St. Stanislaus

Stanislaus was born on July 26, 1030 in the Diocese of Cracow (Krakow), Poland. His parents raised him devoutly and he studied at Paris. When his parents died, he gave his inheritance to the poor. He was ordained and became pastor of a church in a town near Cracow. When he was elected bishop of Cracow, he would not accept the honor until directly ordered to do so by Pope Alexander II. He worked tirelessly to reform his diocese and he had several disputes with King Boleslaw II who was treating his nobles cruelly and unjustly taking land that belonged to the Church. After pleading with the king to reform to no avail, Stanislaus excommunicated him. The furious king ordered his nobles to slay the saint, but they would not obey him; Boleslaw then followed Stanislaus into the Chapel of St. Michael and killed him during Mass on May 8, 1079. St. Stanislaus was first buried in the chapel where he was killed and then moved to the cathedral of Krakow in 1088. He was canonized in 1253 and he is the patron of Cracow (Krakow) and Poland. His feast is April 11.