September 5th - SS. Melchior Grodziecki & Stephen Pongrácz
- From: "Trudie" <trudie.Miller@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 11:19:50 -0500
September 5th - SS. Melchior Grodziecki & Stephen Pongrácz
St. Melchior Grodziecki, Polish
1584-1619
One of the three Martyrs of Kosice put to death at the hands of fanatical
Calvinists along with
Stephen Pongrácz and Mark Crisinus, who was the Cathedral Canon in Kosice,
Hungary.
Born into the Polish aristocracy in Silesia.
He met his companion, St.Stephen Pongrácz, in the Jesuit novitiate at Brno in
1603.
Taught and preached in Prague.
During the 30-Years' War, however, as Jesuits were driven from one place to
another,
Melchior's journeys through Moravia and Slovakia finally led to his martyrdom
when he arrived in Kosice, Hungary where he went to help fortify the Catholics
there.
A Calvinist prince in Transylvania was taking advantage of Hungary's war
involvement and
moved to expand his territory. At the time Kosice was a stronghold of Hungarian
Calvinists, and the few Catholics who lived in the city and its outlying
districts had been without a priest for
some time.
Melchior came to help the Polish speaking Catholics and Stephen Pongrácz came
for those who
spoke a Slavic language or German. When the Calvinist Minister heard the Jesuits
had arrived
he sent his soldiers to arrest them.
Melchior, Stephen and Mark were brutally burned, dismembered and then beheaded.
St.Stephen Pongrácz Transylvanian
1583-1619
One of the three Martyrs of Kosice put to death at the hands of fanatical
Calvinists along with
Melchior Grodziecki and Mark Crisinus, who was the Cathedral Canon in Kosice.
Stephen could have lived an honourable pleasant life in his native Transylvania,
but chose to
preach the Gospel in eastern Slovakia.
The king of Hungary requested the services of Jesuits to care for Roman
Catholics neglected during the 30 Years War of the early 17th century. Pongracz
worked with Hungario-philes, Grodziecki aided slavic- and German-speaking
peoples. Their ministries were so successful that they became targets of
Calvinist antagonism.
When he preached in Kosice, Hungary, he was granted the palm of martyrdom, which
he had
always considered a most enviable reward. A Calvinist prince in Transylvania was
taking
advantage of Hungary's involvement in the 30-year war and tried to expand his
own territory. At
that time Kosice was a stronghold of Hungarian Calvinists, and the few Catholics
who lived in
the city and its outlying districts had been without a priest for some time.
When the Calvinist Minister heard the Jesuits had arrived he sent his soldiers
to arrest them. Stephen, Melchior and Mark were then brutally tortured and
killed.
The Calvinists refused to allow the remaining Catholic citizens to bury them
until three months
had passed. Tenacious as were the Calvinists in their hold on much of this
unhappy country they
could not halt the creation of a powerful Catholic bastion there.
Quote:
Understanding, knowledge, and wisdom must increase and powerfully grow in one
and in all, both in each individual man and in the Church, during the passage of
time and of the ages, but grow solely within its own species, that is to say,
within the same dogma, in the same sense, and in the same meaning [in eodem
dogmate, eodem sensu, eademque sententia].
-St. Vincent of Lerins
Bible Quote
3 And Jesus answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying: Is it lawful
to heal on the Sabbath day? 4 But they held their peace. But he taking him,
healed him, and sent him away. 5 And answering them, he said: Which of you shall
have an ass or an ox fall into a pit, and will not immediately draw him out, on
the Sabbath day? 6 And they could not answer him to these things. (Luke
14:3-6)
<><><><><>
A prayer to one's Guardian Angel when you cannot attend Mass:
O Holy Angel at my side,
Go to the church for me,
Kneel in my place, at Holy Mass,
Where I desire to be.
At Offertory, in my stead,
Take all I am and own,
And place it as a sacrifice
Upon the Altar Throne.
At holy Consecration's bell,
Adore with Seraph's love,
My Jesus hidden in the Host,
Come down from heaven above.
Then pray for those I dearly love,
And those who cause me grief,
That Jesus' Blood may cleanse all hearts,
And suff'ring souls relieve.
And when the priest Communion takes,
Oh, bring my Lord to me,
That His sweet Heart may rest on mine,
And I His temple be.
Pray that this Sacrifice Divine,
May mankind's sins efface;
Then bring me Jesus' blessing home,
The pledge of every grace.
Amen.
.
- Prev by Date: Re: How long will I spend in Hell
- Next by Date: September 5th - St. Laurence Giustiniani, Visionary, Bishop
- Previous by thread: Re: Hitchens Still Doesn't Get It
- Next by thread: September 5th - St. Laurence Giustiniani, Visionary, Bishop
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
