Adalbert Bibi Šimáková

* 1921

  • “I would say, stick with God. And pray – each and every one of you pray to God in your own way. And believe in Him. Without God, you amount to anything. When people are in trouble, our Lord is merciful. Always keep in mind that God is with us and helps us. We don’t even know he’s helping us. Just don’t abandon God. My mum always said: ‘Don’t get rid of God.’ God is the strength you get to know when you hurt. When you’re in trouble, only God will stay with you, you know? People are friendly, but never compassionate enough for you to depend on them.”

  • “I went to St Ignatius Church all the time. There was a Marian community there. All the priests from St Ignatius were imprisoned. The Nazis put them in a concentration camp. The Jesuits brought some priests over from Moravia. He [Father Horáček] came to Moravia from Ukraine, and then he came to Prague. He was the first there to help out, and he brought us in the community. He told us in the community that if we needed something or wanted to study, he would help us.”

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    Praha, 10.05.2021

    (audio)
    délka: 02:01:34
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God is the strength you will know when you hurt

Sister Adalbert Šimáková in 2021
Sister Adalbert Šimáková in 2021
zdroj: Post Bellum

Božena Šimáková was born in Mašov near Příbram on 18 December 1921. During World War II, she worked as a governess with a wealthy Prague family, and went to the St Ignatius Church of the Jesuit order. She confided to one of the local priests that she was attracted to mission work. He arranged for her to be admitted to the Irish-based Medical Missionaries of Mary congregation. Aged 26, she left for Ireland in 1947 and joined the order. She adopted the religious name Adalbert. Initially, she worked at the order’s hospital. Then, instead of an African mission, she went to the papal nunciature in Dublin and took care of the nuncio’s household. She left for the UK with the next nuncio and spent three decades at the nuncianture in London. In addition to the papal diplomatic environment, she got to know the London community of Czech catholic exiles around Father Jan Lang. She studied in Rome in the early 1980s and became the housekeeper for Bishop Jaroslav Škarvada in 1982. After the Velvet Revolution, she returned to her homeland with Bishop Škarvada and managed his estate after his death in 2010. She has stayed in the Czech Republic for good, and was living in Prague in 2021.