All of us have our favorite saints: St. Anthony, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Therese of the Child Jesus, and those we know of heroic virtue by making the ultimate sacrifice out of love for Christ and His Church like St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Thomas More, just to name a few. However, today I want to focus on one of my favorite saints whose sacrifice was to save Catholicism in his land from the schismatics. To find this saint, we have to go to the east. Even beyond that, we take temporary leave (though not really) from the Roman Rite of the Church and enter the Ruthenian Rite, common in the Slavic countries in that area. We find, in what is now Belarus, the archbishop of Polotsk, Josaphat Kuntsevych.
Now St. Josaphat is only one of four Eastern Rite Catholic saints after the time of the Greek Fathers to also venerated in the Roman calendar, along with Cyril and Methodious of Moravia, and Sharbel Makhluf of Lebanon.
Why?
St. Josaphat grew up as a child at a time of great tension in the then-unified Ruthenian Church. In fact, by the time Josaphat entered the monastery for the Basilian Fathers, hatred among the two parties in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Greek-Catholic Party who wanted to remain in communion with Rome and the Anti-Union Party, the more violent of the two parties who promoted schism and secession from union with Rome (they also had their own hierarchy). It was at this time of intolerance that Josaphat was ordained to the priesthood, and eventually consecrated a bishop.
While physical fighting amongst the parties, Josaphat remained quiet and humble. He defended the Catholic Church and the authority of the Pope, not with weapons in the streets, but with his sermons from outside of the doors of the iconostasis. He was known as a man of prayer, fasting, self-mortification and extreme penances, and a desire of the monastic life which he entered as a young man. His example converted many major figures of the region to the Catholic Faith, including Patriarch Ignatius of Moscow and a relative of Emperor Paleologus of Byzantium.
By 1623, the people of Polotsk and Josaphat's former eparchy of Vitebsk have come to the point where they desired blood and power more than anything else. When Josaphat returned to Vitebsk to quell the violence between the Catholics and the Orthodox, he was viewed as an enemy by the Orthodox and an impediment by Catholics. He knew he risked his life, but stated he was not afraid to die "if I am counted worth of martyrdom".
It was on the morning of November 12, 1623 that an Orthodox priest by the name of Elias, probably sent by Josaphat's rival bishop Meletius Smotrytsky, father of modern Church Slavonic, to have a reason to attack the Catholics, came to the rectory and began to taunt and shout insults at Josaphat. This had been going on for a few days. Josaphat gave his servants permission to apprehend the priest until he had finished praying his Office. This incited the Orthodox to riot in front of the house and attack the bishop's servants, to which Josaphat responded: ""My children what are you doing with my servants? If you have anything against me, here I am, but leave them alone!"
With shouts of "kill the papist!", St. Josaphat was beaten, bludgeoned, and shot to death. His body was thrown into the Dvina River with his dog who tried to save his master's life. Ironically, while the Catholics hid in fear, it was the Jewish people of Vitebsk who protected Josaphat's friends, accused the Orthodox participants of the mob of the murder of the bishop, and even mourned him publicly.
As time progressed, both sides began to regret the death of Josaphat. Upon reflections of those in the mob on the life of Josaphat, many were converted to the Catholic Church, including the one who probably incited the riot, Josaphat's rival Meletius Smotrytsky. Josaphat Kuntsevych was canonized by Blessed Pius IX in 1867.
Josaphat understood through the readings of the Greek Fathers of the Church, who are venerated by both Catholics and Orthodox alike, that the Catholic Church is the "One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church". It was not a matter of power or pride to Josaphat that he took the strong stand that he did, because of authority given to St. Peter by Christ Himself. We see the strong progress under this papacy with not just the Orthodox, but with the Anglicans, Lutherans and other Christians. So long as the spirit of St. Josaphat is strong, so will we continue to strive towards Christ, in Whom there is no east or west.
St. Josaphat, pray for us.
"You people want to kill me. You wait in ambush for me in the streets, on the bridges, on the highways, in the marketplace, everywhere. Here I am; I came to you as a shepherd. You know I would be happy to give my life for you. I am ready to die for union of the Church under St. Peter and his successor the Pope." - St. Josaphat
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