Some information on Walter Cizek

1. Fr. Walter Cizek faced many trials throughout his many years in Soviet Russia. Among the most testing of these trials were his years spent at the prison in Lubianka, being interrogated as a “Vatican spy.” Kept in isolation and left to his thoughts for years on end, he often turned to God and bible passages for support. However, even after all his prayer; he still fell to an interrogator’s methods. Turning once more to more fervent prayer, he comes to a realization that he had been praying all the wrong things. He recalls Jesus in the garden of Olives before his crucifixion, how he let God’s will be done. From then on, he strived to live following that principle in all things he did. The Bible also helped to advise Fr. Cizek during the Russian invasion of Poland, where he was living at the time. He likened it to the many times that Israel cried out to God in the Old Testament, asking for an end to their hardships. Cizek took comfort in knowing that, just as the Israelites were saved, The Poles would eventually be saved as well. Cizek’s faith in the Incarnation principle strengthened during his time in the labor camps. This is largely due to the fact that he had to undergo such physical hardship and trauma during his years at the labor camps, and he reminded himself that Christ had also humbled himself in such a way as to do physical labor on earth as well.
2. Fr. Cizek often had a difficult time discerning and understanding God’s will for him, and where he was supposed to be. This conundrum arose in cases where Cizek was making a big life decision for himself, and he struggled between wondering whether he was going to do what he wanted, or what God wanted. The first case of this presented in the book was when Cizek was deciding whether or not to go to Russia. Eventually, he decided to leave Poland for Russia, having decided that God could use him more there than where he was. Another time this occurred was when Cizek was being interrogated