Patron Parafii

Youth and origin

Jan Długosz, a witness to Kazimierz’s prayer, a painting by Florian Cynka Kazimierz Jagiellończyk was born in Krakow, at the Royal Castle in Wawel, as the third child and the second son of Kazimierz IV Jagiellonczyk and Elżbieta Rakuszanka. His teacher, as well as other brothers, was Jan Długosz.

In 1471, after the death of the Czech King George, the older brother of Kazimierz, Władysław, sat on the Czech throne. At the same time, a rebellion broke out in Hungary against Maciej Korwin, who ruled there. The rebels demanded that Prince Kazimierz take office, he issued a war manifesto on September 20 against Maciej Korwin, reminding him that he is the nephew of Władysław Pogrobowiec. The trip led by Piotr Dunin set off on October 2, but it ended in failure because the Polish army was small. After reaching Nitra, the expedition was broken due to the lack of sufficient support from the magnates. As a result, Kazimierz turned back to Poland, his armies were attacked on the way by the peasants called by Maciej Korwin to the uprising. An unsuccessful trip, during which there were robberies, revolts of unpaid knights and rapes, was a great experience for a thirteen-year-old, sensitive boy.

After returning from Hungary in the spring of 1472, Kazimierz and his younger brothers continued their education under the leadership of Długosz at the castle in Dobczyce. War master classes were conducted by the king’s royal commander, Stanisław Szydłowiecki. Humanist Kallimach (Fillipo Buonaccorsi) joined the group of teachers. Ambrose Contarini, a Venetian diplomat, in his memoirs praised the welcome speech of the fifteen-year-old prince in his honor. Kazimierz was considered by people in contact with him as a balanced, intelligent and educated young man. Despite the experience of an unsuccessful trip to Hungary, he was influenced by the heroic legend of his uncle Władysław Warneńczyk. He persuaded Kallimach and Piotr of Bnin to write the life of the Polish-Hungarian king.

Preparation for power

From 1475, King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk began to introduce the role of Kazimierz as the heir to the throne of power. The prince took part in the meetings of the Crown Council. In 1476 he went to Prussia with his father. From 1478, King Kazimierz stayed with the princes Kazimierz and Jan Olbracht in the Grand Duchy. Lithuanians demanded the establishment of a separate prince for their country, indicating at the same time Prince Kazimierz. King strongly refused, and after detecting the plot of his and his sons’ life (1481), he sent the princes to Poland.

For almost two years prince Kazimierz was the viceroy of his father in the kingdom. He was entitled ‘secundogentis Regis Poloniae’. He resided in Radom. His short reign was judged well by the then. He improved road safety by cutting down robberies. Active participation in the judiciary led to the catching up of arrears in the settlement of cases by the Royal Court. Unlike his father, he maintained good relations with the Prussian states (he was a supporter of the province’s greater independence).

Disease and death

A miracle at the coffin of St. Casimir, a fresco by Michelangelo Palloni from 1692 in the Chapel of St. In the cathedral of the Vilnius Prince, Kazimierz began to suffer more and more. It turned out that he was suffering from tuberculosis. In the late spring of 1483, he was dismissed to Vilnius. Despite the progressive disease, he took part in state management. From that time, documents that Kazimierz signed as substitute for the sub-chancellor. At the end of 1483, together with his father Kazimierz, he went on a trip to Lublin to conquer the nobility of the kingdom. However, due to his health, he remained in Grodno. After receiving information in February 1484 about the poor state of the king, the king interrupted the meeting and returned to Grodno. In the presence of his father, Casimir died on March 4, 1484. He was buried in the Chapel of St. Kazimierz in the Vilnius cathedral.

Canonization

The death of the young prince aroused a stir in Poland and Lithuania. There were glorious praise and epitaphs. Undoubtedly, the political aspect played a major role in the efforts to canonize Kazimierz. Christian for a hundred years Lithuania did not have a saint patron of native origin. The Lithuanian nobles well remembered the prince (he was their candidate for the great-grandchildren’s stool). The saint from their family would also add splendor to the Jagiellonian dynasty. The young deceased, who had the reputation of a just and pious prince, was perfectly fit to fulfill both of these roles. Among the Polish and Lithuanian knights who took part in the Lithuanian-Moscow war, participation in the expedition with relief to Polock in 1518 included stories about the help of the deceased prince who was to appear on the cloud and show good beards on the Daugava River. This gave Zygmunt Stary an additional advantage in his efforts to take his brother to the altars. In the same year, the king sent a request for his canonization through Jan Łaski. In reply to Poland, the papal legate Zaccaria Ferreri (Zachariasz) arrived. Seeing the widespread worship of the saint and getting to know his life, he wrote a hymn in Latin in honor of Kazimierz and wrote down his life (life). He also prepared liturgical texts in honor of the saint. Pope Leo X in 1521 issued a canonization bull and handed it to the bishop of Płock Erazm Ciolek. Unfortunately, he died in Italy in 1522 during the plague, and all his documents were lost. It was not until King Zygmunt III Waza obtained a new bull issued on November 7, 1602 by Pope Clement VIII, based on a copy of Leon X’s bull, which was found in the Vatican archives.

On the occasion of canonization (1602) the tomb of Saint Casimir was opened. His body, despite the high humidity there (the bricks were wet), after 118 years was, according to witnesses, intact. At the headboard, a parchment was found with the favorite hymn of Saint Omni die dic Mariae.

Ceremonies of canonization took place in 1604 in the Vilnius cathedral. On this occasion, Bishop Benedykt Woyna devoted a cornerstone to the first church in honor of Saint. Kazimierz at the Jesuit college. In 1636, the relics of the saint were ceremoniously transferred to the chapel funded by Zygmunt III and Władysław IV, and in 1953 his mortal remains were removed from the cathedral to the church of Saints Peter and Paul. Part of the saint’s relics were sent to the Maltese bachelors at the request of their chapter, as in 1960 they chose St. Kazimierz, his patron.

.