Most saints on the Roman calendar are
priests or religious or martyrs. Today’s
saint was a layman and a Polish prince as well.
The second son of the king of Poland lived in the fifteenth
century. When he was fifteen his father,
Casimir IV, sent him to conquer Hungary and become king there. Reluctantly, but dutifully, he followed his
father’s request. However, he was
outnumbered and his officers suggested he withdraw. He did and the king was so upset that he
imprisoned Casimir for three months.
Casimir decided never to become involved in war again and he returned to
a life of prayer and study. He also chose
a life of celibacy, even when urged to marry the emperor’s daughter. He died at the age of 23 from lung
disease. He is the patron saint of
Poland and Lithuania.
Doing God’s will is not always easy,
especially if it conflicts with the will of those we love. Casimir attempted to do his earthly father’s
will, but ended up deciding to do his heavenly father’s will. Our families are here to guide us to heaven,
but when they guide us wrongly, we need to turn to God even more closely. Our parents may do wrong, our children may do
wrong, our siblings may do wrong, but God will never do wrong and will always
strengthen us in the virtues of faith, hope, and love if we but focus on him
first, last, and always. Then we may
turn to our children, our parents, and our siblings to guide them on the right
path by our own example, our fortitude, and our prayers on their behalf. St. Casimir can be our model to follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment