After 65 years of doing the Lord’s work around the globe, how does Brother Bruno Karpinski spend his retirement?
‘I get up every morning at 5:15 and spend an hour talking with the Lord, (asking) ‘what do you want me to do, Lord,?? said Karpinski, 87, a Jesuit at Colombiere Center, off Big Lake Road in Springfield Township. ‘Then I go to church and receive his body and blood, the sacraments, and that fortifies me to face the day.?
Karpinski lives his life as a Jesuit brother and member of the ‘Society of Jesus,? which was founded in 1540 by St. Ignatius of Loyola as a religious order of the Catholic Church. The Jesuits serve all over the world.
In 1990, Karpinski settled down at Colombiere, but after a year he went to Poland to teach their novices how to speak English. While in Poland, due to change in temperature, Karpinski developed pain in his legs from the knee down. After eight months, a doctor told him to return home while he could still walk.
Karpinski has been at Colombiere ever since. He works daily in the woodshop, building numerous religious pictures, clocks, rosaries, and puzzle games for children. Some of the puzzles contain candy on the inside.
His tools consist of a drill press, wood planer, coping saw, table saw, and ‘a little sweat.? He said he got into carpentry because as a young man he studied tool making.
‘If you know tool making, then carpentry is just child’s play because tool making requires precision,? he said. ‘So I just started with wood and making various things out of it.?
His main objective is to get pictures of Christ in people’s homes, regardless of the cost.
‘This world is filled with misery. When you behold the splendor of God’s creation throughout this universe, the sun, the moon, and the stars, there must be another purpose for man’s life,? he said. ‘We were not born for these shenanigans, but we were born for eternal life with the creator, God himself.?
Karpinski said he enjoys having a hobby because it keeps him from moping in his room all day and it is therapeutic to problem solving.
‘It also helps keep your mind preoccupied from problems you may be facing,? he said. ‘While you are working, the problem is in the back of your subconscious, so when you finish working and you go back to your problem, you see it through a new perspective.?
So how did Karpinski become a Jesuit?
During World War II, he was working in a factory making essential items for the navy. After his three-year apprenticeship at the Reed Manufacturing Company, he hitchhiked from Erie, Pa., to Buffalo, N.Y. It was there Karpinkski found an recruiting office to join the navy.
‘The fellow looked at me and said ‘what do you want, kid?? I was so skinny,? said Karpinski. ‘I said ‘I want to join the navy.? He looked at me and said ‘go home and eat and get out of here.??
Karpinski said he left disappointed that day, but not for long.
‘The Lord works in mysterious ways,? he said.
While helping his father paint the house, Karpinski had an inspiration to go visit a particular convent nearby.
‘The sister whom I knew said, ‘gee, how providential that you are here because you told me to pray that you become a brother somewhere. Well, there is a Jesuit brother here. I want you to go and meet him,?? he said. ‘After meeting that brother for a half hour, I decided, boy this is the life for me.?
The man told Karpinski if he wanted to understand what ‘brother’s life? is all about, then take a trip to Milford, Ohio, where the Jesuit house was located.
‘I packed my things; I rode there and arrived at the front door. I said ‘I want to be a brother.? They laughed at me,? said Karpinski.
After talking to the master of the house, the master agreed to let him to stay as a guest. After a week, Karpinski told the master he wanted a job at the house. He was assigned to the boiler room. After six months, he moved from boilers to the farm, taking care of the pigs.
‘I was happy there too, outside work, fresh air and everything,? he said.
After six months on the farm, Karprinski was told he had to go upstairs and help the infirmarian.
‘I said to myself ‘by God, you’re going to train me for a doctor,? not bad dressed in white and everything. Away from the stinking pigs, so that was alright,? he said with a laugh.
Six months later, Karpinski received another job as a cleaner, cleaning the rooms of the Jesuits. After six months as a cleaner, he became the ‘assistant buyer of the house? and drove to Cincinnati to make all the purchases. After seven years, a missionary visited the house.
‘He told us, ‘in India we have the untouchables, unreliables, unsociables, etc, etc ? who wants to go???
Karpinski raised his hand and one month later he was chosen to go to India.
‘In those days, there were no flights to India, we went by liberty ship,? he said.
The trip from New Orleans, La., to Karchi, India, took 34 days. From there, he traveled to Bombay, then Patna Bihar. While in Patna, he learned to speak Hindustani, one of 13 major languages. He said he learned the language in six months.
Karpinski’s superior assigned him to be the printer.
‘I asked him, ‘what’s a printer?,?? said Karpinski.
His superior sent him to Culcutta to learn from some Belgium Jesuits how to set up and operate a print shop . After six months, Karpinski arrived back in Patna Bihar where he ran his own print shop for 25 years.
Due to the heat, Karpinski developed insomnia and was unable to sleep, so on doctor’s orders, his superior sent him to Katmandu, Nepal.
Karpinski said the weather ‘agreed? with him and after two years, he got rid of his insomnia. He remained in Nepal for 17 years.
While in Katmandu, Karpinski built small furniture for Mother Theresa’s children. He said he met her three times, twice in India and once in Katmandu. He said that he admired Mother Theresa.
‘She had an unusual gift of loving the poor and the dying,? he said. ‘She would lift up the dying put them in their little cart, take them home to wash him, feed him, pray over him, and the poor fellow who was dying on the street was loved by Mother Theresa as he was never loved before.?
After 17 years, he had developed a pain on one side of his head and was told to retire and return to Michigan for retirement. He said he was cured of the pain in his head by eating a small dose of garlic each day.
To purchase any of Brother Karpinskis pictures, rosaries, clocks, or puzzle games visit him at his wood shop between 9:00 am-10:30 or 2:00 p.m-3:30. Colombiere Center is located at 9075 Big Lake Rd.