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 STANISLAUS

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STANISLAUS

St. Stanislas Kostka

From a portrait preseired at St-Syr

phorien-d'Oxon, Isdre, France

but the precarious charity that might be received on the road. The prospective dangers and humiliations of such a journey, however, did not alarm his courage. On the morning of the day on which he was to carry out his project he called his servant to him early and told him to notify his brother Paul and his tutor in the course of the morning that he would not be back that day to dinner. Then he started, taking the first opportunity to exchange the dress of a gentleman for that of a mendicant, which was the only way to escape the curiosity of those he might meet. By night- fall Paul and the tutor c o m p r e- hended that Stan- islas had turned from them as he had threatened. They were seized with a fierce anger, and as the day was ended the fugitive had gained twenty-four hours over them. They started to follow liim, but were not able to overtake him; either their exhausted horses refused to go farther, or a wheel of their carriage would break, or, as the tutor frank- ly declared, they had mistaken the route, having left the city by a different road from the one that Stanislas had taken. It is noticeable that in his testimony Paul gives no explanation of his ill- luck.

Stanislas stayed for a month at Dillingen, where the provincial of that time, the Blessed Peter Canisius, put the young aspirant's vocation to the test by em- ploying him in the boartling-school. Subsequently he went on to Rome, where he arrived 25 October, 1567. As he was greatly exhausted by the journey, the general of the order, St. Francis Borgia, would not permit him to enter the novitiate of Saint An- drew untU several days later. During the ten re- maining months of his life, according to the testi- mony of the master of novices, Father Giulio Fazio, he was a model and mirror of religious perfection. Notwithstanding his very delicate constitution he did not spare himself the slightest penance (''Monu- raenta hist. Societatis Jesu, Sanctus Franciscus Borgia", IV, 635). He had such a burning fever in his chest that he was often obliged to apply cold compresses. On the eve of the feast of St. Lawrence, Stanislas felt a mortal weakness made worse by a high fever, and clearly saw that his last hour had come. He wrote a letter to the Blessed Virgin beg- ging her to call him to the skies there to celebrate with her the glorious anniversary of her Assvunptioiv (ibid., G36). His confidence in the Blessed Virgin, which had already brought him many signal fa\-ours, was this time again rewarded; on 15 August, to- wards four in the morning, while he was wTapt in pious utterances to God, to the saints, and to the Virgin Mary, his beautiful soul passed to its Creator. His face shone with the most serene light. The entire city proclaimed him a saint and people ha.s- tened from all parts to venerate his remains and to obtain, if possible, some relics (ibid., 637). The Holy See ratified the popular verdict by his beatifica- tion in 1605; lie w:us canonized on 31 December,

1726. St. Stanislas is one of the popular saints of Poland and many religious institutions have chosen hira as the protector of their novitiates. The repre- sentations of him in art are very varied; he is some- times depicted receiving Holy Communion from the hands of angels; sometimes receiving the Infant Jesus from the hands of the Virgin; or he is shown in the midst of a battle putting to flight the enemies of his country. At times he is depicted near a fountain putting a wet linen cloth on his breast. He is invoked for palpitations of the heart and for dangerous cases of illness (Cahier, " Caracteristiquea des Saints").

This account has been drawn almost exclusively from the depositions of w-itnesses cited for the process of canonization of Stanislas (cf. Archivio della Pos- tulazione generate d. C. d. G., Roma). The accom- panying portrait is by Scipione Delfini and is the oldest of St. Stanislas in existence. Having probably been painted at Rome the year of his death, perhaps after death, it may be regarded as the best likeness. The face is strikingly Slavonic, a fact that is not notice- able in his other portraits.

Lives of Stanislas were written at Rome in the year of his death, by Fathers F.^-Zio and Warsevitz (Brussel-s, 1895). The former remained in manuscript, but the substance of both has been given in later biographies. Among these latter the most com- plete and most fully based on documentary evidence is that of Ubaldmi in Analecta BoUandiana, IX-XVI (1S90-1S97). Equally worthy of recommendation are the works of .Sacchin'i, Bartou, Gruber, Goldie, and Michel.

Francis V.\n Ortroy.

Stanislaus of Cracow, Saint, bishop and martyr, b. at Szczepanow (hence called Szczepanowski), in the Diocese of Cracow, 26 July, 1030; d. at Cracow, 8 May, 1079; feast on 7 IMay in Roman MartTiTology, but on 8 May at Cracow, which has a special feast of the translation of his relics on 27 September; patron of Poland and of the city and Diocese of Cracow; invoked in battle. In pictm-es he is given the epis- copal insignia and the sword. Larger paintings rep- resent him in a court or kneeling before the altar and receiving the fatal blow. No contemporary biography of the saint is in existence. At the time of his canonization a life appeared WTitten by a Dominican Vincent(?) (Acta SS., May, II, 196) which contains much legendary matter. His parents, Belislaus and Bogna, pious and noble Catholics, gave him a religious education. He made his studies at Gnesen and Paris(?). After the death of his parents he distributed his ample inheritance among the poor. Lambert Zula, Bishop of Cracow, ordained hun priest and made him pastor of Czembocz near Cracow, canon and preacher at the cathedral, and later, vicar-general. After the death of Lambert he was elected bishop, but accepted onlj- on explicit command of Pope Alexander II. He worked with his wonted energy for his diocese, and inveighed against vices among high and low, regardless of consequences. Bolcslaw II had become King of Poland. The renown he had gained by his success- ful wars he now sullied by atrocious cruelty and un- bridled lust. Moreover the bishop had several serious disputes with the king about a piece of land belonging to the Church which was unjustly claimed by Boleslaw, and about some nobles, who had left the king before Kiev and returned to their homes to ward off various evils threatening their families and who were in consequence cruelly treated by the king. Stanislaus spared neither tetu-s nor prayers and admonitions to bring the king to lead a more Christian life. .\11 being in vain, Boleslaw was ex- communicated and the canons of the cathedral were instructed to discontinue the Divine Offices in case the king should attempt to enter. Stanislaus retired to the Chapel of St. Michael in a suburb of Cracow. The king was furious and followed the bishop with his guards, some of whom he sent to kill the saint.