The Virgin Mary protected the seminarian Karol Wojtyla

August 6th, the liturgical feast of the Transfiguration, was “Black Sunday” in Kraków as the Gestapo swept the city, rounding up young men to forestall a reprise of the Warsaw Uprising. Archbishop Sapieha immediately called in his underground seminarians, intending to hide them in his residence. …

When he arrived there, Maliński’s (1) first question was, “Is Karol Wojtyła (2) here?” He was there, but it had been a close call. During the sweep the day before, the Gestapo had searched the first two floors of the house at Tyniecka, Karol had remained behind a closed door in his basement apartment, praying for deliverance with heart pounding… The Germans departed empty-handed.

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(1) Polish Catholic priest and theologian

(2) Future Pope Saint John Paul II

George Weigel

Witness to Hope: The Biography of John Paul II (HarperCollins Publishers, 1999)