SAINT STANISLAUS KOSTKA-


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SAINT STANISLAUS KOSTKA-
Model of Fidelity to a Religious Rule/1550-1568/
Feast:Aug.15-#55

fr:Dear Saint,the remarkable fact about you is that in the short span of 
eighteen years you became so respected--although your outward life 
was uneventful by human standards--as to be canonized within forty 
years after your death.
*You showed outstanding fortitude and generosity in standing up to the 
misguided attempts of your father to prevent you from becoming a 
Jesuit and you exhibited unflinching obedience to a Religious Rule of life.
Indeed,you always carried your own handwritten copy upon your heart 
and you followed its provisions in minute detail.

St:Born in Poland,
I had the great blessing of being brought up in a truly Christian way in 
which discipline was connected with true love.
This,together with God's grace,made me willing and even anxious to 
bear unpleasant things for God.
A brother of mine disliked and harassed me for two years,and my father,
a powerful nobleman,ridiculed my vocation to be a Jesuit.

fr:You had a great devotion to our Lady,we are told,and the good 
fortune to receive spiritual direction from saintly Jesuits.
Too bad that today many do not want spiritual directors,and some end 
up by doing "their own thing" which is not in accord with God's 
intentions.

St:You are right.
God often uses inspiring instruments which we must accept in order to 
follow properly the particular vocation He had in mind for us from all 
eternity.
I received the grace of seeing Mary with the Holy Child.
*I first studied with the Jesuits in Vienna and decided to join their Society.
Trying to prevent being called home,
I journeyed in disguise 350 miles on foot to Germany where I met 
Saint Peter Canisius who kept me three weeks and then made 
arrangements for me to go to Rome.

fr:There you entered the Saint Andrew Novitiate,accepted by 
Saint Francis Borgia who later became the third Superior General of the 
Order.
For ten months you led such an exemplary life as a novice that you 
have been named the Patron of Novices.
Most of all,you were outstanding for your profound love and devotion 
toward Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and His holy Mother.

pr:my loving Mother,
I dedicate to you my work,my efforts,my spirit,and my heart.
Kindly accept this small gift offered out of reverence and love for you.
Please offer it in turn to Christ your Son,my Redeemer.

fr:Dear Saint,our youth today seem to have as their motto:"
Let us eat,drink,and be merry,for tomorrow we shall die." 
And they thus fail--once upon eternity--to make the necessary 
preparations and investments for the blessed life with God and the 
Saints.
Teach them to follow your inspiration.
Show them how to harness their energies and use them for their own 
and others' spiritual fulfillment-- and so give glory to God.

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