Saturday, March 4th, 2006...4:29 am
Some Romanism
When I took first communion, I chose as my communion name St. Kasimir, the patron saint of Poland. Today is his feast day. I got this capsule about him from American Catholic:
Casimir, born of kings and in line (third among 13 children) to be a king himself, was filled with exceptional values and learning by a great teacher, John Dlugosz. Even his critics could not say that his conscientious objection indicated softness. Even as a teenager, Casimir lived a highly disciplined, even severe life, sleeping on the ground, spending a great part of the night in prayer and dedicating himself to lifelong celibacy.
When nobles in Hungary became dissatisfied with their king, they prevailed upon Casimir’s father, the king of Poland, to send his son to take over the country. Casimir obeyed his father, as many young men over the centuries have obeyed their government. The army he was supposed to lead was clearly outnumbered by the “enemy”; some of his troops were deserting because they were not paid. At the advice of his officers, Casimir decided to return home. His father was irked at the failure of his plans, and confined his 15-year-old son for three months. The lad made up his mind never again to become involved in the wars of his day, and no amount of persuasion could change his mind. He returned to prayer and study, maintaining his decision to remain celibate even under pressure to marry the emperor’s daughter. He reigned briefly as king of Poland during his father’s absence. He died of lung trouble at 23 while visiting Lithuania, of which he was also Grand Duke. He was buried in Vilnius, Lithuania.
4 Comments
March 4th, 2006 at 7:00 am
Excuse me please for bringing this up on what is such a nice post, Ted. But I have heard little on the blogs about the issue I am about to bring up.
Since you bring up Catholicism, I have to ask about the stance of the Catholic Church here in Arizona regarding the Protect Marriage Act. Their policy statement this week allows for petitions to be circulated in the Parishes.
I know that not all Catholics believe this, and I am not a Catholic, but to what extent has this been pushed inside Catholic Parishes so far and to what extent are members of the flock rising against it?
What I am getting at above is the problem of having politics inside church walls. Either people feel afraid to go against the grain…if the Priest or Minister has the ball rolling…or you get political debate in church walls that might turn follower vs. follower.
March 7th, 2006 at 7:41 pm
Just a really silly thought, Ted:
You are a rebel almost every day, and from time to time you do a post on Romanism, but I have yet to see you do a post on Rum.
March 9th, 2006 at 7:59 am
And there is some good rum out there…and then there is the fabulous Mojito (not the strawberry, vanilla, version but just lime, simple sugar, rum, soda, and Good ole mint.)
March 4th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
[...] was a pacifist who put serving God above the acquisition of political power. I wrote about him last year on the occasion of his feast day. The only detail worth adding is that Pope Benedict XVI used the eve of Casimir’s feast day [...]