Nov-12 Feast of the Martyr St Josaphat

 November 12: Feast of the Martyr St Josaphat

St Josaphat was martyred on November 12, 1623 bringing about unity between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. His story should serve to inspire us in this day and age when the Church of Christ is more divided than ever.

In 1054, a formal split called a schism took place between the Eastern Church (centred in Constantinople) and the Western Church (centered in Rome). 

In 1595-96 the Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev and five other Orthodox bishops representing millions of Ruthenian faithful met in the city of Brest Litovsk and signed a declaration of their intention to enter into union with the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Clement VIII accepted their conversion from Orthodox to Catholicism, while allowing them to keep their Byzantine liturgical rites and traditions. 

St. Josaphat was born John Kuncevic about circa 1580 or 1584 in Vladimir, a Lithuanian village (then a part of the fiercely Catholic Polish Jagiellonian Dynasty), to Ukrainian parents who were Ruthenians (part of the rival Eastern Orthodox order)

In his late teens, John Kuncevic felt called to be a monk, so in 1604 he rejected an offer of marriage and joined the Basilian Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Vilna, and took the name of Josaphat. His austerities, intelligence, and prayerfulness made him a natural leader, and in 1609 he was duly ordained a deacon and priest and earned a reputation as an effective preacher. When Josaphat was named a Bishop, first of Vitebsk and then Polotsk in 1617 (in present day Belarus), he continued to champion the union with Rome with all his considerable powers. Yet he was unequivocal about one thing: Unity, yes. Uniformity, no. 

The Church, historically, had long been composed of various liturgical traditions reflecting its numerous cultures. Josaphat is credited with bringing a vast array of faithful into the fold of the Church of St Peter. These converts were made up of all classes, peasants, merchants, nobles, prefects, and governors of provinces. These extraordinary conversions were due to the example which he gave of a life of inviolate chastity, poverty, and frugality joined with such openhandedness toward the poor that he even went to the length of pawning his own omophorion (the vestment of an Eastern bishop) in order to care for their needs.

In this zeal to bring about harmony between the Orthodox and Catholic Church, Josaphat faced many challenges. Even the very Catholics he looked to for communion opposed him as well. Catholics who should have been his support didn't like the way he insisted on the use of the Byzantine rite instead of the Roman rite. Out of fear or ignorance, Leo Sapiah, chancellor of Lithuania, chose to believe stories that Josaphat was inciting the people to violence and instead of coming to his aid, condemned him. Josaphat was ready to put his life on the line to answer what he believed was a special calling by Providence to re-establish everywhere the holy unity of the Church.  - he was completely aware of the danger but said, "If I am counted worthy of martyrdom, then I am not afraid to die."

On November 12, 1623, at age 45, while seeking to stop an Orthodox priest Elias from secretly ministering in his jurisdiction of Vitebsk (Belarus), Josaphat was ambushed by Orthodox faithful who conspired with their leaders including Orthodox Bishop Meletius Smotrytsky, his rival archbishop of Polotsk, to rid themselves of this "thief of souls". Josaphat was brutally attacked by a mob, his head was cleaved by an axe, and the mob threw his body into the river with his penitential hairshirt tied around his neck and loaded with rocks to sink his body. His remains were subsequently recovered and hidden from further desecration. 

It has been written that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Church growth. Among the many miracles consequent to Josaphat's murder was the conversion of those very assassins to the Roman union. Thousands of dissidents returned to the Catholic faith. Most significantly, even his archival Bishop Smotrytsky became an ardent supporter of the Pope!

In May 1643, twenty years later, Pope Urban VIII declared him "Blessed." But it was not until June 29, 1867, that Pope Pius IX canonized him "Saint", becoming the first saint of the Eastern church to be formally canonized by Rome. On November 12, 1923, the tercentenary of Josaphat's martyrdom, Pope Pius XI declared him the heavenly Patron of Reunion between Orthodox and Catholics. During the Second Vatican Council, at the express wish of Pope John XXIII, who himself was most interested in reunion, the body of St. Josaphat was finally laid to rest at the magnificent altar of St. Basil in St. Peter's Basilica. This took place on November 25, 1963.

Saint Josaphat, champion of ecumeniasm (unity among Churches of different denominations) you gave your life attempting to bring East and West together. Give us your spirit of unity so that our prayers bring all Christians into common union under the leadership of a common head, the successor of Saint Peter.