WARSAW, Poland, June 19, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) ― The young priest for whose first Mass a nation prayed has died in the hospital.
Fr. Michał Łos was 31.
Łos was diagnosed with a rapidly growing and fatal cancer shortly before Easter when he was a seminarian in a religious house of formation in Ołtarzew, a village a few miles west of Warsaw.
A member of the Orianist order, the young man was permitted by his superiors to take his final vows and, after successfully receiving a dispensation from Pope Francis, was ordained to the diaconate and the priesthood in the same ceremony on May 24.
The ordinations took place in the oncology ward of the Military Hospital in Warsaw, performed by Bishop Marek Solarczyk. Łos was surrounded by his family, his religious superiors, and other members of his order.
Thereafter Łos’ dying wish was to have the strength to say his first Mass. His order turned to social media to publish the news and photos of his ordination and to ask for the nation’s prayers. The mainstream media picked up the story, and Polish Catholics responded with heartfelt generosity. Łos was able to say his first Mass on the first Sunday after his ordination.
As he lay dying, Łos became Poland’s adopted priest-son and his order had to discourage friendly strangers from coming to visit him. An exception was made, however, for the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, who received a blessing from the newly ordained priest.
On Monday, June 18, the Orianists released a statement over Facebook announcing Łos’’s death.
“We regretfully announce that Fr. Michał Łos FDP, recent ordinand of the Congregation of the Orianist Priests, died before noon today,” they wrote.
“We believe that he has met the Risen Christ, whom he so strongly wished to serve as a priest,” they continued.
“We thank you for all the prayers and support.”