Saint Hyacinth, Confessor (1962 Roman Calendar)

Q: When is the feast of Saint Hyacinth?

His feast is kept on 17 August in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast. The modern calendar likewise observes him on 17 August, as an optional memorial.

Saint Hyacinth was born about the year 1185 in Silesia, in Poland, of the noble family of Odrowáż. He was well educated in the schools of his day, and entered upon the service of the Church at Kraków. The tradition relates that he journeyed to Rome in the company of his bishop, and there came to know Saint Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers, and was so moved by the holiness and zeal of that saint that he sought to enter his Order.

Apostle of the North

Received by Saint Dominic himself into the Order of Preachers, Saint Hyacinth was sent back to his native land to plant the new Order there and to labour for the faith. He established houses of friars at Kraków and in other cities of Poland, and from these centres he went forth as a tireless missionary. The tradition handed down in his honour tells of long and arduous journeys through Poland and the neighbouring lands, preaching the Gospel, reforming Christian life, and calling many to the faith and to penance. For the vast reach of his apostolic travels through the northern and eastern regions of Europe he is called the “Apostle of the North.”

Saint Hyacinth was renowned for his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the Holy Eucharist. A well-loved tradition relates that, when enemies fell upon a city where he was, he carried away to safety both the Blessed Sacrament and an image of our Lady, that neither might be profaned; and for this he is often depicted bearing the ciborium and the statue of the Mother of God.

His holy death

After a long life spent in preaching, prayer, and the spreading of his Order, Saint Hyacinth died at Kraków on the fifteenth of August, the feast of the Assumption, in the year 1257. He was canonised in the sixteenth century, and his feast is kept on the seventeenth of August.

The collect of his feast, that of a holy confessor, prays that as we are gladdened by his yearly festival, so we may follow the example of his holy life. In Saint Hyacinth the Church honours a son of Saint Dominic who bore the light of the Gospel into distant lands with untiring zeal, and who joined to his missionary labours a tender devotion to our Lady and to the Blessed Sacrament. He is venerated especially among the faithful of Poland and of the Dominican Order.

The Collect

O God, who year by year dost gladden us by the festival of blessed Hyacinth, thy Confessor: mercifully grant that we who keep his heavenly birthday may also follow after the example of his holy living.

Deus, qui nos beáti Hyacínthi Confessóris tui ánnua solemnitáte lætíficas: concéde propítius; ut, cuius natalítia cólimus, étiam actiónes imitémur.

Patronage

He is venerated as the “Apostle of the North” and is honoured especially as a patron of Poland and among the saints of the Dominican Order.

In the Modern Calendar

In the modern calendar his memorial is observed on the same day, 17 August, as an optional memorial.

Common Questions

When is the feast of Saint Hyacinth?

His feast is kept on 17 August in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast. The modern calendar likewise observes him on 17 August, as an optional memorial.

Who was Saint Hyacinth?

He was a thirteenth-century Dominican friar from a noble Polish family, received into the Order of Preachers by Saint Dominic himself. He planted the Order in Poland and laboured as a missionary across the northern and eastern lands of Europe, earning the title “Apostle of the North.” He died at Kraków in 1257.

Why is he shown carrying a monstrance and a statue?

A cherished tradition relates that when enemies attacked a city where he was serving, Saint Hyacinth carried to safety both the Blessed Sacrament and an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so that neither might be profaned. He is therefore often depicted bearing the ciborium and the statue of our Lady.

See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.

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