through her intercession and her public cult from time immemorial.
In this process 84 witnesses were heard. The files were sent to the Roman Congregation of Rites. In the meantime, petitions to hasten the beatification were sent by the kings of the Vasa family and by the synod of bishops held in Warsaw in 1634, and King Ladislaus IV sent his petition through the Crown Chancellor Jerzy Ossoliński in 1644.
King John Casimir asked Pope Alexander VII to approve a Mass formulary in honour of St. Kinga, which would have amounted to an informal beatification.
The cause of Kinga’s beatification took a favourable course towards its completion only during the reign of King John III Sobieski.
At the king’s intervention, the Holy See ordered a process concerning the public cult of Kinga existing from time immemorial.
The process was conducted by a special commission headed by the Apostolic Delegate, the auxiliary bishop of Kraków, Mikołaj Oborski.
The process began on 1 March 1684. Besides Bishop Oborski the commission included Fr Maciej Tryliński, Fr Maciej Jan Balfor, Fr Adam Strykowski and Fr Franciszek Karol Adwedykowicz, and from time to time Fr Marcin Ignacy Frankowic, who wrote an extensive life of St. Kinga, and Fr Sebastian Piskorski also took part. Fr Walerian Gutowski, a Franciscan, acted as patron and procurator of the Poor Clares of Stary Sącz. He watched over the course of the process but was not a member of the beatification tribunal.
On 23 March 1685 Bishop Oborski, as Apostolic Delegate, published his opinion on the public cult of Kinga existing from time immemorial. Faithful copies still had to be made of all the documents testifying to the public cult and of all the witnesses’ statements. This difficult and laborious work, as everything had to be copied by hand, was not completed until 13 January 1687.
Pope Alexander VIII, recognising the public cult of Kinga existing from time immemorial, counted Kinga among the blessed on 11 June 1690.
The week-long celebrations in honour of the newly beatified Kinga took place only on 24 July 1691, in both Stary Sącz and Kraków.
The Poor Clares of Stary Sącz were not content with the beatification of their founder; they wished to see her among the canonised saints. As early as 1733 they began efforts for the canonisation of St. Kinga. The soul of these efforts was the then abbess of the Stary Sącz monastery, Teresa Stadnicka.
First, material concerning the miracles that had taken place through St. Kinga’s intercession after her beatification was officially collected. The material was sent to the Congregation of Rites in Rome. After studying it, the Congregation instructed the Bishop of Kraków, Cardinal Jan Aleksander Lipski, to conduct the canonisation process.
With the authority of the Holy See, Cardinal Lipski appointed a special tribunal consisting of Fr Michał Wodzicki of Granów, official of the episcopal court in Kraków, and the Cistercian abbot of Wąchock. Fr Stanisław Czekayski served as notary. The procurator on behalf of the Poor Clares of Stary Sącz was Fr Michał Awedyk, canon of the Sącz collegiate church.
Collecting the necessary documents and writing detailed reports of on-site inspections and of the hearings of witnesses lasted from 7 August 1742 to March 1744. All the material was collected and put in order only in 1749. The documentation was authenticated by the Bishop of Kraków, Andrzej Załuski. Canon Łopacki took the authenticated files to the Congregation of Rites in Rome.
The lack of funds and of suitable people to support the cause and complete the documents required by the Congregation of Rites, together with the partitions of Poland and the dissolution of the Poor Clare monastery in Stary Sącz, interrupted the efforts for St. Kinga’s canonisation.
In 1892, the six hundredth anniversary of St. Kinga’s death, both the Poor Clares and Polish society hoped that the year would not only deepen the cult of St. Kinga but also hasten her canonisation.
At the request of Cardinal Ledóchowski, Pope Leo XIII granted a plenary indulgence to all who took part in the jubilee celebrations on 24 July 1892 or during their octave.
On 23 July Cardinal Dunajewski, with the permission of the Holy See, transferred the relics of St. Kinga to a newly funded reliquary in the presence of the clergy and the faithful, drawing up an official record. The next day the cardinal celebrated a solemn High Mass, and the sermon was preached by the Archbishop of the Armenian Rite, Izaak Mikołaj Isakowicz. After the Mass there was a procession with the saint’s relics around the market square of Sącz.
After the celebrations, from 24 to 31 July, a parish mission was held for the inhabitants of Stary Sącz and pilgrims from the surrounding area. At the end of the mission, on 31 July, a second procession with the relics of St. Kinga was held, and the solemn High Mass was celebrated by the Bishop of Tarnów, Ignacy Łobos. The bishop then allowed the reliquary of St. Kinga to be carried by representatives of the different estates, and after the procession allowed the faithful to visit the Poor Clares’ monastery.
The 600th anniversary of St. Kinga’s death was also celebrated in Kraków, Wieliczka and Bochnia.
After the jubilee celebrations the clergy and the faithful, and especially the Poor Clares of Stary Sącz, asked Bishop Łobos of Tarnów to intervene with the Holy See to complete the canonisation process. There are, however, no documents showing any efforts concerning the canonisation on the part of the Ordinary of Tarnów at that time.
In 1905, at the request of the Bishop of Tarnów, Leon Wałęga, Pope Pius X issued a brief permitting a new canonisation process to supplement the documents and testimonies collected so far.
Fr Marian Sobolewski, a Franciscan, was appointed postulator of the cause in Rome, and Fr Alojzy Góralik became vice-postulator in Poland.
Since the new canonisation process, according to the guidelines of Pope Pius X, was to be a continuation of the process of 1742, an attempt was made to find those files in the Archive of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. After a not very intensive search, they were found only in 1935.
When Bishop Franciszek Lisowski took the see of Tarnów, concrete action was taken for the canonisation of St. Kinga.
Fr Wojciech Topoliński, a Franciscan, was appointed the new postulator in Rome, and the Bishop of Tarnów appointed Fr Jan Pabis, an Oratorian, as vice-postulator in Poland.
Very laborious work was undertaken to collect documents on the life, virtues and public cult of St. Kinga.
Years of laborious work were supported by the First Plenary Synod of the Polish Episcopate, held in Częstochowa. In their petition to the Holy Father Pius XI in 1936, the participants of the synod presented well-documented reasons why they considered the canonisation of St. Kinga the most timely and very beneficial religious act for the Church in Poland.
The years of the Second World War pushed the cause of St. Kinga’s canonisation into the background, as far more important material, political and spiritual problems demanded immediate solutions. In 1965 the Polish Bishops’ Conference, meeting in Wrocław, sent an extensive letter to Pope Paul VI asking him to hasten the canonisation of St. Kinga. Convincing reasons were presented for the need and timeliness of this canonisation.
The Bishop of Tarnów, Jerzy Ablewicz, took appropriate steps to pursue the cause. The postulator of the cause in Rome at the time was Fr Antonio Ricciardi, a Franciscan, who appointed Fr Caliński as vice-postulator.
After some time the Ordinary of Tarnów gave up Fr Ricciardi’s assistance.
In the meantime a Historical Commission was appointed for the process. Its fruit was a plan for presenting the public cult of St. Kinga from her death to the present day. The plan was carried out by Fr Kazimierz Szwarga in his doctoral thesis on the cult of St. Kinga.
Before his death Archbishop Ablewicz entrusted the cause of St. Kinga’s canonisation once again to the Franciscan Fathers.
The duties of postulator were taken over by Fr Ambrogio Sanna, who on 16 April 1990 appointed Fr Izydor Borkiewicz, a Franciscan, as his vice-postulator in Poland.
The vice-postulator continued the work of his predecessors. With the help of the Poor Clares he compiled a bibliography of St. Kinga from the beginning of the 14th century up to and including 1992. He then carried out searches in Polish archives and libraries. He prepared the collected material according to the guidelines of the Roman relator of the canonisation cause, Fr Cristoforo Bove, a Franciscan appointed to this post by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
In August 1993 the Bishop of Tarnów, Józef Życiński, appointed a new Historical Commission to evaluate the material collected so far and to indicate where further searches for possible historical documents should be made. On 26 May 1994 the Historical Commission completed its work, having gathered the necessary documents, extracts from historical sources and quotations from the works of Polish and foreign historians. The collected material includes documents issued by St. Kinga, the oldest historical sources, the results of research on these sources and the more valuable historical works. In total, the files of the Historical Commission comprise over 600 typewritten pages.
On 22 February 1994 the process concerning a miraculous healing through the intercession of St. Kinga began. From 5 to 24 March the witnesses were heard, and on 26 May the closing session of the process was held in Tarnów, chaired by Bishop Józef Życiński. The files of the cause were sent to the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
On the same day the last session of the Historical Commission was held. The process files were sealed and sent to Rome on 24 July 1994.
On 22 October 1996 the Positio super virtutibus beatae Cunegundis, prepared by the Postulation of the Conventual Friars Minor, was handed over to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
The process concerning heroic virtue, which began on 10 October 1996, ended on 3 July 1998 with the promulgation of the decree on the heroic virtues of our Saint. On 19 November of the same year a session of the medical consultors was held concerning the healing through the intercession of St. Kinga. The two following sessions, of the theologians (25 November 1998) and of the cardinals and bishops (12 January 1999), confirmed the positive opinion of the medical consultors. On 12 February 1999 the Holy Father John Paul II confirmed the consultors’ findings, thus definitively concluding the process. The canonisation was set for 16 June 1999, when the Holy Father, during his visit to Stary Sącz, raised the Lady of the Sącz Land to the glory of the saints.