Blessed Anna Kolesárová

Feast Day

22-Nov

Born

14 July 1928 in Vysoká nad Uhom, diocese of Košice, Czechoslovakia (in the modern Slovak Republic)

Died

Shot in the chest and the face with a rifle on 22 November 1944 in Pavlovce nad Uhom, Košice, Slovak Republic; buried in a shallow grave on the evening of the next day by her family who still had to spend most of their time in hiding due the combat around them; re-buried and given proper funeral rites by Father Anton Lukác on 29 November 1944; he immediately begin conducting his own preliminary investigation into her Cause for Canonization; during the period of Communist Czechoslovakia, mention of the incident and gatherings at her grave were prohibited; since the fall of the Communist government, her grave has become a pilgrimage site for young people including the Catholic youth organization Domcek which is dedicated to her memory

Beatified

1 September 2018 by Pope Francis; the beatification recognition was celebrated at the Štadión Lokomotívy, Čermeľ, Košice, Slovakia with Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu as chief celebrant

Venerated

6 March 2018 by Pope Francis (decree of martyrdom in defense of chastity)