Brother Alojzy Kosiba – apostle of goodness from Wieliczka
Piotr Kosiba was born on 29 June 1855 in Libusza in his family home. He was the son of Jan Kosiba and Agnieszka. On the same day he was baptized in the parish church by the parish priest Alojzy Haas, who gave him the name of the patron saint of that day – St. Haysius. Peter the Apostle. His godparents were neighbors: Józef Sroka and Marianna Piotrowska. Mother Agnieszka died in the second year of Piotr Kosiba's life. Since then, he grew up with his father, adoptive mother and siblings – Jakub, 3 years older and Ludwika 2 years younger (from Agnieszka's mother). From his second marriage with his wife Apolonia, seven children were conceived, three of whom died immediately after birth.
When the time was right (most likely in the years 1862 -1866) Piotr Kosiba attended the parish school in Libusza. After graduating from this school, his father directed Piotr to continue his education at the folk school in Biecz. There he also began to learn the profession of a shoemaker. Piotr Kosiba received the diploma of a shoemaker's journeyman around 1874. While in Biecz, he met for the first time the Franciscans, then called the Reformates. During his apprenticeship, he often came to the monastery of the Reformers to pray, to serve Mass, and to receive the sacrament of penance. By the way, he watched the life of the monks and could talk to them. Here, in some way, his personality crystallized, based on Franciscan spirituality. Wanting to gain more experience in the profession, he went to Tarnów. The preserved documentation shows that the term in Biecz was liberated in the spring of 1876.
After a two-year stay in Tarnów, he asked to be admitted to the Order of Friars Minor Reformers. The monastery to which Piotr Kosiba was to go as an aspirant was the city of Jarosław. The direct educator and spiritual father in Jarosław was Father Melchior Kruczyński. He slowly introduced the young aspirant to monastic duties and customs, giving him advice, guidance and instructions. The main task of the postulans was to pray and help the elder brothers in their activities. In a very short time, on June 21, 1878, he was allowed to be clothed. Such a quick closure in the religious habit was probably determined by his attitude, appropriate maturity, as well as the conviction of his superiors about his authentic vocation. They took place on the day of the liturgical memorial of St. Alojzy Gonzaga, whose name was also given to Piotr Kosiba. From now on, this name will be inseparably connected with his person. The habit worn by Brother Aloysius was a tunic without a hood, striped with a white stripe, worn by the tertiary brothers. In August 1878, Brother Alojzy Kosiba moved from the monastery in Jarosław to Wieliczka.
On the day of Brother Alojzy's nailing to the class in Wieliczka, a long period in his life began, which will last until his death in 1939, but at the same time when he crossed the threshold of this house, he also became closely connected with the city and the wider area. He entered a new environment of people, religious and laity, who accompanied him on his path to holiness and which he also enriched with his witness and his spiritual life. In addition to his usual novitiate duties, Brother Aloysius' occupation was shoemaking. Sometimes he went to the fundraiser with his brother Marek Lichon – the main bursar of Wieliczka, but to the nearby area, because as a novice he had to return to the calsztor for the night.
After a year of probation, on October 22, 1880, Brother Luigi made his profession, that is, vows for the Rule of St. Francis, in the presence of the Fathers and Brothers of the Wieliczka Convent. Since then, his life has become more independent. Five years after taking simple vows, on May 14, 1885, he made solemn vows in the hands of the provincial, father Joachim Maciejczyk.
Brother Alojzy has never been transferred to another monastery since his arrival in Wieliczka. From the beginning of his stay in Wieliczka, Brother Alojzy questioned. He went to the fundraiser mainly with brother Marek Lichoń, who was the main bursar of the monastery, but sometimes also with other brothers. On January 27, 1916, brother Marek Lichoń died. It was then that Brother Luigi completely took over the duty of collecting alms for the monastery.
The war times were extremely difficult: for some time the monastery was within the range of hostilities, and the fundraiser was forbidden by the military authorities. It was not even allowed to bake one's own bread, but one lived on cornbread from the military assignment. The monastery was full of refugees, as well as residents of Wieliczka protecting themselves from military action. Brother Aloysius was mainly concerned with supplies. After the war, in very difficult economic conditions, Brother Alojzy tirelessly questioned, reaching as far as the foot of the Tatra Mountains. In general, the fundraiser occupied Brother Aloysius from 5 to 6 months a year. And so slowly passed the years of his life, although similar to each other, enriched by prayer, conscientious work and ever deeper union with God. Brother Alojzy took care of the abandoned and sick at home in Wieliczka. He brought them the food he had collected earlier, and also brought in a doctor who, at his request, gave free medical care to the poor. Medicines, which the doctor prescribed to the poor, brother Alojzy made free of charge at the pharmacist in Wieliczka. The Servant of God cared for the poor until the last moments of his life – when he was already terminally ill and could not eat a meal, he asked to be taken to the poor at the gate. We can therefore conclude that collecting alms and serving the poor at the gate were the main occupations of Brother Alojzy during his sixty-one-year stay in Wieliczka.
Brother Aloysius spent the last years of his life fulfilling his daily duties and enjoying very good health. He spent Christmas 1938 among the religious community. On January 2, 1939, Aloysius went to bed. The doctor called in found pneumonia. During the night and the next day, the illness made so much progress that Brother Luigi could no longer receive Holy Communion. He died on January 4, 1939. Initially, they wanted to bury Brother Alojzy in the parish cemetery, as other monks were buried, but a lot of people came asking to be buried as a faithful servant of the monastery at the monastery. These opinions were supported by the monks. Therefore, it was decided to bury the Servant of God in the cemetery near the church. The funeral took place with a very large participation of diocesan priests and numerous believers who filled the church and almost the churchyard. The faithful came to the coffin before the funeral and prayed. The influx of believers was spontaneous, because the Servant of God was so well-known and liked by the local population that his death made a great impression and the news of the funeral spread quickly. Father Anatol Pytlik in the report on the state of Provinsia M. B. In 1939, he gave a very eloquent testimony to the Servant of God at the General Capiruła of the Order of Friars Minor in Poland, writing: 'In 1939, in the Wieliczka monastery, Brother Alojzy Kosiba, brother of the jubilarian, father of the poor died – distinguished especially by deeds of mercy, pious, humble and joyful and enjoying great respect also among people indifferent in faith'. It seems that these words best describe the life of the Servant of God Brother Alojzy Kosiba.
In 1990, the Holy Father John Paul II, in a special letter on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of Wieliczka, wrote m.in.: "Famous is not only in Poland the 'salt treasure' connected through history with the person of Blessed Kinga. May the model be the Servant of God Alojzy Kosiba, who not so long ago walked the streets of this city and the whole area, becoming a living sign of love for God and neighbour".
Brother Luigi Kosiba is called a holy almoner, an apostle of goodness and the poor.
"He walked around the villages
in the habit of Francis
He begged for gifts
Hope
Love
Faith
collected and distributed
poorer than themselves
Bursar Wielicki
Brother Alojzeczek
My Patron
and the star of the little ones"
– "Bursar" Adrian Brzózka, OFM
