Saint Josaphat, Bishop & Martyr (1962 Roman Calendar)

Q: When is the feast of Saint Josaphat?

His feast is kept on 14 November in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast. In the modern calendar his memorial is observed on 12 November, the day of his martyrdom in 1623.

Saint Josaphat was born about the year 1580 at Volodymyr, in the lands of Ruthenia — in what is now Ukraine — and was given the name John in baptism. He was raised among the Eastern Christians of the Byzantine rite, and from his youth he was drawn to prayer, to the sacred liturgy, and to the things of God. Entering the monastic life among the Basilian monks, he took the name Josaphat, and gave himself to a strict and fervent observance of the religious state.

A shepherd of unity

Saint Josaphat lived at a time when the Christians of his land, of the venerable Eastern tradition, were seeking to restore and strengthen their communion with the See of Rome. To this cause he devoted his whole life. He was renowned as a preacher and a man of prayer and penance, and his holiness and zeal drew many souls. In time he was made Archbishop of Polotsk, and as bishop he laboured untiringly to renew the spiritual life of his people, to reform the clergy, to instruct the faithful, and to foster the unity of the Church — ever with reverence for the ancient rites and traditions of the Christian East, which he loved and upheld.

His labours for unity, undertaken in a time of deep division and strong feeling, met with opposition, and at length with violence. While visiting the city of Vitebsk in the course of his pastoral duties, Saint Josaphat was set upon by a hostile crowd and put to death on the twelfth of November, 1623, freely offering his life for his flock and for the cause to which he had given himself. He is remembered as a bishop who, as the prayer of his feast declares, laid down his soul for his sheep.

Veneration

The blood of Saint Josaphat was honoured by the Church as the seed of reconciliation and of holiness. He was beatified and afterward canonised, the first saint of the Eastern Catholic Churches to be solemnly canonised by the formal process of the Roman Church, and his relics rest at Rome, in the Basilica of Saint Peter. He is venerated especially among the Christians of the Byzantine rite who are in full communion with Rome.

The collect of his feast prays that God may stir up in his Church the Spirit with which blessed Josaphat was filled when he laid down his life for his sheep, that by his intercession we too, moved and strengthened by the same Spirit, may not fear to give our lives for our brethren. In him the Church honours a pastor and martyr of charity, who loved his people and the unity of the Church even unto death.

The Collect

Stir up in thy Church, we beseech thee, O Lord, the Spirit wherewith blessed Josaphat thy Martyr and Bishop was filled, when he laid down his life for his sheep: that, by his intercession, we also, moved and strengthened by the same Spirit, may not fear to lay down our lives for our brethren.

Excita, quæsumus, Dómine, in Ecclésia tua Spíritum, quo replétus beátus Iósaphat Martyr et Póntifex tuus ánimam suam pro óvibus pósuit: ut, eo intercedénte, nos quoque eódem Spíritu moti ac roboráti, ánimam nostram pro frátribus pónere non vereámur.

Patronage

He is venerated as a martyr for the unity of the Church and is honoured especially among the Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine rite.

In the Modern Calendar

In the modern calendar his memorial is observed on 12 November, the day of his martyrdom.

Common Questions

When is the feast of Saint Josaphat?

His feast is kept on 14 November in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast. In the modern calendar his memorial is observed on 12 November, the day of his martyrdom in 1623.

Who was Saint Josaphat?

He was a Basilian monk and Archbishop of Polotsk (about 1580–1623), of the Byzantine rite, in the lands of present-day Ukraine and Belarus. He gave his life to the spiritual renewal of his people and to the unity of the Church in communion with Rome, while cherishing the ancient traditions of the Christian East. He was killed at Vitebsk in 1623 and is honoured as a martyr.

Why is Saint Josaphat especially significant?

He is honoured as a martyr for the unity of the Church, having laid down his life for his flock and for communion with the See of Peter. He was the first saint of the Eastern Catholic Churches to be solemnly canonised by the formal process of the Roman Church, and his relics rest in the Basilica of Saint Peter at Rome.

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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