February 19, 2021

Marian Father Seraphim Michalenko dies at age 90; was expert on St. Faustina

REGIONAL
Staff report

(Photo from thedivinemercy.org)

PITTSFIELD — Marian Father Seraphim Michalenko, 90, of Stockbridge, died from an illness related to COVID-19 on Thursday, Feb. 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourders, at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, near the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge. The shrine is operated by the Congregation of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, which in 2020 began the three-year celebration of its 350th anniversary.

Father Michalenko was a world-renowned expert on the life and spirituality of St. Faustina Kowalska, the Polish nun whose diary inspired the Divine Mercy devotion. Father Michalenko smuggled photographic images of the pages of St. Faustina’s Diary out of Communist-occupied Poland in the 1970s and later documented her beatification and canonization miracles.

A priest for 64 years, Father Michalenko was the vice postulator for the cause of beatification and then the canonization of St. Faustina. He had even personally witnessed the miracle for her beatification when it took place.

A native of Adams, he attended the former St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish there. The parish was the first church in the Western Hemisphere to enshrine an image of the Divine Mercy. Father Michalenko also said he learned about Faustina from a Marian priest who visited his family; and his parents obtained an image of Divine Mercy.

(Photo from Bing images)

In 1979, he was appointed as vice postulator in North America for then-Sister Faustina’s canonization cause. In the 1970s, he went to communist-occupied Poland and smuggled out pages of St. Faustina’s diary as photographic images.

In the 1970s, Father Michalenko also helped to found the Bethany House of Intercession for Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, a spiritual renewal movement for Catholic clergy.

In October 1995 he was assigned to promote the message and devotion of Divine Mercy full time, and continued his work on St. Faustina’s canonization cause. Pope St. John Paul II canonized St. Faustina in 2000; she was the first saint of the new millennium.

Father Michalenko also worked with Mother Angelica to spread the message and devotion of Divine Mercy through EWTN.

Due to the concerns about social gatherings during the pandemic, no memorial events were scheduled.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Marian Fathers, Shrine of The Divine Mercy, Stockbridge, MA 01263.