Today May 21

Today is the feast of St. Andrew Bobola, (1591 - 1657), martyr. And what a martyr! The circumstances of his death, desired to be hushed up by the Cossacks and the Orthodox who caused it, were miraculously disclosed when his body, which had been cast on a manure pile, was found incorrupt. This also was an eloquent sign to the Orthodox, who hold physical incorruptibility in special veneration, and whom this Jesuit missionary always desired to bring into the fold.

Andrew was a Polish aristocrat who joined the Jesuit novitiate in Vilna, an Orthodox stronghold, that had recently -- and peacefully -- been annexed to Poland (by the marriage of Queen Hedwig [of Poland] and Duke Jagiello [of Lithuania]). He became priest and then superior at Bobrinsk, from which he courageously preached in Orthodox towns, even though he met with prejudice and vilification. One thing they always seemed to do to him was to incite a roving band of kids to shout obscenities at him and to drown him out with yells every time he tried to speak. How patient he much have been to not rebuke or yell back at them -- imagine always being drowned out.

One day some Cossacks (who opposed the presence of Catholics in the area) attacked him, made him run behind one of their horses, beat him and interrogated him. Not liking his courageous -- and Catholic -- answers, they cut him lightly all over with swords, stripped him, burned him, cut off his nose, ears, tongue, and finally head. All through -- at least while he still had his tongue -- he prayed to Jesus and His Mother. He could have capitulated at any time. After all, as people are always telling us, they are just like us! Yes, the Orthodox are just like us, but they are not exactly the same, and for some, those little differences are very important. For some, Catholic identity is important. St. Andrew was canonized in 1938. Dear St. Andrew Bobola, pray for us.