Today in Poland we celebrate the feast of St. Stanisław Kostka, patron of our homeland and Polish youth. Therefore, there will be a radio broadcast of the Holy Mass via the Internet. celebrated in the chapel dedicated to him at Steindlgasse 6 in Vienna. The broadcast was prepared by the editorial staff of the Polish radio Droga: <radioroad.net>. Since 2018, St. Stanisław Kostka is the Patron of this radio. The editorial office invites you to pray together. Holy Mass will be presided over by Fr. Łukasz Skiba.
The connections of Saint Stanisław Kostka (1550-1568) with Vienna are very strong. As a 14-year-old boy, he was sent by his parents, together with his older brother and a guardian, to study at the Jesuit college in this city. He stayed in the capital of Austria in the years 1564-1567. Here his personality developed and matured, especially his spiritual life, which resulted in the decision to join the Jesuits. This testimony remains in the chronicles of the college in Vienna:
“There was a certain young Pole, noble by birth, but even more noble in virtue, who for two full years at Ours in Vienna earnestly asked to be admitted, and yet patiently endured the refusal, because it was not proper to admit him without the consent of his parents, and not only because that he was our boarder and studied at our junior high school, but also for other reasons – this young Pole, having recently lost hope of being accepted here, set off elsewhere, never ceasing to strive to find another place, if possible. fulfill your desire.
He was an example of perseverance and piety, he was kind to everyone, a burden to no one, childish in age but mature in prudence, small in stature but great and haughty in spirit. He listened to two Holy Masses every day, went to the sacrament of penance and received the Lord’s Body more often than others, and prayed longer and more willingly; and with all the other disciples he not only equaled, but also triumphed over those who, not so long ago, were better than him.
Day and night he had Jesus and His Company before his eyes, and with tears in his eyes he begged his superiors to receive him. He also bothered the papal legate with letters so that he could influence Ours. But all this was to no avail. Seeing that his parents, brothers, relatives and in-laws were against it, he decided to go somewhere else and seek entry to the Society of Jesus on another path. And if this also failed, he decided that he would go on pilgrimage all his life and, out of love for Christ, he would lead a life in the greatest possible humiliation and poverty.
The room was converted into a chapel dedicated to Saint. Stanisław Kostka in Vienna
When the Ours learned about his resolutions, they began to dissuade him and encouraged him to set out with his brother, who, according to popular opinion, was soon going to return to his homeland, because when his parents found out that his resolution was so permanent, They will probably agree to such a decent request. However, he stood his ground, claiming that it was futile to expect this from his parents, because he knew them better than others, and he himself had to fulfill what he had promised to Christ.
So, since neither his teacher nor his confessor managed to dissuade him from this planned decision, one morning, after receiving the Body of the Lord, without the knowledge of his teacher and his brother, he left his rather large fatherland, took off the clothes he used at home and at school, put on wearing some linen clothes, he took a pilgrim’s stick in his hand and set off from Vienna like a poor country boy. God knows what will happen next. However, we hope that his departure was not without God’s inspiration. He was always so persistent that it seems to us that it was not the boy’s mind that guided him, but some heavenly inspiration.
And this is what he wrote about a Pole, Stanisław Kostka (not yet a saint), a Dutchman, provincial of the German Jesuits, future saint, Peter Canisius, to the general of the Jesuits (Spanish), also a future saint, Francis Borgias in a letter known among the Jesuits as the so-called Letter of the Three Saints:
“The one who, led by Christ, will bring this letter, which was sent from our Province, is Stanisław, a Polish nobleman, an honest and zealous young man. Our people in Vienna did not dare to accept him, lest it appear that they were acting against the will of his family. When he came to us and wanted to fulfill the decision he had made a long time ago (because he had already devoted himself completely to the Society before he joined it), he had been undergoing tests in Dylinga for some time at the boarding school and it turned out that he was always trustworthy in his service and in his vocation persistent. From time to time he asked to be sent to Rome, because in this way he would be farther from his own people, from whom he was afraid of persecution, and would make greater progress in piety. He has never been with our novices, so he can be counted among them to serve the proper probation period. We expect great things from him.”
A copy of the “Letter of the Three Saints”, which is located in the so-called st. camerats Stanisław Kostka in Rome
