Historical calendar: an anniversary of the martyr's death of prominent minister Andrzej Bobola, who was the author of, among others, the content of the Lvov vows of Jan Kazimierz.
Today in our calendar we will look at the life and activities of this distinguished man.
Andrzej Bobola came from a noble household surviving in Podkarpacie. He was most likely born in Strachocin. This is not clear, like his parents' names, as the applicable papers were destroyed during the Swedish Flood. From his home, he was profoundly religious. In 1606, he began his studies at the Jesuit College in Braniew, after which he joined the Jesuit order. From 1613 he studied doctrine and theology at the Vilnius Academy.
He became the guardian (rector) of 1 of the churches in Not fresh and then in Vilnius. There, in 1628, at the hazard of his life, he provided material and spiritual aid to the victims of the city’s epidemic. He was a humble, patient, understanding, compassionate person. He led a very humble life, usually feeding only on bread and water. He was introduced as a fine missionary, speaker, and preacher. How fewer people understood the problems and needs of the average man, which made him perceive and respect all states.
After 1629 he was directed to Bobrujska in the east areas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He became head of a group of Jesuits active in converting the local population to Catholicism. In this way he became a forpost of Latin civilization, which successfully expanded its influence in this direction. During the Smolensk War, he helped and sheltered refugees from areas threatened by Moscow's driveway. In the mid-1930s, he worked in Płock and, briefly, in Warsaw and from 1638 in Łomża.
In 1642 he went to Pińska, where he took charge of the Jesuit school. His sermons were attended by real crowds, including innouns. Through a individual example of Christian life, he led to many conversions to Catholicism. due to this, he was hated by the surrounding Orthodox clergy who tried to defend their influences through the organization of theological disputes. Andrzej Bobola knew theology and writings of the Fathers of the Church well, so he always came out of these clashes victorious.
In his missionary activity on the Pińska Land in Polesia, he became celebrated not only as a preacher of the Roman denomination but besides as a man afraid about the destiny of the mediocre and as a large organizer of social life. He became a celebrated preacher adequate that King John Kazimierz commissioned him to compose a text of the vows of Lviv. These vows, held in the Cathedral of Lviv on April 1, 1656, gave the Holy Republic over the grave in the care of Mary. Meanwhile, the Chmielnicki uprising continued in the Kresach.
The Cossacks willingly included the defence of Orthodoxy in their program as 1 of the leading identity motifs. spiritual themes became even more crucial after the Perejassan settlement of 1654, in which Cossack rebels went into the care of Tsaric Russia. Moscow Patriarch Nikon gave conflict with the Republic the name of spiritual war, calling for a fight against Catholics. The Catholic confession was identified by him with Polishness; for triumph it was essential to exterminate both.
In practice, this meant another wave of massacres of the people of Kresów. Priests were mainly hunted, with peculiar emphasis on Jesuits. In May 1657 Andrzej Bobola returned to Polesa. Unfortunately, Pinsk was captured by Cossacks who murdered the Catholic population of the city. They then performed a akin slaughter of Janów Poleski. At the time of the massacre, they learned that the old priest Andrzej was hiding in the vicinity of Mohyln. Since he was a Jesuit especially hated, a peculiar pursuit was set up.
He was captured and then led to Janów Poleski, where a makeshift court was held over his person. During the multi-mile march, Bobola was beaten with sticks and axes. He was urged to go to the Orthodoxy, but he refused, claiming that his oppressors should convert to Catholicism. Infuriated Rezuni knocked out his teeth, plucked out his right eye, roasted with fire, ripped his skin off his back, cut off his nose, tongue, and lips. Then they cut off the tip of his fingers in which the priest holds the host.
When the executioners got tired of playing, they hit their prey with a sword. The clergyman did not know peace even after his death. His body was battered by Russians during the partitions and then by Soviets in the 1920s. Years later, it returned to Poland, and Andrzej Bobola himself became a saint of the Catholic Church and 1 of the patrons of Poland. To this day he remains a controversial individual – Orthodox, especially Russian patriarchs, have complexes for him due to the fact that he is simply a symbol of Polish patriotism and the triumph of theological and moral Catholicism over schism.
Andrzej Bobola was a very intelligent, modest, profoundly believing individual devoted to Polish and Catholic matters. He became a model for the promoter of Catholicism and defender of Latin civilization. His life, death and destiny of temporal remains represent an allegory of destiny which has happened to Poles and their country over the last fewer centuries. They besides attest to the greatness of our nation, which does not give in to defeat but stands up and endures against all odds.
Previous entry from our calendar is available Here..
