Saint Stanislas Kostka
Novice
jésuite (+ 1568)
Jeune prince polonais, au
caractère fin et décidé, il fit ses études à Vienne puis, à 16 ans, il entra au
noviciat des Jésuites de Rome, sur la recommandation de saint
Pierre Canisius. Il remit sa vie à Dieu dix mois plus tard.
"Né d'une grande
famille de Pologne en 1550 à Rostkow, Stanislas s'adonna aux études classiques
à Vienne à partir de 1564. Invité par la Vierge à entrer dans la Compagnie,
afin de prévenir l'opposition de son père, il s'enfuit de chez lui en 1567, parcourant
à pied toute l'Allemagne.
Arrivé à Rome, il fut
admis au noviciat par saint François de Borgia. C'est là qu'il mourut le 15
août 1568, parvenu à une haute sainteté. Il fut canonisé par Benoît XIII en
1726." (site
de la Province de France des Jésuites) Il figure au 15 août au
martyrologe romain et la Compagnie de Jésus en fait mémoire au 13 novembre.
Lire aussi: La
vie de saint Stanislas Kotstka, novice de la Compagnie de Jésus, Lyon
1836. Bibliothèque de l'abbaye Saint Benoît de Port-Valais (Suisse)
Au martyrologe romain au
15 août: À Rome, en 1568, saint Stanislas Kostka. Né en Pologne et désireux,
malgré son père, d’entrer dans la Compagnie de Jésus, il prit la fuite pour
quitter la maison familiale et gagner Rome à pied. Là, saint François de Borgia
l’admit au noviciat, mais, arrivé au but en peu de temps, il mourut rayonnant
d’une sainteté précoce, à l’âge de dix-huit ans.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1672/Saint-Stanislas-Kostka.html
_by_Juan_Rodr%C3%ADguez_Ju%C3%A1rez_-_Museo_Nacional_de_Artes_-_Mexico_2024.jpg)
Juan Rodríguez Juárez, Saint Stanislaw of Kostska, circa 1717. Museo Nacional de Artes, Mexico
A mon cher frère
S.Exc. Mgr Piotr Libera
évêque de Płock
Aujourd’hui, en la
solennité de l’Assomption de la Bienheureuse Vierge Marie, on célèbre le 450e
anniversaire de la mort de saint Stanislas Kostka. A l’âge de 18 ans seulement,
à cause d’une grave maladie, cet élève du noviciat jésuite à Rome, l’un des fils
les plus éminents de votre patrie et de la Compagnie de Jésus, acheva son
pèlerinage terrestre. C’est pourquoi, en commémorant son entrée dans la gloire
du Seigneur, je m’unis à la prière d’action de grâce des fidèles du diocèse de
Płock et de toute l’Eglise de Pologne, qui participeront bientôt aux
célébrations centrales de l’année qui lui sont consacrées à Rostkowo, lieu de
naissance du saint.
En saisissant cette
occasion, je désire tout d’abord m’adresser aux jeunes, dont saint Stanislas
est le patron. Il me plaît de rappeler la phrase que saint Jean-Paul II
prononça dans l’église Sant’Andrea al Quirinale, lorsqu’il vénéra ses reliques:
«L’itinéraire de sa courte vie, commencé à Rostkowo en Mazowsze, en passant par
Vienne et en allant ensuite jusqu’à Rome, peut être comparé à une grande course
champêtre vers l’objectif de la vie de tout chrétien qui est la sainteté» (13
novembre 1988).
Chers jeunes amis, je
sais que beaucoup d’entre vous font, en septembre, le pèlerinage à pied de
Przasnysz à Rostkowo, du lieu de son baptême au lieu de sa naissance. C’est
pour ainsi dire la première étape de cette «course» de Stanislas vers la
sainteté. Je vous encourage à vous rappeler, non seulement pendant cette
marche, mais sur tous les chemins de votre vie quotidienne, que vous aussi êtes
capables d’effectuer cette «course». Vous aussi, vous êtes poussés par l’amour
du Christ et fortifiés par sa grâce. Soyez courageux! Le monde a besoin de
votre liberté d’esprit, de votre regard confiant en l’avenir, de votre soif de vérité,
de bonté et de beauté. Que saint Stanislas vous enseigne cette liberté qui
n’est pas une course aveugle, mais la capacité de discerner le but et de suivre
les voies les meilleures de comportement et de vie. Qu’il vous enseigne à
toujours chercher avant tout l’amitié avec Jésus; à lire et à méditer sa parole
et à accueillir dans l’Eucharistie sa présence miséricordieuse et puissante,
pour résister aux conditionnements de la mentalité mondaine. Que saint
Stanislas vous enseigne à ne pas avoir peur du risque ni des rêves du vrai
bonheur, dont la source et la garantie sont Jésus Christ. «Jésus est le
Seigneur du risque, il est le Seigneur du toujours ‘‘plus loin’’. […] Il veut
vos mains pour continuer à construire le monde d’aujourd’hui. Il veut le construire
avec vous» (cf. Discours
lors la veillée de la JMJ, Cracovie, 30 juillet 2016). Que du ciel,
saint Stanislas vous soutienne et que sa devise vous inspire: «Ad maiora natus
sum» — «Je suis né pour des choses plus grandes».
Cher frère, par
l’intercession de saint Stanislas Kostka, j’invoque sur toi la protection
divine, ainsi que sur tous les évêques et les prêtres, sur les fidèles et
spécialement sur les jeunes de l’Eglise en Pologne. Je vous demande de prier
pour moi et je vous bénis de tout cœur, au nom du Père et du Fils et du
Saint-Esprit.
Du Vatican, le 15 août
2018
François
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Albert
Termote. Statue of Stanislaus Kostka. Stanislascollege Delft, The Netherlands
Saint Stanislas Kostka
Novice Jésuite
(1550-1568)
Parmi les admirables
Saints qui ont mérité de servir de patrons à la jeunesse chrétienne, saint
Stanislas Kostka occupe une place de choix. Sa vie fut courte, mais mieux
remplie que beaucoup de longues carrières, selon la parole de nos saints
Livres. Il naquit d'une famille très illustre de Pologne, dont il devint, par
sa sainteté, la principale gloire.
Son enfance se distingua
par une extraordinaire piété, et sa modestie était si remarquable, qu'une seule
parole malséante suffisait pour le faire s'évanouir. Son plaisir était d'être
vêtu simplement et de s'entretenir avec les pauvres. Il fit ses études à
Vienne, avec son frère, Paul, au collège des Jésuites, mais en qualité
d'externe. Sa vertu ne fit que s'accroître, malgré les exemples et les
persécutions de son frère. A mille épreuves de chaque instant, il joignait
encore des mortifications volontaires et se donnait de fortes disciplines; deux
oraisons journalières ne lui suffisant pas, il se levait la nuit, quelque temps
qu'il fit, pour élever son âme vers Dieu. Le démon furieux vint l'assaillir
dans son lit, où il gisait, malade, et se jeta sur lui sous la forme d'un
horrible chien noir; mais l'enfant le chassa honteusement par le signe de la
Croix.
Par l'assistance de
sainte Barbe, qu'il avait invoquée, il reçut la visite de deux Anges, qui lui
apportèrent la Sainte Communion. Quelques jours après, la Sainte Vierge lui
apparut tenant l'Enfant Jésus dans Ses bras; Stanislas put caresser le Sauveur
et obtint de Lui l'assurance qu'il entrerait dans la Compagnie de Jésus. Après
sa guérison, il s'habilla en pèlerin et se dirigea vers Augsbourg, ville fort
éloignée de Vienne. En route, il échappa miraculeusement aux poursuites de son
frère et reçut la Communion des mains d'un Ange. D'Augsbourg, l'obéissance le
conduisit à Rome, à travers deux cent soixante lieues de chemin; mais rien
n'épouvantait cette grande âme, qui animait un si faible corps. Saint François
de Borgia reçut avec joie un pareil trésor; mais la joie de Stanislas fut plus
profonde encore, et il en versa un torrent de larmes. Hélas! Cette fleur allait
bientôt être cueillie pour le Ciel; dix mois devaient suffire pour le porter à
une rare perfection. Son humilité était si admirable, qu'il se regardait comme
un grand pécheur et le dernier de ses frères. L'amour de Dieu consumait son
coeur au point qu'il fallait, avec des linges mouillés, en tempérer les ardeurs.
Cet ange incomparable de vertu s'éteignit presque sans maladie, assisté par sa
Mère céleste, un jour de l'Assomption.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie
des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_stanislas_kostka.html
Saint
Stanislaus Kostka. Engraving.
Commémoré le 15
août (dies natalis) par le Martyrologe Romain et le 13
novembre dans l’Ordre des Jésuites.
Stanisław Kostka naît
le 28 octobre 1550 à Rostkow, près de Varsovie. En 1564, à 14 ans, il fut
envoyé à Vienne avec son frère aîné pour compléter ses études chez les
Jésuites.
L’étude et la vie
ordonnée du collège lui plaisaient beaucoup et il pensait déjà se consacrer à
la vie religieuse. Malheureusement les Jésuites durent fermer le collège.
Stanislas, son frère et leur précepteur furent contraints de s’en aller en
acceptant l’hospitalité d’un noble luthérien. Stanislas garda un comportement
religieux exemplaire malgré les pressions du frère, du précepteur et de l’hôte
luthérien qui le critiquaient. Il acceptait tout avec patience et soumission si
bien que la nuit il priait pour eux.
À 17 ans il tomba
gravement malade. Il faut préciser que le jeune homme appartenait à la
confraternité de Sainte Barbara dont les adeptes se confiaient à leur patronne
pour recevoir la Communion au moment de la mort. Stanislas avait pleine confiance
que cela arriverait. En effet, une nuit il réveilla le précepteur qui le
veillait et s’exclama : « Voilà Sainte Barbara ! La voilà avec deux anges
! Elle m’apporte le très Saint Sacrement ! » Et ce fut ainsi : les Anges
s’inclinèrent sur Lui et lui donnèrent la Communion. Le jeune homme, serein, se
remit sur son lit. Quelques jours plus tard, à la surprise générale, Stanislas
se leva parfaitement guéri affirmant qu’il voulait aller personnellement
remercier le Seigneur en manifestant le désir de devenir prêtre. Le père
régional des Jésuites le repoussa à cause de son jeune âge et du manque de
permission paternelle.
Stanislas ne se
découragea pas et tenta aussitôt d’aller en Allemagne et en Italie. Il enleva
ses beaux vêtements pour mettre ceux d’un paysan et se dirigea vers Augusta où
résidait le grand saint Pierre Canisio, père provincial des Jésuites en
Allemagne.
En s’apercevant de son
absence, son frère le chercha longtemps et fut pris de remords pour sa conduite
hostile. Saint Pierre Canisio évalua avec grande attention la vocation du jeune
homme et décida de l’envoyer au séminaire des Jésuites à Rome. Dans la lettre
de présentation il écrivit : « Stanislas, noble polonais, jeune homme
droit et plein de zèle, fut accueilli pendant un certain temps dans le collège
des pensionnaires de Dillingen. Il fut toujours précis dans son propre devoir
et solide dans sa vocation. [...] Nous attendons de grandes choses de
lui. »
D'Augsbourg, l'obéissance
le conduisit à Rome où saint François de Borgia reçut avec joie un pareil
trésor ; mais la joie de Stanislas fut plus profonde encore, et il en versa un
torrent de larmes.
Hélas ! Cette fleur
allait bientôt être cueillie pour le Ciel ; dix mois devaient suffire pour le
porter à une rare perfection. Son humilité était si admirable, qu'il se
regardait comme un grand pécheur et le dernier de ses frères. L'amour de Dieu
consumait son cœur au point qu'il fallait, avec des linges mouillés, en
tempérer les ardeurs.
Cet ange incomparable de
vertu s'éteignit, en 1568, presque sans maladie, assisté par sa Mère
céleste, le jour de l'Assomption.
Stanisław Kostka a
été béatifié par le pape Paul V (Camillo Borghese, 1605-1621) le 09
octobre 1605 et canonisé par le pape Benoît XIII (Pietro Francesco Orsini,
1724-1730) le 31 décembre 1726.
Pour un approfondissement biographique :
>>> Vie de Saint Stanislas Kostka
Source principale : forumreligioncatholique.com ; paroisseststan.ca ;
wikipédia.org (« Rév. x gpm »).
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015
13 novembre
Saint STANISLAS KOSTKA, religieux
Mémoire
Commun des religieux (p.
271).
OFFICE DES LECTURES
DEUXIÈME LECTURE
Extraits des Lettres
Annuelles du Collège de la Compagnie de Jésus à Vienne et des lettres de saint
Pierre Canisius, prêtre et docteur de l'Eglise.
Jésus et la Compagnie
occupaient son cœur jour et nuit.
Un jeune Polonais,
appartenant à une noble famille, mais encore plus noble par sa vertu, a passé
deux années entières auprès des Nôtres à Vienne. Cependant, il n'était pas
possible de le recevoir sans le consentement de ses parents, non seulement
parce qu'il avait été notre pensionnaire et sans discontinuer élève de notre
collège, mais aussi pour un certain nombre d'autres raisons (en effet, les
Pères se sont engagés à n'accepter dans la Compagnie aucun de leurs
pensionnaires sans le consentement de leurs parents) ; aussi a-t-il toujours
essuyé un refus. Il y a peu de jours, désespérant d'entrer ici dans la
Compagnie, il est parti ailleurs voir s'il lui serait possible de réaliser son
désir en un autre lieu.
Il a été un grand exemple
de constance et de piété ; aimé de tous, il ne fut à charge à personne ;
enfant par l'âge, adulte par la prudence, petit de corps, grand de cœur. Chaque
jour, il entendait deux messes ; plus souvent que les autres, il se confessait
et recevait le Corps du Christ et priait longuement. Elève de rhétorique, non
seulement il égalait, mais dépassait ses condisciples qui, peu de temps avant,
lui étaient supérieurs. Jésus et la Compagnie étaient en son cœur jour et nuit
; en pleurant, il pressait les supérieurs de l'y recevoir. Il demandait même
une lettre au Légat du Souverain Pontife pour contraindre les Nôtres. Mais ce
fut toujours en vain.
C'est pourquoi il décida,
malgré ses parents, son frère et toute sa famille, de prendre la route et de
chercher par un autre chemin à entrer dans la Compagnie de Jésus. Au cas où
cela ne réussirait pas, il prit la résolution de passer toute sa vie sur les
routes et, par amour pour le Christ, de mener une vie de pauvreté et
d'humiliation. Lorsque les Nôtres eurent connaissance de ses pensées, ils
tentèrent de le dissuader et l'encouragèrent à voyager avec son frère qui
pensait devoir bientôt partir pour la Pologne ; ils lui dirent que si ses
parents voyaient sa constance, ils donneraient peut-être leur consentement à sa
requête.
Mais lui demeurait
inébranlé, disant qu'il était vain d'espérer cela de ses parents, car ils les
connaissait mieux que les autres ; il se devait d'accomplir la promesse qu'il
avait faite au Christ. C'est pourquoi, son précepteur et ses confesseurs ne
parvenant pas à le faire changer d'avis et de résolution, un matin, après avoir
reçu le Corps du Christ, à l'insu de son surveillant et de son frère, disant
adieu aux richesses de son patrimoine, il laissa les vêtements qu'il portait à
l'école et à la maison ; et s'habillant d'une toile de sac, il prit le bâton à
la main et quitta Vienne à la manière d'un jeune paysan pauvre. Dieu seul sait
ce qui lui arrivera. Nous espérons cependant qu'un tel départ n'a pas eu lieu
sans un secret dessein de Dieu. En effet, il a toujours été d'une telle
constance qu'il ne paraît pas avoir agi puérilement, mais mû par une
inspiration du ciel.
C'est aussi ce que pensa
Pierre Canisius, alors Provincial de Germanie Supérieure. En effet, comme
Stanislas était arrivé à Dillingen, il ne tarda pas à l'envoyer à Rome,
écrivant au Père Général, François de Borgia, les lignes suivantes : « Celui
qui vous apportera cette lettre sous la conduite du Christ vous est envoyé par
notre Province. Stanislas est un jeune Polonais, noble, bon et studieux, que
nos Pères de Vienne n'ont pas osé recevoir comme novice de peur d'irriter sa
famille. Il est venu me trouver dans le but de mettre à exécution le vœu qu'il
avait fait depuis longtemps (en effet, il avait fait vœu d'entrer dans la
Compagnie quelques années avant d'être admis). J'ai mis sa vocation à l'épreuve,
durant quelque temps, dans le pensionnat de Dillingen ; on l'a toujours trouvé
fidèle dans ses emplois et ferme dans sa vocation. Il désirait pourtant être
envoyé à Rome pour s'éloigner davantage des siens, dont il redoutait les
persécutions, et faire de plus grands progrès dans la piété. Jamais, jusqu'ici,
il n'a vécu parmi nos novices ; mais on pourra le mettre parmi ceux de Rome
pour faire son noviciat. Quant à nous, nous fondons sur lui de grandes
espérances. »
(Litt. Ann. Coll.
Vindobonensis, 1er sept. 1567 : Arch. Rom. S.J., Epist. Germaniae, 140, ff.
75r-v ; B. Petri Canisii s.j., Epistulae et Acta , ed. Braunsberger
s.j., vol. 6, Fribourg-en-Brisgau, 1913, pp. 63-64).
Jésuites : serviteurs de
la mission du Christ - © Compagnie de Jésus
SOURCE : http://www.jesuites.com/histoire/saints/stanislaskostka.htm
Stained
glass consecrated to Saint Stanisław Kostka, patron saint of youth in Roman
Catholic church in Horní Suchá (Sucha Górna), Czech Republic.
Also
known as
Stanislaw Kostka
18
September on some calendars
13
November on some calendars
Profile
Born to the Polish nobility,
the son of a senator. Attended the Viennese Jesuit college from
age 14 with his brother Paul, who badly mistreated him. While staying at the
home of a Lutheran, he became gravely ill,
but was not allowed to call for a priest.
He prayed to
his personal patron, Saint Barbara,
who appeared to him in a vision with two angels,
and administered Communion.
He was then cured from his disease by Our Lady who
told him to become a Jesuit,
though it was against his family’s wishes. Attended the Jesuit college in Rome, Italy.
Friend of Saint Peter
Canisius. Jesuit novice from 28
October 1567. Student of Saint Francis
Borgia.
Born
28
October 1550 at
Rostkovo, Poland
between 3 and 4 a.m.
of 15
August, feast of
the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1568 at Rome, Italy from
a high fever
buried at
the newly built Sant’Andrea al Quirinale church
31
December 1726 by Pope Benedict
XIII
aspirants
to the Oblates of Saint Joseph
desperate,
lost or impossible causes
–
Lithuania (proclaimed
on 10
January 1674 by Pope Clement
X)
–
in Poland
Metropolitan
Seminary in Lublin
Warsaw, archdiocese of
Warsaw,
city of
young man holding the
Christ child
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Francis
Xavier Weninger
Meditations
on the Gospels for Every Day in the Year, by Father Pierre
Médaille
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Saints
of the Society of Jesus
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
Stories
of the Saints for Children, by Mary Seymour
For Greater Things: The
Story of Saint Stanislaus Kostka by William T. Kane, S.J.
Saint Stanislaus Kostka,
by Father Richard
Brennan, S.J.,
LL.D.
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Oxford Dictionary of Saints, by David Hugh Farmer
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
other
sites in english
Vatican: On the 450th Anniversary of the Death of Saint
Stanislaus
images
video
For Greater Things (audiobook / images)
e-books
The Life of Saint Stanislas Kostka, by Edward Healy
Thompson
The
story of Saint Stanislaus Kostka of the Society of Jesus, by Francis Goldie
fonti
in italiano
Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi
strony
w jezyku polskim
Metropolitalne
Seminarium Duchowne w Liblinie
Readings
I find a heaven in the
midst of saucepans and brooms. – Saint Stanislaus
Saint Stanislaus
had drawn as his monthly patron for
August the glorious martyr Saint Lawrence,
and in his honour he performed daily some penance or devotion. On the eve of
his feast, he obtained leave to take the discipline; in the morning he went
to Communion,
and then laid before the image of the saint a
letter addressed to Our Lady, in
which he begged that he might die on
her Feast
of the Assumption, and he prayed Saint Lawrence to
present to her his petition. That night he was seized with a slight fever,
which, however, rapidly increased; and on Assumption Eve,
he received the last
sacraments. Then, as he lay dying,
he had brought to him a little book containing
a litany in his own writing of his monthly patron
saints, whom he constantly invoked. At 3 a.m. on the Feast
of the Assumption, he face suddenly lit up with joy, and he breathed forth
his soul to the Mother
of God, who had come to conduct him to heaven. – from Miniature Lives of the Saints by Bowden
MLA
Citation
“Saint Stanislaus
Kostka“. CatholicSaints.Info. 19 March 2024. Web. 11 April 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-stanislaus-kostka/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-stanislaus-kostka/
Kościół
pw. św. Stanisława Kostki w Poznaniu. Tablica upamiętniająca patrona.
To the dear brother
H.E. Msgr. PIOTR LIBERA
Bishop of Płock
Today, on the Solemnity
of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is the 450th anniversary of
the death of Saint Stanislaus Kostka. At the age of only 18, due to a serious
illness, this pupil of the Jesuit novitiate in Rome, one of the most excellent
sons of your country and of the Society of Jesus, ended his earthly pilgrimage.
Therefore, in commemorating his entry into the glory of the Lord, I join in the
prayer of thanksgiving of the faithful of the Diocese of Płock and of the whole
Church in Poland, who will soon be attending the central celebrations of the
year dedicated to him in Rostkowo, the birthplace of the saint.
I would like to take this
opportunity to address first of all the young people of whom Saint Stanislaus
is patron. I like to recall the phrase that Saint John Paul II pronounced
in the church of Saint Andrew at the Quirinal, when he venerated his relics:
“The journey of his short life, begun in Rostkowo in Mazowsze, through Vienna
and then to Rome, can be compared to a great cross-country race towards the goal
of every Christian’s life, which is holiness” (13 November 1988).
Dear young friends, I
know that many of you, in September, will make the pilgrimage on foot from
Przasnysz to Rostkowo, from the place of his baptism to the place of his birth.
It is, so to speak, the first stage in Stanislaus’ “race” towards holiness. I
encourage you to remember, not only during this march, but on all the paths of
your daily life, that you too are capable of performing this “race”. You too
are driven by the love of Christ and strengthened by his grace. Be brave! The
world needs your freedom of spirit, your confident gaze on the future, your
thirst for truth, goodness and beauty. Saint Stanislaus teaches you that
freedom which is not a blind race, but rather the ability to discern the goal
and to follow the best ways of behavior and life. He teaches you always to seek
first of all friendship with Jesus; to read and meditate on His word and
welcome in His Eucharist His merciful and powerful presence, to resist the
conditioning of the worldly mentality. Saint Stanislaus teaches you not to be
afraid of the risk and dreams of true happiness, whose source and guarantee is
Jesus Christ. “Jesus is the Lord of risk, He is the Lord of the eternal ‘more’…
He wants your hands to continue building the world of today. And he wants to
build that world with you” (cf Address
at the Prayer Vigil of World Youth Day, Krakow, 30 July 2016). May Saint
Stanislaus support you from heaven, and inspire you with his motto: “Ad maiora
natus sum” – “I was born for greater things”.
Dear Brother, by the
intercession of Saint Stanislaus Kostka, I invoke divine protection upon you,
on all the bishops and priests, on the faithful and especially on the young
people of the Church in Poland. I ask you to pray for me, and bless you from my
heart in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
From the Vatican, 15
August 2018
FRANCIS
*Bulletin
of the Holy See Press Office, 15 August 2018
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Pfarrkirche
St. Martin, Bamberg Figur "Stanislaus Kostka" von Johannes Bitterich
Book of Saints –
Stanislaus Kostka
(Saint)
(August
15) (16th
century) A Polish Saint who died in Rome,
being then a novice in the Society
of Jesus (August
15, A.D. 1568),
at the age of eighteen. During his short life he had had to suffer persecution both
from his own kinsmen and from the Lutherans, with whom they were connected.
Burning with love of God and devoted to Our Blessed Lady, Stanislaus achieved
his object of entering the Society of Jesus, at the cost of journeying on foot
from Poland to Rome,
where he was welcomed by Saint Francis
Borgia. Many were the supernatural favours bestowed upon the innocent youth by
Almighty God, and universal has become the veneration in which he is held
throughout the Catholic world.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Stanislaus Kostka”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
15 August 2016. Web. 11 April 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-stanislaus-kostka/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-stanislaus-kostka/
_Heiligen_uit_de_orde_van_de_jesu%C3%AFeten_(serietitel)%2C_RP-P-BI-2560.jpg)
Heilige Stanislaus Kostka aanbidt hostie B. Stanislavs Kostka perillustri caelo receptus ao 1569 (titel op object) Heiligen uit de orde van de jesuïeten (serietitel)
New
Catholic Dictionary – Saint Stanislas Kostka
Confessor. Born in 1550 in
Rostkovo, near Prasnysz, Poland; died in 1568 in
Rome, Italy. He was educated in the Jesuit College at Vienna, and, recovering
from a severe illness, during which he received Holy Communion from the hands
of Saint Barbara, he went on foot to Rome, where he was received into the
Society of Jesus in 1567. The religious perfection of his short life there was
a source of inspiration to many; invoked against palpitations of the heart and
severe illness; represented receiving Holy Communion from angels, receiving the
Infant Jesus from the Blessed Virgin, or, in the midst of battle, putting to
flight the enemies of his country. Canonized in 1726.
Relics in San Andrea Quirinale Church, Rome. Feast, 13
November.
MLA
Citation
“Saint Stanislas
Kostka”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info.
10 August 2018. Web. 11 April 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-stanislas-kostka/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-stanislas-kostka/
Tomb
of Stanislaus Kostka in Sant'Andrea al Quirinale
Stanislaus Kostka
Death: 08/15/1568
Nationality (place of
birth): Poland
Even though he was a
Jesuit for less than a year when he died, Stanislaus Kostka (Stanislaw Kostka,
1550-1568) is known for his youthful holiness and iron determination to follow
God's call despite family obstacles. He was a Polish noble by birth (his father
being castellan of Zakroczym and a senator of the realm) and was destined for
public life. In 1564 his parents sent Stanislaus and his older brother Paul to
study at the newly opened Jesuit college in Vienna. Initially the two young
nobles boarded in the Jesuit residence at the college, but moved to the house
of Senator Kimberker after seven months. Kimberker was a staunch Lutheran who
would not allow a priest to enter his home with the Blessed Eucharist. That
became an issue when Stanislaus unexpectedly fell ill with an undiagnosed
sickness in mid-December 1565. Stanislaus kept asking for Viaticum, but his
brother put him off. Stanislaus prayed to the patron of the sodality to which
he belonged, St. Barbara, to intercede with God so he could receive Viaticum
before he died. He had a mystical experience of Mary visiting him and placing
the Christ Child in Stanislaus' arms, which he interpreted as meaning that he
was to enter the Society of Jesus.
After this extraordinary
experience, the young nobleman recovered and then approached the Jesuit
provincial in Vienna to ask entrance into the Society. The provincial was
favorable but said that he could not accept Stanislaus without his parents'
approval, which Stanislaus knew they would not give. The determined student
talked to another Jesuit who suggested he go to Augsburg, Germany to ask the
provincial there, Father Peter Canisius, to accept him. Stanislaus decided to
follow the suggestion and slipped out of Vienna on the morning of Aug. 10,
1567. He left behind his fine clothes and donned coarse pilgrim's robes, which
hid him from his angry brother who had followed him on the road but did not
recognize him dressed so poorly.
Stanislaus trudged 450
miles to Augusburg and then another day to Dillingen where Fr. Canisius had
gone. He explained his desire and offered a letter of introduction from a
Jesuit in Vienna. Canisius recognized his sincerity and spiritual qualities and
decided to accept him. He also arranged for him to accompany two young Jesuits
about to travel to Rome which was further from Poland than Germany, far enough
to prevent the family from stopping Stanislaus. Kostka and the two Jesuits left
Germany in late September and arrived in Rome on Oct. 25, making their way to
the residence of the superior general, Father Francis Borgia.
Stanislaus gave Canisius'
letter of recommendation to Borgia, who had the young man remain at the Gesú
for three months before going briefly to the Roman College and then to the
novitiate of Sant'Andrea. Stanislaus's novitiate would only last 10 months. In
early August 1568 he had a premonition he would soon die. He became sick with a
fever. Since he did not seem to be gravely ill, the brother infirmarian
discounted his premonition. On Aug. 14 Stanislaus told the infirmarian he would
die the next day but the remark was not taken seriously. Later that afternoon
he took a turn for the worse and lost all strength. He received viaticum and
prayed with the novices and other Jesuits who were with him. About three in the
morning of the feast of our Lady's Assumption on August 15, he announced that
Mary was approaching with angels to take him to heaven and soon died.
Originally Collected and
edited by: Tom Rochford, SJ
SOURCE : https://www.jesuits.global/saint-blessed/saint-stanislaus-kostka/
19th- or 20th-century reliquary of the Jesuit saints Stanislaus Kostka (1550-1568) and Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591) in the Treasury of the Basilica of Our Lady in Maastricht, Netherlands.
19e- of 20e-eeuwse reliekhouder van diverse jezuïetenheiligen in de
Schatkamer van de Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek in Maastricht. Aan deze zijde: HH.
Stanislaus Kostka (1550-1568) and Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591). Aan de andere
zijde: HH. Franciscus Borgia (1510-1572) en Franciscus Regis (1597-1640).
Volgens de beschrijving van kapelaan Welters uit 1930, bevond zich in het
torentje tevens een glazen buisje met een reliek van de H. Petronella van Rome.
Detail
of 19th- or 20th-century reliquary of the Jesuit saints Stanislaus Kostka
(1550-1568) and Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591) in the Treasury of the Basilica of
Our Lady in Maastricht, Netherlands.
Detail
van een 19e- of 20e-eeuwse reliekhouder van de jezuïetenheiligen Stanislaus
Kostka (1550-1568) and Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591) in de Schatkamer van de
Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek in Maastricht.
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saint Stanislas Kostka
Saint
Stanislas was of a noble Polish family. At the age of fourteen he went with his
elder brother Paul to the Jesuits’ College at Vienna; and though Stanislas was
ever bright and sweet-tempered, his austerities were felt as a reproach by
Paul, who shamefully maltreated him. This ill-usage and his own penances
brought on a dangerous illness, and being in a Lutheran house he was unable to
send for a priest. He now remembered to have read of his patroness, Saint
Barbara, that she never permitted her clients to die without the Holy Viaticum:
he devoutly appealed to her aid, and she appeared with two angels, who gave him
the Sacred Host. He was cured of this illness by our Lady herself, and was
bidden by her to enter the Society of Jesus. To avoid his father’s opposition,
he was obliged to fly from Vienna; and having proved his constancy by
cheerfully performing the most menial offices, he was admitted to the novitiate
at Rome. There he lived for ten short months marked by a rare piety, obedience,
and devotion to his institute. He died, as he had prayed to die, on the feast
of the Assumption, 1568, at the age of seventeen.
Reflection – Saint Stanislas
teaches us in every trial of life, and above all in the hour of death, to have
recourse to our patron Saint, and to trust without fear to his aid.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-stanislas-kostka/
St.
Stanislaus Kostka. St. Joseph's Church, Macao.
St. Stanislas Kostka
Born at Rostkovo near
Prasnysz, Poland,
about 28 October, 1550; died at Rome during
the night of 14-15 August, 1568. He entered the Society
of Jesus at Rome,
28 October, 1567, and is said to have foretold his death a few days before it
occurred. His father, John Kostka, was a senator of
the Kingdom of Poland and Lord of
Zakroczym; his mother was Margaret de Drobniy Kryska, the sister and
niece of the Dukes Palatine of Masovia and the aunt of the celebrated
Chancellor of Poland,
Felix Kryski. The marriage was blessed with seven children,
of whom Stanislas was the second. His older
brother Paul survived him long enough to be present at the
celebration of the beatification of Stanislas in
1605. The two brothers were first taught at home, the main feature of this
early education being
the firmness, even severity, of their training; its results were the
excellent habits of piety,
modesty, temperance, and submission. After this they were sent to Vienna with
their tutor to attend the Jesuit college that
had been opened four years before, reaching Vienna,
25 July, 1564. Among the students of the college Stanislas was
soon conspicuous not only for his amiability and cheerfulness of
expression, but also for his religious
fervour and angelic piety.
This spirit of devotion continued to grow during the three
years he remained in Vienna.
His brother Paul said of him during the process of beatification:
"He devoted himself so completely to spiritual thing that he
frequently became unconscious, especially in the church of the Jesuit
Fathersat Vienna.
It is true,"
added the witness, "that this had happened at home to my brother
at Easter when
he was seated at table with our parents and
other persons."
Among other practices of devotion he joined while at Viennathe Congregation of St.
Barbara, to which many students of the Jesuit college belonged.
If the confidences he then made to his tutor and later to a fellow-member of
the Society at Rome are
to be believed, it was Saint
Barbara who brought two angels to
him during the course of a serious illness, in order to give him the Eucharist.So
much piety,
however, did not please the older brother Paul; his exasperation led him
to treat with violence the
innocent Stanislas. The latter finally lost patience, and one night
after Stanislas had again suffered the harshcomments and blows
of his brother he turned on Paul with the words: "Your rough
treatment will end in my going away never to return, and you will
have to explain my leaving to our father
and mother." Paul's sole reply was to swear violently at
him.
Meantime the thought of
joining the Society
of Jesus had already entered the mind of
the saintly young man. It was six months, however, before he ventured
to speak of this to the superiors of the Society.
At Vienna they
hesitated to receive him, fearing the tempest that would probably be
raised by his father against
the Society,
which had just quieted a storm that had broken out on account of other
admissions to the Company. Stanislasquickly grasped the situation and
formed the plan of applying to the general of the Society at Rome.
The distance was five hundred leagues, which had to be made on foot, without
equipment, or guide, or any other resources 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
gentleman for that of a mendicant,
which was the only way to escape the curiosity of those he might meet. By
nightfall Paul and the tutor comprehended
that Stanislas 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 him, 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 frankly declared, they had mistaken the route, having
left the city by a different road from the one which 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 employing him in the
boarding-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
Andrew until several days later. During the ten remaining months of his
life, according the testimony 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 ("Monument
hist. Societatis Jesu, Sanctus Franciscus Borgia", IV,
635). He had such a burning fever 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 begging her to call him to the skies there to celebrate with
her theglorious anniversary of her Assumption (ibid.,
636). His confidence in the Blessed
Virgin, which had already brought him many signal favours, was
this time again rewarded; on 15 August, towards four in the morning,
while he was wrapt 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 hastened 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 beatification in
1605; he was canonized on
31 December, 1726. St. Stanislas is one of the popular saints of Poland and
many religious institutions have chosen him as the protector of
their novitiates. The representations of him in art are very varied; he is
sometimes 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,
"Caractéristiques des Saints").
This account has been
drawn almost exclusively from the depositions of witnesses cited for the
process of canonization of Stanislas (cf. Archivio della
Postulazione generale d. C. d. G., Roma). The accompanying portrait is by
Scipione Delfine and 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 noticeable
in his other portraits.
Sources
Lives of Stanislas were
written at Rome in the year of his death by Fathers Fazio and Warsevitz
(Brussels, 1895). The former remained in manuscript, but the substance of both
has been given in later biographies. Among these latter the most complete and
most fully based on documentary evidence is that of Ubaldindi in Analecta
Bollandiana, IX-XVI (1890-1897). Equally worthy of recommendation are the works
of Sacchini, Bartoli, Gruber, Goldie, and Michel.
Van Ortroy,
Francis. "St. Stanislas Kostka." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
14. New York: Robert Appleton Company,1912. 9 Apr.
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14245b.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Neil
O'Sullivan. Alumnus of Kostka Hall in Melbourne, Australia.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14245b.htm
_at_St._Stanislaus_Kostkas%2C_Pittsburgh.jpg)
Saint Stanislaus Kostka, Patronus Ecclesiae (Patron of church) at St. Stanislaus Kostkas, Pittsburgh
Stanislaus Kostka, SJ
(RM)
Born in Rostkovo Castle,
Poland, October 28, 1550; died 1568. Son of a Polish, Stanislaus was educated
by a private tutor and then sent to the Jesuit college in Vienna when he was
14. He was soon known for his studious ways, deep religious fervor, and
mortifications. After he recovered from a serious illness during which he
experienced several visions, he decided to join the Jesuits. Opposed by his
father he was refused admission by the Vienna provincial, who feared the
father's reaction if he admitted the youth, Stanislaus walked 350 miles to
Dillengen where Saint Peter Canisius, provincial of Upper Germany, took him in
and then sent him to Rome to Francis Borgia, father general of the Society of
Jesus, who accepted him into the Jesuits in October 1567, at age 17. He
practiced the most severe mortifications, experienced ecstasies at Mass, and
lived a life of great sanctity and angelic innocence. He died in Rome on August
15, only nine months after joining the Jesuits, and was canonized in 1726. He
is one of the lesser patrons of Poland (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney). Saint
Stanislaus is generally rendered in art as a very young Jesuit in adoration
before a monstrance.
Sometimes (1) two angels
and Saint Barbara bring him the Eucharist; (2) the Virgin and Child appear to
him; or (3) there is a pilgrim's staff and hat near him (Roeder).
Venerated in Poland.
Patron of young people (because of his youth). Invoked against broken limbs,
eye troubles, fever, and palpitation. Also when in doubt (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1113.shtml
Saints
of the Society of Jesus: Saint Stanislaus Kostka
Saint Stanislaus was born
in the autumn of 1550. From his infancy so great was his love of purity that he
swooned on hearing anything contrary to that holy virtue. Indeed he is believed
never to have experienced a temptation in this respect. This was owing to a
special protection of the Blessed Virgin Mother, who treated him during all his
life as a child of predilection. This motherly care received in return from
Stanislaus a most confiding devotion. “Do you love the Blessed Virgin?” he was
asked in his novitiate. “She is my mother,” he answered. These simple words
made such an impression on the Father to whom they were said, on account of the
tone of the utterance, that he repeated them to Saint Francis Borgia, then
General of the Society, for his consolation and edification. Our Lady protected
Stanislaus during his conflicts at Vienna with his brother Paul and their
heretical tutor, who wished to force him to lead a worldly life, and during his
flight to the novitiate. When his persecutors refused to let him have a priest
in his illness, he invoked Saint Barbara not to let him die without viaticum,
and she appeared to him with two angels, from whose hands he received the holy
sacrament of the body of Our Lord. A few days later Our Lady appeared to him
herself, with the divine Infant, Whom she placed in his arms. Once, during his
flight, he is overtaken by his brother, who does not recognize him. The
servants, suspecting it is he, desire to go in pursuit ; but the horses will
not budge. At Augsburg he was received into the Society by Blessed Peter
Canisius, and sent to Rome. He received the holy habit on the 28th of October,
1566. On the feast of the Assumption of the following year his soul went to
heaven. He had made a novena to Saint Lawrence, his patron saint of the month,
that he might celebrate that feast with the angels. At the same time he wrote a
letter to Our Lady, which he placed in his breast, but which was not found
after his death, proffering the same request. No one believed that he was going
to die with his apparently trifling ailment but himself. It was the morning of
the Assumption. One last visit Our Lady made to her favorite child ;
accompanied by a troop of virgins, she appeared to him, and then Stanislaus
went to dwell with her and her divine Son in heaven forever.
Whence the simplicity of
Saint Stanislaus? Was it merely the innocence and ingenuousness of a child? We
should be children to think so. Saint Agnes was only thirteen when she laid
down her life for Him Whom alone she loved in this world. Some souls become
perfect in a very short while. The simplicity of the saints comes from the
perfection of their union with God. The more they grow in this union, the more
edification they give to all around them; when it is complete, then they are
ripe for heaven. In vain did Stanislaus rush into the open air and bare his
breast and bathe it with cold water to cool the ardor of divine love which
burned within him. Death only could give him relief. Saint Stanislaus died in
his novitiate; Saint John Berchmans in the early part of his studies; Saint
Aloysius before he was ordained a priest. The gift of these three young saints
to the Society of Jesus is a unique favor; perhaps it was because the Society
is an Order which devotes itself specially to the education of the young. At
any rate, they all three are models for the youth of both sexes. Note that they
were all three favored sons of our most Blessed Lady.
Saint Stanislaus Kostka
is honored as a special patron of Poland, his native country. Several times he
has appeared, encouraging its soldiers in fighting against the infidel.
Immediately after Stanislaus’ death, his brother, Paul Kostka, began a life of
extraordinary penance and died in the odor of sanctity. Bilinski his preceptor,
repented also, and was visited by Saint Stanislaus on his death-bed.
MLA
Citation
Father D
A Merrick, SJ.
“Saint Stanislaus Kostka”. Saints
of the Society of Jesus, 1891. CatholicSaints.Info.
29 December 2018. Web. 11 April 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-society-of-jesus-saint-stanislaus-kostka/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-society-of-jesus-saint-stanislaus-kostka/
St. Stanislas Kostka,
Confessor
YOUTH is the amiable
bloom of age in which sanctity has particular advantages and charms; a
circumstance which recommends to our admiration this saint, who in his tender
years surpassed the most advanced in the gifts of grace and virtue. Stanislas
was the youngest son of John Kostka, senator of Poland, and of Margaret Kriska,
sister to the palatine of Masovia, and was born in the castle of Rostkou, on
the 28th of October, in 1550. His mother engraved in his tender heart early and
deep impressions of piety; and the first use the saint made of his reason was
to consecrate himself to God with a fervour beyond his age. The first elements
of letters he learned at home under a private tutor named John Bilinski, who
attended him and his elder brother, Paul, to the numerous college of the
Jesuits at Vienna, when the saint was fourteen years old. From the first dawn
of reason he showed no inclination to any thing but to piety; and as soon as he
was capable, he gave as much of his time as possible to prayer and study. His
nicety in the point of purity, and his dread of detraction, and all dangers of
sin, made him infinitely cautious in the choice of his company. When he arrived
at Vienna, and was lodged among the pensioners of the Jesuits, every one was
struck with admiration to see the profound recollection and devotion with which
he poured forth his soul before God in prayer: the modesty and glowing fervour
which appeared in his countenance at those times, raised in all who beheld him
a veneration for his person. He sometimes fell into raptures, and often even at
public prayer torrents of sweet tears gushed from his eyes with such
impetuosity that he was not able to contain them. He always came from his
devotions so full of the spirit of God, that he communicated the same to those
who conversed with him. The fire of divine love which burnt in his breast, he
kindled in the hearts of several devout companions, with whom it was his
delight to discourse on God and heavenly things; on which subjects he spoke
with such energy, as imparted to others some sparks of that joy with which his
heart and words overflowed.
His innocence and virtue
stood yet in need of being perfected by trials. Upon the death of the Emperor
Ferdinand, in 1564, his successor Maximilian II., who had not the same zeal for
religion, took from the Jesuits the house which Ferdinand had lent them for the
lodging of their pensioners. Paul Kostka, who was two years older than the
saint, and who had their tutor Bilinski always in his interest, was fond of
liberty and diversions; and to indulge this inclination prevailed with Bilinski
to take lodgings in a Lutheran’s house; and looking upon his brother’s conduct
as a censure of his own, treated him continually with injuries, and often
struck and beat him. Bilinski was still a more dangerous tempter and
persecutor, not only by declaring always for the elder brother against him, but
also by endeavouring to persuade him by flattering insinuations and severe
rebukes that he ought to allow more to the world, and that so much was not
necessary for a person in his station to save his soul. Stanislas, far from
being overcome, stood the more firmly upon his guard, and opposed these
assaults by redoubling his fervour. He communicated every Sunday and great
holiday, and always fasted the day before his communion; never went to school
morning or afternoon, without first going to church to salute the blessed
sacrament; heard every day two masses, and made his meditation, slept little,
and always rose at midnight to pray; he often wore a hair shirt; frequently
took the discipline; never made his appearance in company only at table; and
instantly rose up and left it, if any unbecoming word was let fall by any one
in his presence. When he was not at church or college he was always to be found
at his devotions or studies in his closet, except for a short time after meals.
By this conduct he deserved to be interiorly enlightened and strengthened by
the Holy Ghost, who, by his inspirations, showed him how opposite the false
maxims of worldly prudence are to those of the gospel; that it is an error to
pretend to salvation by following them, and that what is usually called
learning the world, is properly learning its spirit and maxims, which is to
forget those of Jesus Christ.
The saint suffered these
dangerous solicitations and persecutions for two years, and then fell very ill.
Finding his distemper dangerous, he desired to receive the viaticum; but his
Lutheran landlord would not suffer it to be brought publicly to his house, and
the tutor and brother would have it deferred. The pious youth, in extreme
affliction, recommended himself to the intercession of St. Barbara, who is
particularly invoked in the northern kingdoms, for the grace of a happy death
and the benefit of receiving the last sacraments. His prayer was heard; and he
seemed in a vision to be communicated by two angels. The Blessed Virgin, in
another vision, told him, that the hour of his death was not yet come, and bade
him devote himself to God in the Society of Jesus. He had then for about a year
entertained thoughts of embracing that state; and after his recovery petitioned
the superiors to be admitted. F. Magius, provincial of that part of Germany,
who happened then to be at Vienna, durst not receive him, for fear of incurring
the indignation of his father, who warmly declared, he never would consent that
his son should become a religious man. Cardinal Commendon, legate of Pope Pius
V. at Vienna, whom the saint desired to recommend him to the provincial, durst
not undertake to do it. Stanislas, therefore, having discovered his resolution
to his confessor, and by a tender and edifying letter laid in his room, left
notice of his design to his tutor and brother, stole away privately to Ausburg,
and thence went to Dilingen, to make the same request to the pious F. Canisius,
provincial of Upper Germany. F. Canisius, to try his vocation, ordered him to
wait on the pensioners of the college at table, and cleanse out their rooms;
which the saint did with such extraordinary affection and humility, that the
students were exceedingly astonished at his meekness, charity, devotion, and
spirit of mortification, though he was utterly unknown to them. F. Canisius,
after having kept him three weeks, sent him to Rome, where the saint threw
himself at the feet of St. Francis Borgia, then general of the Society, and
earnestly renewed his petition. St. Francis received him with great joy.
Stanislas had no desire to see the curiosities of Rome, but without further
delay entered upon a retreat under the master of novices, during the whole
course of which he was favoured with the sweetest consolations of the Holy
Ghost, and extraordinary heavenly communications. He took the habit on SS.
Simon and Jude’s day in 1567; and a few days after received from his father a
most passionate letter with threats that he would procure the banishment of the
Jesuits out of Poland, and would make them feel the weight of his indignation
for having concurred to such a dishonour of his family. Stanislas answered it
in the most modest and dutiful manner, but expressed a firm purpose of serving
God according to his vocation. And, without the least disturbance or trouble of
mind, applied himself to his religious duties, calmly recommending all things
to God.
It was the saint’s utmost
study and endeavour to regulate and sanctify, in the most perfect manner, all
his ordinary actions in every circumstance, particularly by the most pure and
fervent intention of fulfilling the will of God, and by the greatest exactitude
in every point of duty. Christianity teaches us that we are not to listen to
the prudence of the flesh which is death to the soul.
Stanislas, therefore, set no bounds to his mortifications but what obedience to
his director prescribed him. In the practice of obedience to his superiors such
was his exactitude, that as he was one day carrying wood with a fellow-novice,
he would not help the other in taking up a load upon his shoulders, till he had
made it less, because it was larger than the brother who superintended the work
had directed, though the other had taken no notice of such an order. His own
faults he always exaggerated with unfeigned simplicity, so as to set them in a
light in which only humility, which makes a person most severe in condemning
himself, could have represented them. Whence others said of him, that he was
his own grievous calumniator. As pride feels a pleasure in public actions, so
his greatest delight was secrecy, or some humbling circumstance whenever he
made his appearance in public; as, a more than ordinary threadbare habit, by
which he might seem to strangers to be a person of no consideration in the
house, as he looked upon himself, and desired to be regarded by others. Nothing
gave him so much confusion and displeasure as to hear himself commended; and he
was ingenious in preventing all occasions of it, and in shunning every thing by
which he might appear to others humble. The whole life of this fervent novice
seemed almost a continual prayer: nor was his prayer almost any other than an
uninterrupted exercise of the most tender love of God, which often vented
itself in torrents of sweet tears, or in holy transports or raptures. By the
habitual union of his heart with God he seemed, in the opinion of his
directors, never to be molested with distractions at his prayers. Several, by
having recommended themselves with confidence to his good thoughts, have
suddenly found themselves comforted, and freed from bitter anguish of soul, and
interior trouble of mind. The ardent love which the saint had for Jesus Christ
in the holy sacrament was so sensible, that his face appeared all on fire as
soon as he entered the church. He was often seen in a kind of ecstacy at mass,
and always after receiving the holy communion. The whole day on which he
communicated, he could not, without great difficulty and reluctance, speak of
anything but the excess of the love which Jesus Christ has expressed for us in
that adorable sacrament; and of this he discoursed with such interior feeling
and joy, and in so pathetic a manner, that the most experienced and spiritual
fathers took great delight in conversing with him.
This holy seraph, glowing
with divine love, was inflamed with an uncommon ardour to be speedily united to
the object of his love a considerable time before his happy death, which he
distinctly foretold to several. In the beginning of August he said to several
together, that all men are bound to watch, because they may die any day: but
that this lesson particularly regarded him, because he should certainly die
before the end of that month. Four days after, discoursing with F. Emmanuel Sa,
concerning the feast of the Assumption of our Lady, he said, in a kind of
transport of devotion: “O father, how happy a day to all the saints, was that
on which the Blessed Virgin was received into heaven! I doubt not but they all
celebrate the anniversary of it with extraordinary joy, as we do on earth. I
hope myself to see the next feast they will keep of it.” His youth, and the
perfect health which he then enjoyed, made others give no credit to this
prediction. Yet they perceived that he made all immediate preparations for the
great journey of eternity. On St. Laurence’s day, in the evening, he found
himself indisposed: upon which he could not contain his joy that the end of his
mortal pilgrimage drew near. Being carried to the infirmary he made the sign of
the cross upon his bed, saying, he should never more rise out of it. His fever
proved at first only intermitting; yet he repeated the same assurances. On the
14th day of the month he said, in the morning, that he should die the night
following: a little after mid-day he fell into a swoon, which was followed with
a cold sweat, and he demanded and received the viaticum and extreme unction
with the most tender devotion; during which, according to his desire, he was
laid upon a blanket on the floor. He begged pardon of all his brethren for
whatever offences he had committed against any one, and continued repeating
frequent aspirations of compunction and divine love. Some time after, he said
that he saw the Blessed Virgin accompanied with many angels, and happily expired
a little after three o’clock in the morning of the 15th of August, in 1568,
having completed only nine months and eighteen days of his novitiate, and of
his age seventeen years, nine months, and eighteen days. The sanctity of his
life, and several manifest miracles engaged Clement VIII. to beatify him,
that is, declare him happy, in 1604. Paul V. allowed an office to be said in
his honour, in all the churches of Poland; Clement X. granted that privilege to
the Society, and settled his feast on the 13th of November, on which his body,
which was found sound, and without the least signs of decay or corruption, was
translated from the old chapel and laid in the new church of the Novitiate at
Rome, founded by Prince Pamphili. The saint was canonized by Benedict XIII., in
1727. The Poles have chosen him jointly with St. Casimir, chief patron of their
kingdom: and he is particular patron of the cities of Warsaw, Posna, Lublin,
and Leopold. The Poles ascribe to his intercession the deliverance of their
country from a pestilence, and several victories of King Ladislas over the
Turks, and others of his brother and successor, Casimir, over the Tartars and
Cosaques, in 1651. Many miraculous cures have been wrought through his
intervention. A relation of this that follows, with the attestations of five
eminent physicians and a surgeon, and of all the Jesuits then living at Lima,
and witnesses to the fact, approved by the vicariat, (the archbishopric being
then vacant,) was printed at Madrid, in 1674. A novice in the convent of the
Jesuits at Lima, after a malignant fever, in the month of October, was deprived
by a palsy of all motion on the whole right side of his body, so that he was
not able to stir in the least that hand or foot. A loathing of all food, with a
fever, and other bad symptoms attended the disorder, which the physicians
judged incurable. On the feast of St. Stanislas, the 13th of November, by
applying a picture of the saint to that side, he found the motion and feeling
in those parts instantly restored, and himself in perfect health. Certain
companions who were present, called the rector, and the whole house followed
him. The novice who was recovered, arose and dressed himself, and walked to the
church as well as if he had never been sick. The whole community accompanied
him, and sung a solemn Te Deum. See the new edition of this saint’s life,
compiled by F. Orleans, published since his canonization.
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume XI: November. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/11/133.html
Retablo
de San Estanislao de Kostka, Iglesia de San Luis
de los Franceses (Sevilla). Escultura y retablo de Pedro Duque y Cornejo (1731)
Weninger’s
Lives of the Saints – Saint Stanislaus Kostka, Confessor, of the Society of
Jesus
Saint Stanislaus Kostka,
who, when still very young, was raised by the Almighty to great holiness, was a
native of Poland, and the son of illustrious parents. Before he was born, his
mother saw the holy name of Jesus upon her breast, which she regarded as a sign
of the future sanctity of her unborn child. Stanislaus lived in the house of
his parents until his fourteenth year, and was so innocent and pious, that all
who knew him called him “Angel.” This name he deserved particularly on account
of his angelic purity. All that was in the least against this virtue caused him
such disgust and horror, that he sank fainting to the floor, if any one, at his
father’s table, uttered an unchaste word. This happened not only once or twice,
but so often, that his father would say, whenever any one made an offensive
remark: “Let us change the conversation, or Stanislaus will presently kiss the
floor.” He never manifested any pleasure in luxurious garments, in society, or
in pastimes and amusements; his only enjoyment was prayer and study. When 14
years of age, he was sent with his elder brother, Paul, and a tutor, to Vienna,
to continue his studies in a seminary which was under the direction of the
Fathers of the Society of Jesus. But after some time this house was taken away from
the Fathers, and Stanislaus was forced to make his home in the house of a
Lutheran. Here he continued to live as he had done in the house of his parents
and in the Seminary. His occupations were prayer and study: he daily assisted
at two or three Masses, and frequently received holy communion, for which he
prepared himself most carefully by fasting and fervent devotions. He frequented
no public assemblies or theatres, and cared nothing for any of those pleasures
that were so eagerly sought by his equals. Paul, his brother, was entirely
different from him; his conduct was that of most young men of the nobility, and
he wished Stanislaus to follow his example. The innocent youth had much to
suffer because he refused to comply. For nearly three long years, he was
persecuted by his brother, and not only abused by word, but often cruelly
beaten. All this, however, could not move Stanislaus to change his holy
conduct. He bore his brother’s injustice with great resignation and endeavored
to meet him with unaltered kindness. “I will live,” said he, “in such a manner
as I know is pleasing to my God, whether it pleases my brother or not.” When
urged to enjoy himself with others in the way usually adopted by the corrupt
world, he would say: “I was born for a higher end.” At night, when he supposed
that his brother and his tutor slept, he rose from his bed, even in the midst
of winter, and spent more than an hour in such fervent prayers, that he
frequently fell into ecstacy. To the divine Mother, he bore from his earliest
youth, a filial devotion, and daily recited the rosary in her honor. He chose
the holy Virgin and Martyr, Saint Barbara, as his especial patroness, because
he had read that she obtained, for those who invoked her, the grace of
receiving the holy Sacrament before they die. The efficacy of her intercession
was experienced by himself. He became very ill, and though his most fervent
desire was to receive the Blessed Eucharist, he could not hope that either his
Lutheran landlord or his brother would grant his wishes. He, therefore, invoked
his holy patroness, praying her not to let him die without having received the
Viaticum. And behold! in the following night, Saint Barbara appeared to him,
accompanied by two angels, one of whom carried the sacred Host, and, approaching
the youth, administered it to him. Soon after, the Blessed Virgin appeared to
him with the divine Child, which she permitted him to embrace. She restored his
health, and bade him join the Society of her beloved son, Jesus. At the
beginning of his sickness, an event took place that we must not omit to relate.
The Evil One, wishing to fill the soul of the holy youth with fear and
trembling, appeared to him in the form of a hideous dog, which ran toward him
with open jaws, as if to devour him. Thrice he renewed the attack, but was as
often repulsed by Saint Stanislaus with the sign of the holy Cross. It was
after this victory, that the visions just mentioned comforted and consoled him.
Stanislaus, filled with
indescribable joy, arose from his bed in perfect health; and, after having
given due thanks to God, to the Blessed Virgin and Saint Barbara, he began to
consider how he could obey the command of the divine Mother, and enter the
Society of Jesus. He humbly requested at Vienna to be admitted into the
Society; but the superior could not and would not receive him, without the
consent of his parents, and of that there was no hope. Having consulted the
Almighty and his confessor, the holy youth escaped during the night, and, in
the guise of a pilgrim, went to Augsburg, and thence to Dillingen, where at
that time Father Canisius was Provincial. As soon as the absence of Stanislaus
was perceived at Vienna, Paul and his tutor pursued him, and, at one time, were
on the point of overtaking him, when suddenly their horses stood still, and
could not be induced to move. Paul, as well as the tutor, on perceiving this,
acknowledged that the Almighty had taken the fugitive under His protection, and
quietly returned home; while Stanislaus, guarded so miraculously by heaven,
continued his journey. Between Augsburg and Dillingen, God bestowed another
grace on him. On his way, he entered a church, as he desired to comfort and
strengthen himself with the bread of Angels. He found, however, with deep
grief, that the Lutherans worshipped there, and that he could not partake of
the consolation he so ardently desired. But his sorrow was soon changed into
inexpressible joy; for while he remained kneeling, in pious contemplation, he
suddenly perceived a band of holy Angels, one of whom administered the Holy
Eucharist to him.
Thus strengthened, he
proceeded to Dillingen. Father Canisius hesitated to receive him into the
Order, but advised him to continue his journey to Rome. The holy youth, again
taking his staff in hand, arrived at Rome after a long and tedious journey. He
made the whole distance, from Vienna to Rome, on foot, battling with
innumerable difficulties. He afterwards said that he would have gone on to
India, if no other means had I been left him to attain his wish. At Rome, he
knelt at the feet of Saint Francis Borgia, who was at that time General of the
Society of Jesus, and begged to be admitted among the novices. Saint Francis,
raising him from the ground, embraced him most kindly and gladly received him
into the Order. The consolation which the holy youth felt in his inmost heart
can hardly be expressed, and he began and continued his novitiate with the
greatest zeal; so that even during the first few months, the master of novices
hesitated not to point him out to the others as a model of virtue. Soon after
his entrance, a violent letter arrived from his father, threatening him not
only with his disfavor, but also with chains and a dungeon, if he did not
immediately return to his home. But Stanislaus, weeping over the blindness of
his father, became still more zealous in the exercise of virtues. He possessed
very remarkable traits: whatever good he saw in others, he tried to imitate;
his modesty was angelical, and his obedience, perfect. His love of
mortification was almost exaggerated, and nothing but obedience could restrain
him. He observed all the rules most carefully; gave due honor to his superiors,
and treated his equals and inferiors with wonderful charity and humility. Among
all his virtues the greatest was his love of God; hence proceeded his
ecstasies, and the many tears in which he seemed to dissolve, when God was
spoken of, His countenance glowed with love to the Almighty, and frequently
beamed with divine radiance. The fervor of this divine love was so great, that,
even in the depth of winter, he was forced to moderate it by pouring cold water
on his breast. Nothing gave him greater delight than to hear God and the
Blessed Virgin spoken of. All that he had read in praise of the Mother of our
Lord, he gathered together, in order to be better able to extol and honor her.
He never called her otherwise than his mother. One day, a priest asked him
whether he loved Mary. “How can you ask me such a question?” replied the Saint,
“She is my Mother!” Morning and night, he begged, on bended knees, the blessing
of this his beloved Mother and her divine Son. He gave to prayer as much time
as obedience permitted, and always with such deep reverence, that those who saw
him loved to look on him. His desire to be united with his Beloved caused him
continually to sigh and long for death.
On the ist August, Saint
Lawrence was given him as patron for the month, and he celebrated the festival
of this Saint with especial devotion. His ardent desire to behold the blessed
Virgin on the coming feast of her Assumption caused him to write a letter,
begging her to obtain for him this favor, and he obtained it. He placed the
letter near his heart, receiving holy Communion, and towards evening, on the
feast of Saint Lawrence a slight, fever seized him, which he regarded as a
messenger of death, and was happy at the thought of soon seeing God. When
obliged to lie down, he made the sign of the holy Cross on himself and his bed,
saying: “If it pleases the Lord that I should not again rise from this bed, His
holy will be done.” His sickness seemed not to be dangerous; but he said that
he would die of it; and on the last day of his life, contrary to the opinion of
his physicians, he said that he would not live to see the next morning. He
received the holy Sacraments with such reverence and deep devotion, that all
present were bathed in tears. The time that he still lived after this, he
employed in pious exercises. He frequently kissed the crucifix with tender
devotion, as also the picture of the Blessed Virgin, to whose protection he
commended himself with filial confidence. He also invoked his holy patrons,
whose names he desired to be read to him. On being asked whether he felt any
anxiety of mind: “None at all,” replied he: “my heart is ready, O God! my heart
is ready!” Before his end, the Blessed Virgin, with a company of holy virgins
and angels, appeared to invite him into heaven. Following this invitation, he
expired, on the 15th day of August, more in consequence of his great love and
desire to be with the Almighty, than from the violence of the fever. When he
died, he held in one hand, a picture of the Blessed Virgin, and in the other, a
burning taper; and his last words were the holy names of Jesus and Mary. The
crucifix he had laid upon his breast, and had bound the rosary around his arm,
to show that he desired to die in the love of the crucified Lord, and under the
protection of the divine Mother. He had not yet reached his 18th year, and was
in the tenth month of his novitiate. The innocence which he had received in
baptism he carried unspotted to the grave. God made His servant glorious by
many miracles, especially in Poland, where he is honored as patron Saint of the
country. He appeared visibly to the troops, at the time of the war with the
Turks, and obtained of the Almighty a glorious victory for them. By his
intercession, many cities have escaped pestilence and conflagrations.
Practical Considerations
Although the life of
Saint Stanislaus was short in years, it contains many wholesome instructions.
• The holy youth had such
intense horror of all impure discourses, that he fainted on hearing them. What
do you do when you hear such conversation? Are you disgusted with them, and do
you show that you are so; or do you perhaps only laugh at them? Ah! if you
could only comprehend the horror such words are to the Almighty, it would be
impossible for you to laugh. Pray that God would make you sensible of this.
• Stanislaus imitated not
the example of the youths of his own rank and age, who lived too freely,
although on account of it, he was laughed at, and even persecuted by his own
brother. “I will live,” said he, “in such a manner as I know to be agreeable to
God; whether it is pleasing or not to my brother.” It is nothing new that those
who give themselves to the vanity of this world, should desire to draw others
after them, and deride and persecute those on whom they cannot prevail to
follow their example. A true Christian ought to imitate Saint Stanislaus, and
not allow himself to be deterred from walking in the path of right. He must
live as he knows is pleasing in the sight of the Most High, whether it please
men or not. If to please men, we neglect the service of God, and follow the
example of frivolous worldlings; or if, not to displease men, we omit what is
necessary for our salvation, we prove that we fear and love the Almighty less
than men, which is not only great folly, but abominable wickedness. From whom
can we expect more good and fear more evil, from God, or from men? See that you
belong not to this class of people; but determine, like Saint Stanislaus, to
live so as to be agreeable to God. Be not disturbed by the derision and
persecution of the wicked.
• Saint Stanislaus bore
an especial devotion to our Lord in the most Holy Eucharist, and also toward
the Blessed Virgin, whom he called his Mother. In recompense for this, he was
twice miraculously fed by an Angel, and was visited by the divine Mother.
Follow him in both points. Assist daily at Holy Mass, and always prepare
yourself carefully for holy Communion; honor the divine Mother, and invoke her
with filial trust. To ask her blessing, morning and night, after the example of
Saint Stanislaus, is easily done, and is, moreover, a sign of love and
confidence.
• At the very beginning
of his sickness, Saint Stanislaus showed himself ready to die, if it was the
will of God. When he was asked during his sickness, whether he was anxious or
troubled in mind, he replied: “Not at all; my heart is ready, O God! my heart
is ready.” Should God visit you with sickness, bow to the divine will, and show
yourself ready to live or die according to God’s pleasure; thus, you will not
only be more quiet in mind, but you will also bear your sickness more patiently
and with greater merit. In health, be careful that you suffer nothing to lie on
your conscience, which, at the time of your death, may occasion you fear and
anxiety; for, there is nothing more miserable than a man who on his death-bed
has a troubled conscience. Saint Stanislaus had neither fear nor anxiety,
because he had never offended God by a mortal sin, but had always served Him
faithfully. It is sin alone which frightens and troubles the dying. If on your
sick-bed you would be free from all fear, do not commit sin, or if you have
been guilty of it, repent. Delay not your penance until you are lying on your
sick-bed: “For it is difficult, it is very difficult,” says Hugo of Saint
Victor, “to do true penance at that time, and to awaken, in a troubled
conscience, earnest repentance.” Perhaps, at that moment, one does not even
think of it, or know not what to do in the anxiety of his mind. “At the time of
sickness, you can hardly think of anything but what you feel,” says Saint
Jerome; and Saint Augustine writes: “It is in accordance with Divine Justice
that he who forgets God during his life, forgets himself in the hour of death.”
Hence, he cannot earnestly endeavor to do what would ease his conscience, and
prepare him for a happy death. “Therefore, whoever wishes to die quietly and
peacefully, let him do penance while he enjoys health,” says Saint Bernard. It
is my advice, that, while you are in the possession of health, you would
sometimes employ a few minutes to examine your conscience, in order to
ascertain if there is nothing which might trouble you on your death-bed. Should
you find anything, remove it without delay.
MLA
Citation
Father Francis Xavier
Weninger, DD, SJ. “Saint Stanislaus Kostka, Confessor, of the Society of
Jesus”. Lives of the Saints, 1876. CatholicSaints.Info.
23 May 2018. Web. 11 April 2025. <https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-stanislaus-kostka-confessor-of-the-society-of-jesus/>
Pierre Le Gros the Younger (1666–1719)
St. Stanisław Kostka on his death bed. Jesuit convent near Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, Rome.
Pierre
Legros le Jeune (1666-1719). Saint Stanislas Kostka sur son lit de mort . Couvent
jésuite près de Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, Rome.
San
Estanislao Kostka sobre el lecho de muerte por Pierre Legros El Joven
(1666-1719). Convento Jesuita cercano a Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, Roma.
San Stanislao Kostka Novizio
gesuita
Festa: 15 agosto
Rostkow, Polonia, ottobre
1550 - Roma, 15 agosto 1568
Stanislao Kostka, nato
nel 1550, proveniva da una nobile famiglia. All’età di tredici anni venne
mandato a studiare a Vienna, nella scuola dei gesuiti, che fu poi requisita
dall’imperatore d’Austria. Stanislao, pur costretto in un alloggio provvisorio,
si mantenne devoto e diligente. Nel corso di una grave malattia maturò il
proposito di far parte dei Gesuiti. Così fuggì da Vienna alla volta di
Dillingen. Nonostante la reazione del padre il giovane fu irremovibile. Andò a
Roma per il noviziato. Morì il giorno dell’Assunta, a diciott’anni, nel 1568.
Fu il primo beato della Compagnia. (Avvenire)
Patronato: Giovani
Etimologia: Stanislao
= la gloria dello stato, dal polacco
Martirologio
Romano: A Roma, san Stanislao Kostka, che, di origine polacca, spinto dal
desiderio di entrare nella Compagnia di Gesù fuggì dalla casa paterna e si recò
a piedi a Roma, dove, ammesso nel noviziato da san Francesco Borgia, morì in
fama di santità, stremato in breve tempo nel prestare i più umili servizi.
Dalla Polonia a Vienna
S.Stanislao Kostka, novizio della Compagnia di Gesù, è tra i più conosciuti e
venerati santi polacchi. Nacque nell'ottobre 1550 a Rostkow, a pochi chilometri
da Varsavia.
Il padre di Stanislao era il principe Jan Kostka, capo militare e Senatore del Regno di Sigismondo Augusto (1548-1572), di cui Cracovia era la capitale. La famiglia dei Kostka comprendeva numerosi governatori, senatori, vescovi.
Nei primi anni la sua formazione fu curata da professori privati, come in uso presso le famiglie nobili, ma a 14 anni, nel mese di luglio 1564, fu mandato a Vienna, con il fratello Paolo e il precettore Giovanni Bilinski, nel collegio dei gesuiti, per proseguire gli studi. Durante il viaggio passarono per il celebre santuario della Madonna di Czestochowa, e attraverso la Slesia giunsero a Vienna il 25 luglio. Qui abitarono nel "Convitto Imperiale S.Barbara", uno dei tre tenuti dai gesuiti.
La Compagnia di Gesù era allora agli inizi: S.Ignazio di Loyola, suo fondatore, era morto da poco, nel 1556. Ma già i gesuiti erano conosciuti come profondi teologi che erano intervenuti al Concilio di Trento, e già un po' ovunque avevano dato inizio a una feconda opera di rinnovamento culturale con i loro "Collegi", istituti scolastici la cui rinomanza fece sì che le migliori famiglie del tempo vollero inviarvi i loro figli. Questo apostolato culturale, che comprendeva una riforma degli studi, aveva di mira una elevazione a lunga scadenza del livello di vita spirituale e umana di tutta la società.
In questo periodo Stanislao espresse il suo ideale di vita con la celebre frase: "Ad maiora natus sum", cioè: "Sono nato per le cose più grandi." Da tempo Stanislao aveva una vita spirituale molto intensa, e confidò una volta a Stefano Augusti, suo compagno a Roma, che il primo fatto che poteva ricordare della sua infanzia era un giorno di "intenso amore", in cui si era donato completamente e per sempre a Dio.
Un'analisi grafologica condotta su autografi giovanili di Stanislao lo descrive come "sensibile, affettuoso, intelligente sopra la media, tendenzialmente ambizioso, dotato di forte senso critico, fortemente attirato dall'altro sesso, deciso, incline all'indipendenza, espansivo ma incline a dominare sugli altri".
Già nei primi mesi del soggiorno viennese Stanislao conobbe e chiese di essere ammesso alla "Congregazione Mariana", che era in quel luogo intitolata a S.Barbara. Si impegnò in quello che era il cammino spirituale proposto: vivere intensamente lo spirito del Vangelo, esserne testimoni nel proprio ambiente di vita e di lavoro, coltivare in modo speciale la devozione alla Vergine Maria. Tutto questo si accordava perfettamente alle aspettative spirituali di Stanislao, ed effettivamente l'appartenere alla Congregazione Mariana si rivelò per lui di grande aiuto.
Dava molto spazio alla preghiera, partecipava intensamente alla Messa o ai Vespri che si celebravano nello stesso Collegio. I suoi compagni testimoniarono di averlo sorpreso più di una volta come in estasi, rapito dai sensi, trasfigurato. Anche se cercava di evitare che questo gli accadesse dove altri potevano vederlo. Anche Giovanni Bilinski, che viveva con i fratelli Kostka a Vienna, testimoniò che a volte Stanislao era trovato nella chiesa di Am Hof "quasi esanime e sollevato da terra".
A Vienna Stanislao fece pure l'esperienza degli Esercizi Spirituali, seguendo
il celebre libretto di S.Ignazio. Ne uscì consolidata la sua scelta per la vita
religiosa, e avendone sperimentato l'efficacia profonda li raccomandò a un
altro giovane polacco di nome Adriano, che poi così riferì la cosa:
"Avendomi parlato di alcune cose degli Esercizi Spirituali e quanto gli
altri ne ricavassero di utilità, aggiunse che se io volevo dedicar loro pochi
giorni, ne avrei riportato un frutto non mediocre".
La difficile convivenza con il fratello Paolo
Gli studi comprendevano, secondo l'uso della Compagnia di Gesù,
"Grammatica", "Umanità" e "Retorica". A Vienna si
rivelò però problematica la convivenza con il fratello Paolo, molto diverso da
lui come carattere e tenore di vita. Laurenz Pacifici, compagno di studi di
Stanislao a Vienna e poi sacerdote a Venezia, testimoniò che il fratello Paolo
era "di carattere indipendente e orgoglioso, amava molto l'eleganza, il
lusso, la mondanità".
Le cose peggiorarono quando, essendo morto l'imperatore Ferdinando I, il successore Massimiliano II pretese dai gesuiti la restituzione dell'immobile dove era ospitato il Convitto S.Barbara. Così i fratelli Kostka dovettero cercarsi un appartamento in affitto, e questo mise Stanislao ancor più in balia del temperamento instabile e prepotente del fratello Paolo.
Questi da parte sua era invece ben contento del cambiamento, che gli permise di condurre una vita sempre più mondana, frequentando balli e teatri, corteggiando dame, andando a caccia. Paolo iniziò a vessare il fratello minore Stanislao proprio perché questi continuava il tenore di vita spirituale come nel Collegio.
Derisione e rimproveri si fecero quotidiani, anche perché Paolo vedeva
nell'atteggiamento di Stanislao un rimprovero continuo nei suoi confronti,
specie quando, le volte che Stanislao era obbligato da lui a partecipare a
qualche cena o ballo dove si tenevano discorsi immorali, se ne restava in
silenzio senza alcuna partecipazione attiva. E allora più di una volta Paolo -
anche spalleggiato da qualche amico - passò oltre le parole e si arrivò alle
percosse, ma niente di tutto questo riusciva a smuovere l'altrettanto risoluto
Stanislao dai suoi propositi. Tutto questo è stato testimoniato dallo stesso
Paolo quando - ormai pentito - fece la sua deposizione al processo canonico.
L'intervento del soprannaturale
Nel dicembre del 1566 Stanislao si ammalò e fu costretto a letto per vari
giorni, tanto da far preoccupare il fratello Paolo e il precettore, che erano
pur sempre responsabili di lui nei confronti del padre. Qui si collocano i due
celebri episodi che sono stati fatti oggetto - insieme all'apparizione della
Vergine in punto di morte - di tante raffigurazioni pittoriche su S.Stanislao
Kostka.
Il primo è il celebre episodio della Comunione che Stanislao ricevette prodigiosamente dalle mani di S.Barbara. Stanislao aveva implorato che si facesse chiamare un sacerdote per poter ricevere la Comunione, ma gli fu negato, anche per l'opposizione drastica del padrone dell'appartamento che era luterano.
Una notte il precettore Bilinski lo vegliava, ed ecco che si sente afferrare per un braccio da Stanislao che esclama: "Si inginocchi, Giovanni!" E subito il malato uscì dal letto e si pose in ginocchio sul tappeto. "Si inginocchi - continuò Stanislao - perché è venuta Santa Barbara con due Angeli che mi portano la Comunione". Poi Bilinski vide Stanislao pronunciare per tre volte "Signore, non sono degno", e aprire le labbra come per ricevere la Comunione. Quindi Stanislao tornò sotto le coperte. Giovanni Bilinski testimoniò poi che Stanislao non gli parve affatto in preda a un delirio, ma che anzi si comportava con molto rispetto e padronanza di sé".
Il secondo episodio avvenne qualche giorno dopo. La malattia di Stanislao infatti peggiorava, al punto che sembrava lasciare poca speranza di guarigione. Giovanni Bilinski, stanco per tante notti passate al capezzale di Stanislao, incaricò il domestico Lorenzo di vegliarlo al posto suo. Ma quando all'alba entrò nella sua camera, vide Lorenzo addormentato e Stanislao seduto sul letto e tutto allegro, perché diceva di sentirsi perfettamente guarito.
Bilinski costatò che in effetti non aveva più febbre, ma gli proibì di alzarsi, mentre chiamava il medico. Ma dopo due visite, il medico quella sera stessa dovette ammettere che quel ragazzo che lui stesso aveva dato per spacciato, era veramente e senza alcuna spiegazione plausibile improvvisamente e completamente guarito!
La "spiegazione" la diede poi Stanislao al suo Padre Spirituale, il
P.Giovanni Donius: gli parlò di una apparizione di Maria con Gesù Bambino che
aveva avuto l'ultima notte della malattia. Raccontò a P.Donius che varie volte
in passato aveva espresso alla Vergine il desiderio di vederla. E ora che la
malattia sembrava essere fatale, era contento di poterla contemplare in Cielo.
Ma la Vergine Maria gli fece comprendere che non era ancora venuta la sua ora,
e gli apparve raggiante con il Bambino Gesù tra le braccia. Non solo, ma a un
certo punto Maria porse a Stanislao il suo Bambino, che lo accolse stringendolo
a sé. Infine Maria gli disse che voleva che lui entrasse nella Compagnia di
Gesù.
La fuga e il viaggio a Roma
Terminati gli studi nel 1567, Stanislao volle concretizzare il suo proposito e
chiese di essere ammesso nella Compagnia di Gesù. Il P.Provinciale gli disse
che occorreva il permesso del padre, data la sua giovane età (17 anni). Ma
Stanislao sapeva bene che le idee di suo padre nei suoi confronti erano altre,
e prevedeva un netto rifiuto. Anzi, si rendeva conto che se solo avesse
manifestato il suo proposito, senz'altro lo avrebbero ostacolato in ogni modo.
Così, ritenendo insuperabile l'opposizione della sua famiglia, decise di fuggire da Vienna, e a piedi si recò in Germania, prima ad Ausburg e poi a Dillingen, perché un gesuita portoghese, P.Francesco Antoni, gli suggerì di rivolgersi al tedesco P.Pietro Canisio, Provinciale della Germania settentrionale.
Certo non sarebbe stato un viaggio da poco: circa 600 chilometri... Stanislao si fece dare pure una lettera per il Generale dei gesuiti, P.Francesco Borgia, nel caso che avesse avuto un rifiuto anche dal P.Canisio. Così il 10 agosto, all'alba, disse al domestico Laurenz di non aspettarlo a pranzo perché aveva ricevuto un invito. Andò poi alla chiesa dei gesuiti partecipando alla Messa, e subito dopo iniziò la sua fuga da Vienna. Appena fuori città scambiò i suoi ricchi abiti con quelli di un mendicante, anche perché così sarebbe passato inosservato.
E la sera il fratello Paolo, non vedendolo rientrare, cominciò a preoccuparsi, ricordandosi anche di alcune frasi che Stanislao gli aveva detto recentemente, avvertendolo che se continuavano le vessazioni egli se ne sarebbe andato, e di questo egli sarebbe stato responsabile nei confronti del padre.
Quando poi venne trovata una lettera di Stanislao, in un vocabolario di latino, nella quale svelava i suoi progetti di fuga, Paolo e il precettore furono presi dal panico e alle prime luci dell'alba si lanciarono all'inseguimento del fuggitivo. Ma Stanislao era già lontano. Disse poi di aver visto la carrozza con suo fratello che lo cercava, ma dato il suo travestimento non era facile individuarlo, e del resto egli corse a nascondersi finché non vide tornare verso Vienna la carrozza del fratello, dopo il vano tentativo di riprenderlo...
Come Stanislao aveva previsto, non appena il padre fu informato della fuga di Stanislao, fu preso da ira per quanto era accaduto, e scrisse lettere minacciose ai gesuiti, a vescovi e cardinali dicendo che avrebbe fatto di tutto per far bandire i gesuiti dalla Polonia, e che quanto a suo figlio, lo avrebbe fatto ricondurre in patria ad ogni costo, anche legato mani e piedi.
Intanto Stanislao proseguiva la sua fuga, e dopo venti giorni giungeva a destinazione, e a Dillingen potè incontrare il P.Canisio. Questi, dopo aver conosciuto Stanislao e averlo trattenuto con sé per un periodo di tempo, ne rimase profondamente colpito e convinto della sua vocazione.
Anche da Vienna i gesuiti mandarono una lettera a Roma spiegando quando era avvenuto. Il P.Wolfgang Perringer così concludeva: "Crediamo però che tutto sia accaduto per consiglio di Dio, che così voleva liberare questo giovane. Certo egli ha mostrato una tale costanza che è apparso mosso non da ardore infantile ma da ispirazione celeste".
Così insieme a due compagni, Stanislao venne inviato a Roma, anche per
allontanarlo dalle ire del padre. Attraversando a piedi le Alpi e gli
Appennini, dopo un viaggio di circa 1.500 chilometri, giunse al noviziato
romano. Portava con sé una lettera del P.Canisio che tra l'altro scriveva:
"Stanislao, nobile polacco, giovane retto e pieno di zelo... Venuto a noi
desideroso di sciogliere un antico voto... fu provato per un po' di tempo nel
collegio dei convittori di Dillingen e si mostrò sempre esatto nel proprio
dovere e saldo nella vocazione... grandi cose speriamo da lui."
La vita nel Noviziato della Compagnia di Gesù
Il 25 ottobre i tre pellegrini giunsero infine a Roma, e come si può ben capire
le fatiche del lungo viaggio erano evidenti. Per tre giorni furono fatti
riposare e furono affidati alle cure del novizio Stefano Augusti, che poi
testimoniò di aver trovato Stanislao "vestito assai poveramente, e a causa
del lungo viaggio e della giovane età arrivò tanto stanco che fu necessario aver
particolare cura di lui perché si rimettesse in forze prima dell'ingresso in
Noviziato".
A Roma Stanislao poté incontrarsi col superiore generale P.Francesco Borgia, che anche lui a suo tempo aveva rinunciato ad un'alta posizione sociale per seguire Ignazio di Loyola nella Compagnia di Gesù. Era stato infatti duca di Gandia, governatore della Catalogna e ministro dell'imperatore Carlo V.
Stanislao iniziò il noviziato il 28 ottobre 1567, insieme a 70 altri novizi, nella casa attigua alla chiesa del Gesù, ma dopo tre mesi il noviziato venne trasferito presso la chiesa di S.Andrea al Quirinale. Suo Maestro dei novizi fu prima il P.Alfonso Ruiz e poi P.Giulio Fazio.
Come già aveva dimostrato nella sua vita da studente, Stanislao manifestò anche in noviziato un'intelligenza perspicace e una decisa volontà. Si distingueva per la sua fede eucaristica, e mostrava una venerazione particolare per la Vergine Maria, che chiamava sempre: "La mia Madre". Durante il noviziato fece i voti religiosi di povertà, castità e obbedienza.
Come tutti i novizi Stanislao fece gli Esercizi Spirituali di un mese, ed ebbe come compagno Claudio Acquaviva, futuro Generale dei gesuiti, il quale per incarico del maestro dei novizi assisteva Stanislao esponendogli i vari punti di meditazione, tratti dal celebre metodo di Ignazio di Loyola: l'appello del Re eterno, la vita di Gesù come appare nei Vangeli, con i misteri della sua nascita, morte e risurrezione. Poi alla fine la "contemplazione per raggiungere l'Amore".
Lo stesso Acquaviva fu suo compagno negli umili lavori che si facevano svolgere ai novizi in cucina, compreso il trasporto della legna, e poté testimoniare come Stanislao svolgesse anche in quest'ambito i suoi compiti con esattezza, senza voler mai mettersi in mostra o strafare...
Ogni tanto si chiedeva ai novizi di illustrare ai compagni qualche argomento di carattere ascetico, e Stanislao parlò un giorno della figura del missionario. Già allora la Compagnia di Gesù aveva inviato per il mondo tanti dei suoi membri, tra cui il grande Francesco Saverio, che è stato proclamato poi Patrono delle Missioni. Ed ecco come Stanislao descrisse il "bagaglio" spirituale del missionario: "Ottime scarpe di mortificazione, un ampio mantello di amor di Dio e del prossimo, un cappello di pazienza a difesa delle avversità..." Tra quelli che lo ascoltavano c'era il futuro martire per la fede Rodolfo Acquaviva.
Arrivò un giorno a Stanislao una lettera minacciosa del padre, che lo qualificava come la vergogna della famiglia Kostka, ma Stanislao restava fermo nel suo proposito. Scrisse una lettera di risposta al padre, dicendogli che se avesse compreso quel che Dio gli aveva fatto, non avrebbe mai pensato a riportarlo in Polonia.
Nei primi giorni di agosto 1568 venne in noviziato Pietro Canisio, per tenere una conferenza spirituale, e in quest'occasione Stanislao confidò di essere convinto che quello era il suo ultimo mese di vita. E effettivamente il 10 agosto, festa di S.Lorenzo martire, si manifestarono i primi sintomi della malattia che lo avrebbe condotto precocemente alla morte.
Lo assalì una febbre molto alta, che aveva fasi alterne, probabilmente malaria, e fu trasferito nell'infermeria del noviziato. Accettò ogni sofferenza con serenità e fermezza dicendo: "Se così piace a Dio, che non mi alzi più da questo letto, sia fatta la sua volontà!".
Venne curato così come lo permetteva la medicina del tempo, e come medico ebbe anche il P.Agostino Marzino, che si era laureato a Padova prima di farsi gesuita. Intervenne un insperato miglioramento, che fece dire all'infermiere che "ci sarebbe voluto un miracolo per morire piuttosto che per guarire completamente".
Ma Stanislao ripeté a questo punto che quello era il suo ultimo giorno sulla terra... Difatti le sue condizioni peggiorarono rapidamente. Supplicò i compagni che lo stendessero per terra, e insistette tanto che dovettero accontentarlo e lo deposero con il suo pagliericcio sul pavimento.
A un certo punto gli occhi di Stanislao si illuminarono, e al maestro dei
novizi, che si chinò su di lui, disse che aveva visto la Vergine Maria che
veniva verso di lui per accoglierlo in Cielo. Poco dopo spirò. Erano le prime
ore del 15 agosto 1568, festa dell'Assunzione di Maria.
Beatificazione e Canonizzazione
Molto presto si diffuse la fama di santità di Stanislao, e numerosi erano i
romani che venivano alla tomba del giovane novizio polacco per chiedere la sua
intercessione. Un suo compagno di noviziato, Stanislao Warszewicki, anch'egli
polacco, espresse il suo dolore dicendo: "La Compagnia di Gesù ha perso
una delle colonne nei paesi del nord Europa". Lo stesso Warszewicki, cui
spesso Stanislao confidava il suo stato d'animo, ne scrisse poi una breve
biografia, che è anche una testimonianza molto apprezzata.
Molti miracoli furono attribuiti all'intercessione di Stanislao, e crescendo il culto si moltiplicarono le biografie, in molte lingue, compreso il tamil e il cinese. Iniziò il fiorire di quadri, immagini e statue, in suo onore furono innalzate molte chiese e col suo nome battezzati un gran numero di bambini. Un culto popolare che si estese oltre ogni aspettativa.
La beatificazione di Stanislao fu decretata dal papa Clemente VIII, nel 1604. Fu poi proclamato Santo da papa Benedetto XIII nel 1726, mentre rapidamente il culto nei suoi confronti cresceva nella Chiesa Universale.
Il corpo di S.Stanislao era stato sepolto nella chiesa da poco costruita accanto al noviziato, S.Andrea al Quirinale, che poi venne riedificata su disegno di Giovanni Lorenzo Benini. Ma nel 1788 il corpo di S.Stanislao fu portato prima a Gratz, in Austria, poi a Vienna e per un certo periodo anche ad Agran, in Ungheria. Nel 1804 venne riportato definitivamente a Roma, sempre a S.Andrea al Quirinale. L'altare di S.Stanislao si trova in una cappella a sinistra dell'altare maggiore, dove è posto un grande quadro di Carlo Maratta, che raffigura la Madonna con Gesù Bambino, come apparve a S.Stanislao durante il suo soggiorno viennese.
Autore: Padre Giovanni Martinetti
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/Detailed/66200.html
%2C_san_stanislao_kostka.jpg)
Al caro Fratello
S.E. Mons. Piotr Libera
Vescovo di Płock
Oggi, nella solennità
dell’Assunzione della Beata Vergine Maria, ricorre il 450° anniversario della
morte di San Stanislao Kostka. A soli 18 anni, per una grave malattia, terminò
il suo pellegrinaggio terreno questo alunno del noviziato gesuita a Roma, uno
dei figli più eccellenti della vostra Patria e della Compagnia di Gesù. Perciò,
commemorando il suo ingresso nella gloria del Signore, mi unisco alla preghiera
di ringraziamento dei fedeli della Diocesi di Płock e di tutta la Chiesa in
Polonia, che tra poco, a Rostkowo, luogo di nascita del Santo, parteciperanno
alle celebrazioni centrali dell’Anno a lui dedicato.
Cogliendo questa
occasione, desidero rivolgermi anzitutto ai giovani, dei quali San Stanislao è
patrono. Mi piace ricordare la frase che san
Giovanni Paolo II pronunciò nella chiesa di Sant’Andrea al Quirinale, quando
venerò le sue reliquie: «Il cammino della sua breve vita, iniziato a
Rostkowo in Mazowsze, attraverso Vienna e poi sino a Roma, lo si può paragonare
a una grande corsa campestre verso la meta della vita di ogni cristiano qual è
la santità» (13 novembre 1988).
Cari giovani amici, so
che molti di voi, in settembre, fanno il pellegrinaggio a piedi da Przasnysz a
Rostkowo, dal luogo del suo battesimo al luogo della sua nascita. E’, per così
dire, la prima tappa di questa “corsa” di Stanislao verso la santità. Vi
incoraggio a ricordare, non solo durante questa marcia, ma su tutte le strade
della vostra vita quotidiana, che anche voi siete capaci di compiere questa
“corsa”. Anche voi siete spinti dall’amore di Cristo e rafforzati dalla sua
grazia. Siate coraggiosi! Il mondo ha bisogno della vostra libertà di spirito,
del vostro sguardo fiducioso sul futuro, della vostra sete di verità, di bontà
e di bellezza. San Stanislao vi insegna quella libertà che non è una corsa alla
cieca, ma la capacità di discernere la meta e di seguire le vie migliori di
comportamento e di vita. Vi insegna a cercare sempre prima di tutto l’amicizia
con Gesù; a leggere e meditare la sua parola e accogliere nell’Eucaristia la
sua presenza misericordiosa e potente, per resistere ai condizionamenti della
mentalità mondana. San Stanislao vi insegna a non avere paura del rischio e dei
sogni di vera felicità, la cui fonte e garanzia è Gesù Cristo. «Gesù è il
Signore del rischio, è il Signore del sempre “oltre”. […] Egli vuole le vostre
mani per continuare a costruire il mondo di oggi. Vuole costruirlo con voi»
(cfr Discorso
nella Veglia della G.M.G., Cracovia, 30 luglio 2016). Vi sostenga dal cielo
San Stanislao, e vi ispiri il suo motto: “Ad maiora natus sum” – “Sono
nato per cose più grandi”.
Caro Fratello, per
intercessione di San Stanislao Kostka, invoco la protezione divina su di te, su
tutti i Vescovi e i sacerdoti, sui fedeli e specialmente sui giovani della
Chiesa in Polonia. Vi chiedo di pregare per me, e di cuore vi benedico nel nome
del Padre e del Figlio e dello Spirito Santo.
Dal Vaticano, 15 agosto
2018
FRANCESCO
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Statue of saint Stanisław Kostka, Trento, chiesa di San Francesco Saverio
Stanislao Kostka
(1550-1568)
Beatificazione:
- 08 ottobre 1605
- Papa Paolo V
Canonizzazione:
- 31 dicembre 1726
- Papa Benedetto
XIII
- Basilica Vaticana
Ricorrenza:
- 15 agosto
Di origine polacca,
spinto dal desiderio di entrare nella Compagnia di Gesù fuggì dalla casa
paterna e si recò a piedi a Roma, dove, ammesso nel noviziato da san Francesco
Borgia, morì in fama di santità, stremato in breve tempo nel prestare i più
umili servizi
“Il missionario deve
avere ottime scarpe di mortificazione, un ampio mantello di amor di Dio e del
prossimo, un cappello di pazienza a difesa delle avversità”
Stanislao nasce vicino a
Cracovia, nel 1550, figlio del principe Kotska, capo militare e Senatore del
regno di Sigismondo Augusto. All’età di 14 anni viene mandato a studiare a
Vienna presso il collegio della Compagnia di Gesù che allora è ancora agli
inizi: Sant’Ignazio è morto da poco, ma già i gesuiti si sono distinti come
profondi teologi, iniziatori di un vero rinnovamento culturale all’interno
della Chiesa.
Dopo una sosta a
Czestochowa, Stanislao arriva a Vienna, ospite in un collegio della Compagnia.
Con lui ci sono il precettore e il fratello maggiore Paolo. La convivenza si
rende subito difficile per le inclinazioni alla mondanità del fratello, che
contrastano con lo stile sobrio di Stanislao che si sente “nato per le cose più
grandi”.
In questo periodo studia
alacremente, vive intensamente lo spirito del Vangelo e la devozione a Maria, è
testimone con la propria vita e il proprio lavoro. Si fa strada in lui la
chiamata del Signore, che sente vicino nei molti spazi che dedica alla
preghiera, nella partecipazione alla Messa e ai Vespri, negli Esercizi
spirituali che pratica secondo l’illustre opera di Sant’Ignazio di Loyola.
Un giorno Stanislao si
ammala gravemente e durante la sua infermità avvengono prodigi straordinari,
segni evidenti del lavoro che la grazia sta facendo in lui. Una notte riceve la
visita di Santa Barbara accompagnata da due angeli e dalle sue mani riceve
finalmente l’Eucaristia. L’aveva chiesta ardentemente, durante la febbre, ma
non era riuscito a ottenerla perché nel frattempo, assieme al fratello e al
precettore, in seguito alla requisizione della scuola dei gesuiti ad opera
degli Asburgo, si era dovuto trasferire in un appartamento in affitto: il
proprietario era luterano e non vedeva di buon occhio i tre cattolici.
Un’altra notte Stanislao
riceve la visita della Madonna con il Bambinello: appena lo prenderà in braccio
si sentirà completamente guarito a dispetto di tutti i medici che non gli
avevano dato scampo. La Vergine, nel congedarlo, gli rivela che la sua strada è
nella Compagnia di Gesù.
Ormai Stanislao è sicuro
della sua scelta, ma sa che il padre non l’approverebbe mai, così scappa e dopo
venti giorni, a piedi, raggiunge Dillingen, in Germania, dove è accolto nella
casa locale dei gesuiti e dove incontra padre Pietro Canisio, che all’epoca era
Provinciale della Germania settentrionale; i gesuiti sono colpiti da questo
giovane straordinario. Stanislao viene inviato in pellegrinaggio a Roma assieme
a due compagni e finalmente, qui, Stanislao può iniziare il suo noviziato e
pronunciare i voti di povertà, castità e obbedienza.
Un giorno gli fu
richiesto di definire la figura del missionario, e lui così descrisse il suo
bagaglio spirituale: “Ottime scarpe di mortificazione, un ampio mantello di
amor di Dio e del prossimo, un cappello di pazienza a difesa delle avversità”,
spiega agli altri novizi. Presto, però, si ammala e muore, ad appena 18 anni,
il giorno dell’Assunta nel 1568.
Viene seppellito nella
chiesa appena costruita accanto al noviziato: Sant’Andrea al Quirinale.
Proclamato Santo da Benedetto XIII nel 1726, assieme a Luigi Gonzaga e Giovanni
Berchmans è patrono dei novizi e di tutta la gioventù.
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/stanislao-kostka.html
Voir aussi : http://imagessaintes.canalblog.com/archives/2009/04/20/13453653.html