Saint Stanislaus Kostka Audio CD

Title: Saint Stanislaus Kostka
Authors: Bob and Penny Lord
Publisher: Journeys of Faith
Format: Audio CD Disc

Saint Stanislaus Kostka
Patron Saint of Polish Youth

Penny and I believe that when we were born, part of our hearts remained in Heaven in the Lord’s safekeeping, waiting to be reunited with us. To quote Saint Augustine, a powerful Doctor and early Father of the Church, “My heart is restless until it rests in Thee, O Lord.” For some, that restlessness to be with Jesus in the Kingdom remains with us all our life, from the day we come out of our mother’s womb until the day we are placed in the tomb. It can take the form of a dull ache or a sharp, roaring, pounding, searing pain. We can see and sense how certain of God’s people with whom we come in contact, are in constant communication with the Almighty. Such was the case with Saint Joseph of Cupertino, whom many accused of being backward or retarded, both of which he was neither; he was just not there! When he was in communication with our Heavenly Family, he was in a different place, somewhere else, in Heaven with Our Lord Jesus and Our Mother Mary. Perhaps he was supposed to be putting dishes away at a Monastery at this given time; he could not be blamed if he knocked things over or dropped them; he was off with Jesus and Mary.

We can sense that some people we meet in our lives are Saints in progress waiting impatiently to finish their journey on earth. We have read the words of Saints who consider themselves foreigners in this land, pilgrims just passing through, on the way to Heaven, anxious to get on with it. Perhaps that is why a Dominic Savio at fifteen years old, a Maria Goretti at twelve years old, a Rose of Viterbo at fifteen years old, is ready to enter the Kingdom. Perhaps that’s why a Stanislaus Kostka was ready from the day he was born to go Home to be united with his Heavenly family, and at age seventeen, was becoming really anxious. The Roman Martyrology states that “he was made perfect in a short while and fulfilled many times by the Angelic innocence of his life.” We wonder if it was that, or was it that he never quite put both feet on the earth; one foot was always in Heaven, waiting for the rest of him to join it.

 Stanislaus was born in Poland, in the royal castle of Rostkovo in 1550, four years after Martin Luther died. It was obvious to all, very early in his life that he was not like anyone else in the family, least of all his father and brother. He showed a great deal of interest in prayers, matters of Church, spiritual exercises, and studying.

 Stanislaus was the first member of the Society of Jesus to be beatified; and that it was bestowed on a novice who was only with the order for ten months, made it even more incredulous. It was in 1605, only thirty-six years after his death, Stanislaus was declared Blessed Stanislaus; to be later canonized on December 31, 1726.