Magnificat Vol. LIX, No. 1 29 tion to this day. Our intramural telephone system was installed and maintained by him until the end of his life. Happy to be of service to the least of his brothers or sisters, he would drop everything to listen and find a solution to their predicament, any time of day or night. When anyone apologized for interrupting his work, he would say: “You’re not disturbing me. It’s a privilege for me to serve you.” Totally self-sacrificing, discreet and forgetful of himself, he dedicated himself cordially to everyone. Dauntless in spite of his illness, Mr. Bugajski was very tenacious and diligent in attending Community services. He had to be extremely ill to miss them. Father John Gregory, and after him Father Mathurin, testified to his great spirit of poverty, obedience and dependence, saying that he lived like a real religious. Our venerated Founder often called upon his services to visit and organize several of our religious houses in the United States. It was also Mr. Bugajski who took the necessary steps to obtain exemption from property taxes for some of our properties. Always available to serve wherever his superiors called him, he was absent when his wife gave birth to their last son in March 1971. A severe hemorrhage followed that birth and nearly took the mother’s life. Mr. Bugajski’s confidence and abandonment ensured divine protection. Ascent to Calvary Mr. Bugajski’s digestive system had been severely ravaged by Crohn’s disease despite the attentive care of his wife, who prepared his meals according to a very strict diet. In 1979 he had to undergo an ileostomy.4 The surgeons had no choice but to place a transcutaneous drain in his abdomen, fitted with a bag. Considering the serious condition of their patient, his doctors gave him ten years to live. But God is the Master of life and death, and He gave him more than forty! On June 1, 2014, Harry Bugajski had the immense sorrow of losing his beloved wife to pancreatic cancer. A month and a half later, on July 19, his second daughter, Sister Jacinthe de l’Étoile de la Mer, succumbed to generalized cancer.5 4.Surgical procedure whereby the intestinal transit is diverted directly from the ileum (last section of the small intestine) towards the outside, through the wall of the abdomen. 5.Biographical notes on Mrs. Mary Anna Bugajski and Sister Jacinthe de l’Étoile de la Mer can be found in the November 2014 issue of Magnificat magazine. It was always a great joy to be together; the youngest was not yet born. Mealtime – Mrs. Bugajski prepared meals for her husband, following a very strict diet.
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