Stanislaus was a humble man. He desired to live in poverty, like Our Lord, and to this end gave away all his wealth when he became a priest. Contrary to his desires, however, he was elected bishop of Krakow. He took up the see only after the pope explicitly ordered him to do so.
His holy office brought him into the sphere of the Polish king—Boleslaus, a corrupt and cruel man. King and bishop frequently fell into conflict as Stanislaus sought to convert the king or intercede on behalf of his subjects.
One day, Stanislaus purchased land for the church from a man named Piotr. When this man died soon afterward, his family tried to reclaim the land, and Boleslaus sided with them. When Stanislaus learned of this, he strode into the court and asked for three days to produce the witness of the purchase—none other than Piotr himself. The king, laughing at such an obviously impossible request, granted the three days to the bishop.
The saintly bishop spent that time fasting and praying. On the third day, he dressed in full episcopal regalia, went to the cemetery, and begged God to raise Piotr from his grave. Immediately, Piotr rose out of the earth.
Bishop and resurrected man went to the court, where Piotr gave his evidence and rebuked his greedy family. The king quickly declared that Stanislaus did indeed own the land. Bishop and resurrected man returned to the cemetery, where Stanislaus asked Piotr if he would like to continue living. Piotr, however, declined, preferring to return to his eternal rest.
Despite this demonstration of the bishop’s holiness and communion with God—or perhaps because of it—Boleslaus continued to clash with him. Finally, in 1079, the king murdered Stanislaus with his own hands as the saint stood at the altar.
Like the Poland of St. Stanislaus’s day, the current political scene is perilous for the devout Catholic. Evangelization and Ideology provides inspiration as it breaks down the four prominent secular ideologies of our day and shows how our broken society is a chance to evangelize and uphold Truth with Stanislaus-like courage and hope. Pick up this guidebook today at The Catholic Company!
