The 23rd of December is the feast day of Saint John of Kanty.
He was born on 23rd June 1390 and died on 24th December 1473. He is the patron saint of Poland; Lithuania; Jagiellonian University, and is also known as John Cantius, or John of Kanti, or John Kantius.
The following is from Wikipedia:
He was born in Kęty, a small town near Oświęcim, Poland, to Stanisław and Anna Kanty. He attended the Kraków Academy at which he attained bachelor, and licentiate.[1] In 1418 he became a Doctor of Philosophy.[2] Upon graduation he spent the next three years conducting philosophy classes at the university, while preparing for the priesthood.Upon his ordination, he became rector at the school of the Canons Regular of the Most Holy Sepulcher in Miechow.[2]While there, he was offered a professorship of Sacrae Scripturae (Sacred Scripture) back at his alma mater, the Kraków Academy, which would later be named the Jagiellonian University. He attained a doctorate in theology and eventually became director of the theology department. He held the professorship until his death in 1473. John spent many hours copying manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures, theological tracts, and other scholarly works.In physics, he helped develop Jean Buridan's theory of impetus, which anticipated the work of Galileo and Newton.During his time in Kraków, John Kanty became well known in the city for his generosity and compassion toward the poor, especially needy students at the university. He subsisted on what was strictly necessary to sustain his life, giving alms regularly to the poor. He made one pilgrimage to Jerusalem and four pilgrimages on foot to Rome.[1]Michael Miechowita, the medieval Polish historian and the saint's first biographer, described the saint's extreme humility and charity; he took as his motto:
- Conturbare cave: non est placare suave,
- Infamare cave; nam revocare grave.[1]
- (Beware disturbing: it's not sweetly pleasing,
- Beware speaking ill: for taking back words is burdensome.)
He died while living in retirement at his alma mater on 24 December 1473, aged 83. His remains were interred in the Collegiate Church of St Anne, where his tomb became and remains a popular pilgrimage site.[2] He is the patron of the diocese of Bielsko-Żywiec (since 1992), and of the students.
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