Today, were it not the second Sunday of Lent, would be the feast of St. Casimir, prince of Poland. He was an interesting guy. A sickly dude, he refused marriage even though, get this, the court doctors told him a healthy marriage would cure what ailed him! I wonder what disease THAT was!
He was third of 13 children of Casimir IV and Elizabeth of Austria. He was the second son and though not destined to be king of Poland, he was directed by his father to take the throne of Hungary. The Hungarian nobles were dissatisfied with their king, Matthias Corvinus, and Casimir IV was ambitious. Casimir was loath to do so, but he obeyed his father . . . at first. When he arrived at the Hungarian border and saw Matthias and his armies entrenched against him, he decided to turn back. I think he was probably prudent; his father thought he was cowardly; in any case, he felt justified when he returned home and found an edict from Pope Sixtus IV advising Casimir IV not to start the war. Now I'm not saying that there is a ready parallel to today's war situation, but neither am I saying that there isn't!
He wasn't allowed to return home, though, and was exiled to the castle of Dobzki. He was so convinced of the injustice of war that he was never again persuaded to take up arms . . . for any cause. He was a patriot, however, and served his country as viceroy when his father was absent for a time. He returned to his studies and his prayers and died a peaceful death from a lung ailment which had plagued him all his life.
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