Hyacinth of Poland
Hyacinth (Polish: Święty Jacek or Jacek Odrowąż; c. 1185 – 15 August 1257) was a Polish Dominican priest and missionary who worked to reform the women's monasteries in his native Poland. Educated in Paris and Bologna, he was a Doctor of Sacred Studies.
For the 2nd-century martyr, see Hyacinth of Caesarea. For the 3rd-century martyr, see Hyacinth and Protus. For the city in Quebec, see Saint-Hyacinthe.
Hyacinth
c. 1185
Kamień Śląski, Silesia, Poland
15 August 1257
Kraków, Lesser Poland, Poland
17 April 1594 by Pope Clement VIII
17 August
Holding a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary along with a monstrance or ciborium[1]
Life[edit]
Called the "Apostle of the North", Hyacinth was the son of Eustachius Koński of the noble family of Odrowąż. He was born in 1185 at the castle of Lanka, at Kamień, in Silesia, Poland. A near relative of Ceslaus, he made his studies in notable cities: Kraków, Prague, and Bologna, and at the latter place merited the title of Doctor of Law and Divinity. On his return to Poland he was given a prebend at Sandomierz, a medieval centre of administration in the south-eastern part of the country. He subsequently accompanied his uncle Ivo Konski, the Bishop of Kraków, to Rome.[2]
While in Rome, he witnessed a miracle performed by Dominic of Osma, and became a Dominican friar, along with Ceslaus and two attendants of the Bishop of Kraków, Herman and Henry. In 1219 Pope Honorius III invited Dominic and his followers to take up residence at the ancient Roman basilica of Santa Sabina, which they did by early 1220. Before that time, the friars had only a temporary residence in Rome at the convent of San Sisto Vecchio which Honorius III had given to Dominic in about 1218, intending it to be used for a reformation of Roman nuns under Dominic's guidance. Hyacinth and his companions were among the first to enter the convent. They were also the first alumni of the studium of the Dominican Order at Santa Sabina out of which would grow the 16th century College of Saint Thomas at Santa Maria sopra Minerva, which became the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in the 20th century. After an abbreviated novitiate, Hyacinth and his companions received the religious habit of the Order from Dominic himself in 1220.[2]
The young friars were then sent back to their homeland to establish the Dominican Order in Poland and Kyiv. As Hyacinth and his three companions traveled back to Kraków, he set up new monasteries with his companions as superiors, until finally he was the only one left to continue on to Kraków. Hyacinth went throughout Northern Europe spreading the faith. He died in the year 1257.[3] Tradition holds that he also evangelized throughout Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Prussia, Scotland, Russia, Turkey, and Greece. However, these travels are heavily disputed and are not supported by the earliest hagiographies of Hyacinth.
Veneration[edit]
The tomb of Hyacinth is in the Basilica of Holy Trinity in Kraków, Poland, in a chapel that bears his name.[8]
Hyacinth was canonized on 17 April 1594 by Pope Clement VIII,[2] and his memorial day is celebrated on 17 August. In 1686 Pope Innocent XI named him a patron of Lithuania. He is the patron saint of those in danger of drowning and weight lifting.
Among notable churches in North America dedicated to Hyacinth of Poland is St. Hyacinth's Basilica in Chicago, Illinois.