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The saints

St. Stanislaus

The bishop of Kraków who confronted his king and was killed at the altar.

Feast: 11 April · 1030 to 1079 · The Middle Ages · Kraków, Poland

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Illuminated manuscript painting of St. Stanislaus as a bishop, surrounded by figures and Polish eagles.

Stanisław Samostrzelnik, 1530. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Home / The saints / St. Stanislaus

Kraków, 1079

Stanislaus was bishop of Kraków under King Boleslaus the Bold.1

The king was cruel and his private life was a public scandal.1

Stanislaus confronted him, and finally excommunicated him.

Patron of Poland and the city of Kraków2

01St. Stanislaus

At the altar

The story says the king killed Stanislaus himself while he was celebrating Mass.1

He became a patron of Poland, a sign that the Church does not bow to power.1

Live it this week

Name a wrong to the right person

Stanislaus confronted a king to his face. This week, if something wrong is going on, raise it directly and respectfully with the one person who can change it, instead of complaining to everyone else.

Notes

How we know · 2 sources for this page
  1. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saint Stanislaus”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org
  2. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “St. Stanislaus of Cracow”. New Advent edition. newadvent.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.