Feast day: December 23

St. John of Kanty

Priest · 1390–1473

Patron of Poland, professors

A Polish priest and professor at Kraków, learned and revered, who lived frugally so he could give to the poor, and was beloved by students for his kindness and humility.

John of Kanty — also called John Cantius — was a Polish priest and scholar of the fifteenth century, born in 1390 in the village of Kęty, who became one of the best-loved saints of Poland. He studied at the famous University of Kraków, where he proved a brilliant student and went on to spend most of his life as a professor — of philosophy, of theology, and of Sacred Scripture.

For a short time he served as a parish priest, but, the story goes, he was so terrified of the responsibility for souls that he returned with relief to his teaching chair at Kraków, which he then held without interruption for the rest of his life. He was revered as a learned and orthodox theologian and a devoted, patient teacher.

But it was his holiness and charity, even more than his learning, that made him beloved. He lived with extreme simplicity, gave away his money, his food, and even his clothes to the poor, and was famous for his humility and gentleness. Many charming legends grew up around his generosity, such as the meal he gave away to a beggar that was found miraculously restored.

He made several pilgrimages, including to Rome and, tradition says, to Jerusalem, hoping for martyrdom. He died at Kraków in 1473, full of years and venerated by the whole university and city. Canonized in 1767, he is honoured as a patron of Poland, of the University of Kraków, and of professors and teachers.

He gave away his food, his money, and even his shoes and cloak to beggars, and centuries of Kraków students processed in his honor as a model scholar-saint.

Image: artist unknown (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

Source: newadvent.org/cathen/08451b.htm