Zygmunt Gorazdowski (1 November 1845 – 1 January 1920) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

[1][2] Gorazdowski suffered from tuberculosis during his childhood which impeded his studies for the priesthood in what required him to take time off in order to recover before he could be ordained.

[2] Once he was ordained he served in various parishes while setting up homes for orphans and single mothers as well as hospices and other establishments for a range of people; he was a prolific writer of catechism and other religious notes for the benefit of his flock.

He almost died in 1846 during the Galician slaughter that saw peasants revolt against serfdom and he managed to survive when his parents hid him under a mill's wheel.

[1] Throughout his priesthood he took great care to protect the spiritual health and growth of his parishioners for whom he wrote and published a catechism (1875) and other books to help parents and children.

[1][3][4] He founded a home and a soup kitchen for the poor as well as a healthcare center for ill patients (the "Affordable Public House"); he set up an institute for poor seminarians as well as a home for single mothers and orphans (the "House of the Child Jesus") and the "Saint Joseph's Polish-German Catholic School".

His life of heroic virtue received approval from Pope John Paul II who titled him as Venerable on 20 December 1999.

John Paul II approved this miracle on 24 April 2001 and beatified Gorazdowski at the Lviv Hippodrome on his visit to Ukraine on 26 June 2001.