The Teachings of Blessed George

Blessed George Matulaitis, MIC, (1871-1927) was an educator and social reformer. Son of a poor Lithuanian farming family, orphaned at a young age, he knew the plight of the poor and workers. It was his conviction that knowledge guided by a deep spiritual life could renew modern society. As priest and bishop, inspired by the example of his seminary spiritual director, Blessed Honorat Kozminski, ofm cap, he organized laity to serve those in greatest need. George reformed the Marians of the Immaculate Conception (1910) and founded the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (1918) and Handmaids of Jesus in the Eucharist (1919).

The Friends of the Needy is organized according to his 1921 instruction The Guiding Thought and Spirit.

Blessed George, over his objections, was appointed the bishop of Vilnius, in 1918, by Pope Benedict XV. He suffered greatly in this role as pastor and shepherd because of nationalism and prejudice, as well as the political turmoil of the times. During his episcopacy he founded 2 religious communities of sisters to work with the poor and the rejected. He took as his motto St. Paul’s advice to “conquer evil with good.” Exhausted by the work, he was ultimately allowed by the pope to resign in 1925, who then appointed him archbishop and sent him to Lithuania to reach a concordat with the government.

Having completed the treaty, Blessed George died unexpectedly on January 27, 1927 from appendicitis. The renown of his saintliness (acknowledged even by the popes he served) led to the introduction of his cause with the Congregation for the Saints. After a miracle was attributed to his prayers, John Paul II enrolled him among the blessed during the celebration of 700 years of Christianity in Lithuania, in 1987. His feast day is January 27.