Bishop and Martyr (1850-1623)
His life
+ Josaphat Kuncevyc was born in Poland in 1580. He became the first great leader of the Ruthenian Catholics, a group of separated Christians who were reunited with the Holy See through the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1595.
+ Josaphat was a member of the Order of St. Basil and he worked to reform the formerly monastic community, giving it a more active character.
+ In 1617, Josaphat was appointed archbishop of Polotsk. As archbishop, he campaigned for the reconciliation of separated Christians, as well as for reform of the clergy.
+ During a pastor visit to Vitebsk, Belarus he was murdered by radical Orthodox Christians on November 12, 1623. Saint Josaphat was canonized in 1867, becoming the first Eastern saint to be formally canonized by Rome. He is honored as one of the patron saints of Poland and of Belarus.
For prayer and reflection
“He felt that God had called him to restore worldwide unity to the Church… concerned mainly with seeing his own people reunited with the See of Peter, he sought out every available argument which would foster and maintain Christian unity.”—Pope Pius XI
Spiritual bonus
On this day, we also remember Blessed Maria Natividad Medes Ferris, a Cistercian nun murdered in Valencia, Spain, on November 12, 1936, during the anticlerical violence of the Spanish Civil War. She was beatified with other martyred clergy and religious from Valencia in 2015.
Vocations
To learn about the Basilian Fathers of St. Josaphat, visit: osbm.usa@gmail.com
Prayer
Stir up in your Church, we pray, O Lord,
the Spirit that filled Saint Josaphat
as he laid down his life for the sheep,
so that through his intercession
we, too, may be strengthened by the same Spirit
and not be afraid to lay down our life for others.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
And today we celebrate...