Bronislava was born at the castle of Kamien in Upper Silesia in 1203. Her
family was of Polish origin and devoted to the Gregorian reform movement. She
grew up in an atmosphere deeply influenced by the Crusades and devotion to the
Holy Cross would characterize her entire life. She was 16 years old when she
entered the cloister of the Norbertine nuns at Zwierzyniec in Krakow, a convent
which had been founded by her maternal grandfather. Bronislava’s devout
prayer, her meditation on the Passion of Christ, and her veneration of the Holy
Cross left a deep impression on her contemporaries. When the Tartars invaded
Krakow in 1241, Bronislava, holding the Cross in her hand, encouraged her sisters
with the words, “Do not be afraid, the Cross will save us.” The
barbarians left behind a track of misery. In the same year, the pestilence also
ravaged this region. In every difficult challenge, Bronislava, supported by
her sisters, was an “angel of consolation” to the people in their
need. The population considered her their patroness on whom they could count
when they needed protection. Her help and protection was the Cross and she is
therefore usually represented as praying before Jesus Crucified. During her
grave afflictions, she withdrew to the solitude of the hill of Sikornik where
she entrusted her troubles and the troubles of her fellow men to the mercy of
God. She saw her cousin, the Dominican St. Hyacinth, in a vision at the time
of his death on August 15, 1257, as he went to heaven holding the hand of the
Blessed Virgin.
Bronislava died on August 29, 1259. Her body was taken to the convent church
and she was invoked as a saint. Her relics were placed in a precious reliquary
and were carried in solemn procession each year on the anniversary of her death.
Pope Gregory XVI declared her blessed on August 23, 1839. The efforts of the
Polish bishops toward the canonization of Bronislava in 1947 at Pope Pius XII
were delayed by forty years of Communist rule. For information to the current
canonization process 
Causae
of the Order.