Nov. 12: ST. JOSAPHAT, BISHOP AND MARTYR

Nov. 12:
ST. JOSAPHAT,
BISHOP AND MARTYR

Born an Orthodox in what was then Poland and now Ukraine, John Kunsevich (1580-1623), who changed his name to Josaphat to become a Basilian monk and the bishop of Vitebsk, sought reunion with Rome. By synods, catechetical instruction, reform of the clergy and personal example, he was successful in winning the greater part of the Orthodox in that area to the union.

“Simply by reason of his defense of the union with Rome, he became the object of passionate controversy. Since he was responsible for his clergy, he had to discipline some of them who were publically advancing “Disuniate” positions, criticizing the union with Rome.

In 1620, a rival Orthodox archeparch was consecrated in Polotsk, and rumors began to circulate that Josaphat, who cherished Byzantine traditions, was preparing to abolish those traditions and replace them with Latin ones. Josaphat saw where all this was leading. “You people … want to put me to death,” he told them. “I am here among you as a shepherd, and you should know that I would be happy to give my life for you. I am ready to die for the union of the Church under St. Peter and his successor, the Pope.”

That happened in the fall of 1623, when a confrontation with an Orthodox priest resulted in a mob assembling at the bishop’s residence. Witnesses reported that Josaphat was dragged naked through the streets, shot, then beheaded. The violent death of this bishop who had lived and struggled for the unity of the Churches horrified many, even among those who had listened to his slanderers. Their hearts began to open toward unity. And the death of this martyr for unity bore a fruit that was not only hidden among the hearts of the people: his rival, the Orthodox archbishop, was eventually reconciled with the Catholic Church. Even his canonization unified East and West. (https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/11/12/st–josaphat-kuncewicz–bishop-and–martyr-.html)”

His body is now buried in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In 1867, Josaphat e was the first saint of the Eastern Church to be canonized by Rome. For his abundant apostolic zeal winning the conversion of souls to the Catholic faith, he is also known as the thief of souls.

Pope Pius XI on St. Josaphat
He gave his life for the unity of the Church
From the Encyclical Ecclesiam Dei

In designing his Church God worked with such skill that in the fullness of time it would resemble a single great family embracing all men. It can be identified, as we know, by certain distinctive characteristics, notably its universality and unity. 

Christ the Lord passed on to his apostles the task he had received from the Father: I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. He wanted the apostles as a body to be intimately bound together, first by the inner tie of the same faith and love which flows into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, and, second, by the external tie of authority exercised by one apostle over the others. For this he assigned the primacy to Peter, the source and visible basis of their unity for all time. So that the unity and agreement among them would endure, God wisely stamped them, one might say, with the mark of holiness and martyrdom.  

Both these distinctions fell to Josaphat, archbishop of Płock of the Slavonic rite of the Eastern Church. He is rightly looked upon as the great glory and strength of the Eastern Rite Slavs. Few have brought them greater honour or contributed more to their spiritual welfare than Josaphat, their pastor and apostle, especially when he gave his life as a martyr for the unity of the Church. He felt, in fact, that God had inspired him to restore world-wide unity to the Church and he realised that his greatest chance of success lay in preserving the Slavonic rite and Saint Basil’s rule of monastic life within the one universal Church.  

Concerned mainly with seeing his own people reunited to the See of Peter, he sought out every available argument which would foster and maintain Church unity. His best arguments were drawn from liturgical books, sanctioned by the Fathers of the Church, which were in common use among Eastern Christians, including the dissidents. Thus thoroughly prepared, he set out to restore the unity of the Church. A forceful man of fine sensibilities, he met with such success that his opponents dubbed him “the thief of souls.”

COLLECT
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.

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