Joseph Kalinowski was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 1835,

He was a military engineer and captain of General Staff. He worked on building railways and fortresses. He participated, albeit reluctantly, in the Polish-Lithuanian uprising against the Russians. Because of this, he was condemned to forced labour in Siberia, where he brought with him the Gospel, the «Imitation of Christ» and a crucifix, comforting those whom he met. Finally set free, he entered the Carmel of Graz at the age of forty-two. Having become Br Raphael of Saint Joseph, he went to Poland, to Czerna, where he spent his days exercising the ministry of Confession for hours upon hours. He would have liked to stay there, but his Order called him to found new communities in the country.

The last one to be founded was in Wadowice, where he died in 1907.

The beatification ceremony was held on June 22, 1983. The solemn ceremony of canonization on November 17, 1991.