After home schooling Chmielowski went on to study agroforestry at the Puławy Polytechnic Institute with a view to managing his late parents' estate.

[3][2][5] Chmielowski participated in a battle on 1 October 1863 in which a Russian grenade killed his horse and damaged his leg to the extent that it had to be amputated.

During this period he discovered he also had a talent for painting which he began to develop, despite the objections of family trustees at his change of direction.

This was however short-lived and in 1870 he joined the Munich Art Academy, where he was befriended by some celebrated Polish artists, including, Stanisław Witkiewicz, Józef Chełmoński, Aleksander Gierymski, Leon Wyczółkowski.

Religious themes began to appear at this juncture such as his St. Margaret's vision and his most celebrated work, Ecce homo, currently in the chapel of the Albertine Sisters in Kraków.

Among his better known works are: Po pojedynku ("After the duel"), Dziewczynka z pieskiem ("Little girl with a dog"), Cmentarz ("Cemetery"), Dama z listem ("Lady with a letter"), Powstaniec na koniu ("Insurgent on horseback"), Zachód słońca ("Sunset") and Amazonka ("The amazon").

He first went back to Munich from Paris before returning to his homeland where he published an article asserting that art was to be "the friend of man".

His strong political convictions inspired his interest in the human condition and he developed a gentle and compassionate spirit which also made him aware of the suffering of the poor in the area.

Years of deep reflection would cause Chmielowski to abandon his painting career in order to live among the poor and to accept a beggar's life.

While working on an image of Christ, he had perceived a religious vocation and on 24 September 1880 he entered the novitiate of the Jesuits at Stara Wies but faced a terrible trial at a retreat where he became anxious about his decision, and he soon fell ill. His brother Stanisław came to retrieve him and take him to his home to recuperate, where he decided not to return to the Jesuits because that path was not for him.

[6] He soon discovered the Rule of Saint Francis of Assisi which inspired him and prompted him to seek them out with the intention of joining their order.

He made his first profession at the hands of the Cardinal Archbishop of Kraków Albin Dunajewski and took up residence in the public shelter where he had been volunteering.

[5] Karol Wojtyła in 1949, then a simple priest in Poland, wrote a well-received play about Albert, entitled Brat naszego Boga which was made into a film with the same title in 1997.

[2] The canonisation process started in 1966 under Pope Paul VI who later declared him Venerable in 1977 upon the confirmation that the late religious had lived a life of heroic virtue.

Pope John Paul II - whom Chmielowski's example had influenced to a significant degree - beatified him in 1983 while in Kraków and later canonized him in 1989 in Saint Peter's Square.