Saint Stanisław Kazimierczyk

Saint Stanisław Kazimierczyk was a priest of the Canons Regular of the Lateran. He spent his whole life at Corpus Christi Church in Kazimierz, then a separate town near Krakow and today one of its districts. The Roman Martyrology describes him as a diligent minister of the word of God, a master of the spiritual life and a sought-after confessor, and his memorial falls on May 3, the anniversary of his death.

He was born on September 27, 1433, in Kazimierz, the son of Maciej and Jadwiga Sołtys. His father was a weaver and a town councilor. The boy came into the world on the annual feast of the translation of the relics of Saint Stanislaus the bishop from Skałka to Wawel Cathedral, and he received the name of that saint, whom he later held in special veneration. He was baptized at Corpus Christi Church, where he also attended the parish school. He then studied at the Krakow Academy and earned a degree in theology.

In 1456, at the age of twenty-three, he entered the Canons Regular of the Lateran, who ran the monastery beside his parish church and whom he had known since childhood. After a year of novitiate he made his religious vows, and soon afterward he was ordained a priest. The chroniclers agree in stressing his humility, patience, chastity and modesty.

At Corpus Christi Church he was a preacher, and his carefully prepared, fervent sermons moved the faithful. He heard confessions and was for many a guide on the paths of the spiritual life. In the monastery he was lector, novice master and deputy to the prior, and he sought to pass on to the young religious his love for the Blessed Sacrament. He began each day with Holy Mass, and the Eucharist was the center of his spirituality. He had a special devotion to the Passion of Christ and to the Mother of God, and he cared for the poor who knocked at the monastery gate and for the sick.

He died on May 3, 1489, and was buried in Corpus Christi Church, beneath the floor beside the altar of Saint Mary Magdalene, patroness of weavers. His reputation for holiness grew stronger right after his death: already in the first year the faithful began to ask God for graces through his intercession, and the monastery chronicles recorded almost two hundred of them. In 1632 a separate altar was built, and his relics were placed in it.

The canons began formal efforts to have his cult confirmed in 1773, but the partitions of Poland, the world wars and communist rule stood in the way. As Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyła often led prayers at his relics. As Pope John Paul II, on April 18, 1993, in Rome, he solemnly confirmed his cult and declared him blessed. After a miracle attributed to his intercession was approved, Benedict XVI canonized him on October 17, 2010, in Saint Peter’s Square, saying that his whole life had been bound to the Eucharist.