Saint Melchior Grodziecki | |
|---|---|
 17th-century drawing | |
| Martyr and Saint | |
| Born | c. 1582 Cieszyn |
| Died | 7 September 1619 Kassa,Kingdom of Hungary (todayKošice, Slovakia) |
| Venerated in | Slovakia,Roman Catholic Church,Society of Jesus |
| Beatified | 15 January 1905,Vatican City byPope Pius X |
| Canonized | 2 July 1995,Košice byPope John Paul II |
| Majorshrine | Premonstratensian Church (Košice) |
| Feast | 19 January |
| Patronage | Archdiocese of Katowice,Diocese of Bielsko–Żywiec |
Melchior Grodziecki (c. 1582 – 7 September 1619) was a SilesianJesuit priest. He is considered amartyr andsaint by theCatholic Church. He was canonized in 1995 and isliturgically commemorated on 19 January.
He was born inTěšín into the nobleGrodziecki family, and received his education in theJesuit college ofVienna. In 1603 he entered the Jesuitnovitiate ofBrno. After making his firstreligious profession in 1605, he went on to the Jesuit College inKłodzko (1606–1607). To be able to teach in high schools, he spent a year in the seminary inČeské Budějovice. In 1608, he returned to Kłodzko to complete his education in music. He graduated fromphilosophy andtheology in theClementinum of Prague and in 1614 was ordained apriest. From 1616, he was entrusted with the management of a hostel in Prague for poor students.[1]
After the outbreak of theThirty Years' War (1618–1648), he was sent to Kassa,Kingdom of Hungary (todayKošice, Slovakia) with HungarianIstván Pongrácz, a colleague from the Jesuit seminary. When the army of thePrince of Transylvania,George Rákóczi, took Kassa, Melchior stayed at the castle, together withIstván Pongrácz and canonMarko Krizin.[2] On 7 September 1619, the Transylvanian army stormed the castle and arrested the priests.[3] They gave them a death sentence on charges of treason; accusing them of inviting the Polish army into Kassa. They were tortured and then beheaded that day.[1]
The bodies of the martyrs were recovered, after negotiations withGabriel Bethlen, and were buried in the vicinity of Kassa.[4] In 1636, they were moved to Nagyszombat (today:Trnava, Slovakia).
The cause ofbeatification of the Kassa (Košice) martyrs was opened in 1628 and they were finally beatified on 15 January 1905 byPope Pius X. They werecanonized on 2 July 1995, in Košice itself byPope John Paul II.[5] The Jesuits celebrate a feast day on 19 January for the Martyrs of the Reformation in Europe.[6][7]
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