the church's guiding spirit and formal leader. Kowalski published a biography of Kozłowska with a compilation of her visions and tried to keep her memory alive in the minds of followers while making her authority over her followers his own. The hagiographic nature of this work and the "elevation" of Kozłowska to a status apparently co-equal with that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, if not with the Holy Spirit, was excessive even to many Mariavites. This undermined Kowalski's credibility with the faithful and precipitated the eventual split in the movement. Many of the factual details about Kozłowska's life remained unclear, and some of the myths surrounding her were perpetuated by Kowalski. See also List of people who have been considered deities References Bibliography External links 1862 births 1921 deaths Mariavite Church Polish Old Catholics 19th-century Polish Roman Catholic nuns People excommunicated by the Catholic Church 19th-century Christian mystics 20th-century Polish Roman Catholic nuns 20th-century Christian mystics Roman Catholic mystics Marian visionaries Founders of Christian monasteries Women mystics People from Węgrów County