St. Jan Sarkander
John Sarkander,
Feast day: March 17
Born at Skotschau, Silesia, in 1576
Death: 1620
Canonized By: Pope John Paul II
Beatified by Pius IX in 1860;
Martyred foe of the Hussites. He was born on December 20 at Skotschau, in Austrian Silesia, and educated at Prague. He was ordained in 1607 and served in various parishes, defending the faith against the Hussites. In 1618, at the start of the Thirty Years' War, the Protestants seized the local government. Two years later, Jan was taken prisoner at Olmutz and was tried by the Hussites. He was racked and tortured and died on March 17. He was canonized in 1995 by Pope John Paul II.
canonized by Pope John Paul II with Saint Zdislava Berka in Olomouc, Czech Republic, in 1995. The canonization of Saint John Sarkander drew sharp criticism from Czech and Slovakian Protestants, although the Holy Father offered and asked for forgiveness for past sins committed in the name of religion.
John's father died when he was still very young, but his mother ensured that he would receive an excellent education by sending him to the Jesuits schools at Olmutz and Prague, where he read philosophy in 1602. Four years later he married a Lutheran lady, Anna Platska, who died the following year. Shocked by this experience, he resumed his study of theology and was ordained to the priesthood in 1609.
He became a parish priest of Holleschau in Moravia diocese of Olmutz, a church whose property was purchased by the Catholic Baron Lobkovitz from the Bohemian Brethren. John converted many Hussites and Bohemian Brethren, but as a result, he incurred the enmity of the Protestants, who came to power in Moravia in 1618 at the beginning of the Thirty Years War. At that time Saint John made a pilgrimage to Czestochowa, Poland, and remained for some months in Cracow.
In 1620, King Sigismund III of Poland sent Cossack troops into Moravia to support Emperor Ferdinand III against the Protestant Estates. Although the Cossacks spared Holeschau when they met Sarkander in procession, he was unjustly accused of conspiring with the Poles, sent to Olmutz, and chained in a dungeon to await questioning.
At his trial, he denied any complicity in treasonable acts. He refused the order to reveal what he heard in confession from his penitent, the baron of Moravia. For his continued refusal to break the seal of the confessional, three times in mid-February, he was cruelly racked, branded, covered with pitch and tar, and set ablaze. He survived the ill-treatment, but died within the month
John Sarkander,
Feast day: March 17
Born at Skotschau, Silesia, in 1576
Death: 1620
Canonized By: Pope John Paul II
Beatified by Pius IX in 1860;
Martyred foe of the Hussites. He was born on December 20 at Skotschau, in Austrian Silesia, and educated at Prague. He was ordained in 1607 and served in various parishes, defending the faith against the Hussites. In 1618, at the start of the Thirty Years' War, the Protestants seized the local government. Two years later, Jan was taken prisoner at Olmutz and was tried by the Hussites. He was racked and tortured and died on March 17. He was canonized in 1995 by Pope John Paul II.
canonized by Pope John Paul II with Saint Zdislava Berka in Olomouc, Czech Republic, in 1995. The canonization of Saint John Sarkander drew sharp criticism from Czech and Slovakian Protestants, although the Holy Father offered and asked for forgiveness for past sins committed in the name of religion.
John's father died when he was still very young, but his mother ensured that he would receive an excellent education by sending him to the Jesuits schools at Olmutz and Prague, where he read philosophy in 1602. Four years later he married a Lutheran lady, Anna Platska, who died the following year. Shocked by this experience, he resumed his study of theology and was ordained to the priesthood in 1609.
He became a parish priest of Holleschau in Moravia diocese of Olmutz, a church whose property was purchased by the Catholic Baron Lobkovitz from the Bohemian Brethren. John converted many Hussites and Bohemian Brethren, but as a result, he incurred the enmity of the Protestants, who came to power in Moravia in 1618 at the beginning of the Thirty Years War. At that time Saint John made a pilgrimage to Czestochowa, Poland, and remained for some months in Cracow.
In 1620, King Sigismund III of Poland sent Cossack troops into Moravia to support Emperor Ferdinand III against the Protestant Estates. Although the Cossacks spared Holeschau when they met Sarkander in procession, he was unjustly accused of conspiring with the Poles, sent to Olmutz, and chained in a dungeon to await questioning.
At his trial, he denied any complicity in treasonable acts. He refused the order to reveal what he heard in confession from his penitent, the baron of Moravia. For his continued refusal to break the seal of the confessional, three times in mid-February, he was cruelly racked, branded, covered with pitch and tar, and set ablaze. He survived the ill-treatment, but died within the month
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