Post #5870

It was then King of Poland Boleslaus II the Bold, who was gravely offended, because he publicly reprehended his well-known libertinage. Therefore in a solemn assembly of the kingdom he had slanderers summon Stanislaus to trial before him, as if he were the illegitimate owner of land, which he had bought instead in the name of his church. But since the bishop could not prove it with documents, and fearing the witnesses to tell the truth, he promised to have Peter, the seller of the land, who had been dead for three years, appear in court within three days. Accepted with laughter, the man of God spent the entire three days in fasting and praying; on the assigned day, after having offered the sacrifice of the Holy Mass, he ordered Peter to come out of the tomb; and the latter, brought to life instantly, followed the bishop to the king's court, and there, in the presence of the king and the others astounded, he deposed that he had sold the land in question and that he had received the agreed price from the bishop, and then fell asleep again in the Lord. But after having frequently admonished Boleslaus in vain for his tyranny and unruliness of morals, as well as ultimately the violation of a Christian woman, Stanislaus finally separated him from the communion of the faithful. Furious, he sent soldiers to the church to slaughter the holy bishop there; these three times tried and three times, by hidden force, were rejected. Finally, the wicked king slaughtered the priest of God with his own hand, while he was offering the immaculate Host on the altar (May 8, 1079). His body, torn to pieces and thrown across the fields to be fed to the dogs by the emissaries of Boleslaus, was admirably defended by eagles against the wild beasts. When night came, the canons of Krakow, with the favor of a celestial light, gathered up the scattered limbs and reassembled them; and they were immediately reunited so that there was no trace of wound; then the canons buried him honourably. God then manifested, after death, the holiness of his Servant with many miracles: prompted by which, Innocent IV, Supreme Pontiff, solemnly inserted him in the group of saints, in Assisi on 17th of Augut 1253. And the Supreme Pontiff Clement VIII inserted the feast of St. Stanislaus in the Roman Breviary, ordering that the memory of the glorious Martyr be celebrated everywhere with a double rite office. St. Stanislaus is the patron saint of Poland.