Our Patron - St. Stanislaus Kostka

St. Stanislaus Kostka was born of a noble Polish family in 1550. In 1564, he and his brother Paul were sent to study at the Jesuit College in Vienna. Paul, who was very responsible, tormented Stanislaus about his devotion to books and prayers. For this reason Stanislaus suffered much anguish. During Stanislaus’ stay at college, it is said that the Blessed Virgin appeared to him and urged him to devote himself to God in the Society of Jesus.

Because his father did not want him to become a priest, The Jesuits in Vienna refused Stanislaus into the order. He then traveled to Rome where St. Francis of Borgia admitted him on August 18, 1567.

St. Stanislaus Kostka, a Polish Jesuit seminarian, was distinguished for his purity, innocence, and being a model of religious perfection. He did “ordinary things, extraordinarily well.” He had a special devotion to St. Barbara and was devoted to the Blessed Virgin and the Holy Eucharist.

At the age of 17, he died as a novice of a weak heart on the Feast of the Assumption in 1568. We celebrate his feast day on November 13.