Saint Casimir, Confessor
S. Casimiri Confessoris
Saint Casimir was a prince of Poland and Lithuania who, amid the riches and temptations of a royal court, preserved a life of purity, prayer, and charity, and is venerated as the patron of Poland and Lithuania.
On the fourth of March the Church honours Saint Casimir, a young prince whose holiness adorned the throne of Poland in the fifteenth century. Born in 1458, the second son of King Casimir IV of Poland and grandnephew of kings, he was reared in the splendour of one of the great courts of Europe and educated by learned and pious masters. From his earliest years he showed a seriousness and devotion beyond his age, turning the advantages of his birth toward the love of God rather than the indulgence of self.
Though surrounded by the delights and flatteries that attend a prince, Casimir embraced a life of remarkable austerity. He gave himself to prayer, often rising in the night to pray before the closed doors of the churches; he loved the poor and the suffering, and spent his wealth freely in their relief; and he preserved his chastity unstained, accounting purity of heart a greater treasure than any crown. He had a tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the beautiful Latin hymn in her honour, Omni die dic Mariae, has long been associated with his name.
A Prince of Heaven
Casimir was called upon to share in the cares of government and acquitted himself with justice and prudence, but his heart was set on things above. When pressed by his father to marry and to advance the fortunes of his house, he held firmly to the resolve he had made of perpetual chastity, gently but unalterably preferring the will of God. His brief life was marked throughout by a serene fidelity that won the love of the people and the reverence of all who knew him.
Worn by illness, and refusing to relax his penances even in sickness, he died at Grodno in 1484, only twenty-five years of age, with the name of Mary on his lips. His tomb at Vilnius became a place of pilgrimage, and many favours were attributed to his intercession; he was canonised in the following century. Saint Casimir stands as a shining proof that sanctity is possible in every state of life, and that a soul may keep itself wholly for God even in the midst of a court.
The Collect
O God, who, amid the delights of royalty and the allurements of the world, didst strengthen Saint Casimir with the virtue of constancy: grant, we beseech Thee, that by his intercession Thy faithful people may despise earthly things and ever aspire to those of heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Deus, qui inter regales delicias et mundi illecebras sanctum Casimirum virtute constantiae roborasti: quaesumus; ut, eius intercessione, fideles tui terrena despiciant et ad caelestia semper aspirent. Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Patronage
Saint Casimir is the principal patron of Poland and of Lithuania, and a patron of young people and of princes.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar Saint Casimir is observed on the same day, 4 March, as an optional memorial.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Casimir?
His feast is kept on 4 March in both the 1962 calendar (Third Class, white) and the modern calendar (optional memorial).
Who was Saint Casimir?
He was a fifteenth-century prince of Poland and Lithuania, son of King Casimir IV, who lived a life of great purity, prayer, and charity amid the temptations of a royal court and died at the age of twenty-five.
Of what is Saint Casimir the patron?
He is the principal patron of Poland and of Lithuania, and is also venerated as a patron of young people. His shrine at Vilnius has long been a centre of devotion.
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