Priest and Martyr (1884-1942)
His life
+ Kazimierz was born in Warsaw, Poland, and following his ordination, he came to be known as a faithful pastor and teacher.
+ Following the Nazi conquest of Poland, Kazimierz was arrested in January 1940. Sentenced to hard labor in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camp, he secretly ministered to other prisoners.
+ After suffering two years of forced labor, starvation, and abuse, his health failed and he was killed in the gas chamber at Dachau on May 6, 1942.
+ Blessed Kazimierz Gostyński was beatified with other martyrs of World War II in 1999.
For prayer and reflection
“There will always be martyrs among us: this is the sign that we are on the path of Jesus.”—Pope Francis
Spiritual bonus
On May 6, the Church also remembers Blessed Prudence Castori. An Augustinian nun in Milan and founder and abbess of a community of her order in Como, she died in 1492.
Prayer
O God, who were pleased to give light to your Church by adorning blessed Kazimierz with the victory of martyrdom, graciously grant that, as he imitated the Lord’s Passion, so we may, by following in his footsteps, be worthy to attain eternal joys. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal: Common of Martyrs—For One Martyr During the Easter Season)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
And today we celebrate...