Josaphat was the first Eastern
saint to be formally canonized by the Catholic Church. Born Ioann Kunceyvch in
1580, his father was a municipal counselor, and his mother known for her piety.
He was raised in the Orthodox Ruthenian Church which, in 1595, in the Union of Brest, united with the Church
of Rome. Trained as a merchant’s apprentice at Vilnius, Lithuania, he was
offered partnership in the business and marriage to his partner’s daughter, but
feeling the call to religious life, he declined both. He became a monk of the
Ukrainian Order of St. Basil in
Vilnius at age 20, taking the name Brother Josaphat. He then became a deacon
and was ordained a Byzantine rite priest in 1609. Now Josaphat’s superior never
accepted unity with Rome, and looked for a way to fight against Roman
Catholicism. Josaphat, learning of the superior’s work, reported him to his superior,
the archbishop of Kiev. The superior was removed and the post was given to
Josaphat.
He
became a famous preacher and worked to bring unity among the
faithful and bringing strayed Christians back to the Church. He did this so
well that he was named Bishop (of Vitebsk), and later Archbishop (of Polotsk),
in Lithuania in 1617. The antagonism against those believing in Church unity
and those who wanted nothing to do with Rome was severe. Josaphat did all he
could to defend the unity, but in late 1623, a mob broke into his residence and
killed Josaphat who was trying to insure the safety of his servants before
fleeing himself. His death was a shock to both sides of the dispute and brought
some sanity and a cooling off period to both sides of the conflict. Josaphat’s
body was found incorrupt five years after his death. He was canonized by Pope
Pius IX in 1876.
The Lord’s Prayer for Unity with his bishops, their
successors and their flocks (in the gospel passage today) was a driving force
for St. Josaphat: Father I pray for them,
that they may be one in us. This dynamic and experience of deep unity of
God, in his Church is truly beyond description if you really stop and consider
it reflectively and prayerfully. St. Josaphat tried his very best to bring this
experience of peace and inner strength and joy to his flock, and to be the
instrument of unity with the source – the Roman Church – for those who were
choosing not to be plugged in to this key vessel of grace!
May we today count ourselves
blessed to be a part of the communion not only of saints, but also of those
living today who see the one Church as Christ himself – and union with it as
union with him – who leads us all safely to the
heart’s embrace of his Father in heaven.
The
just will flourish like the palm tree in the garden of the Lord.
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