Jan Sarkander
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Saint Jan Sarkander |
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1855 sketch.
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| Priest; Martyr | |
| Born |
20 December 1576 Skoczów, Silesia, Crown of Bohemia |
| Died | 17 March 1620 (aged 43) Olomouc, Moravia, Crown of Bohemia |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 6 May 1860, Saint Peter's Basilica, Papal States by Pope Pius IX |
| Canonized | 21 May 1995, Olomouc, Czech Republic by Pope John Paul II |
| Feast | 17 March |
| Attributes |
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| Patronage |
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Saint Jan Sarkander (Czech and Polish: Jan Sarkander) (20 December 1576 – 17 March 1620) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest. Sarkander was married for a short period of time before he became widowed and pursued a path to the priesthood where he became active in the defense of the faith during a period of anti-Christian sentiment and conflict. He himself was arrested on false accusations as a means of silencing him and he refused to give in to his tormenters who tortured him for around a month before he died.
Pope Pius IX beatified Sarkander at Saint Peter's Basilica in 1860 and Pope John Paul II canonized him as a saint in 1995 on his visit to the Czech Republic.
Jan Sarkander was born on 20 December 1576 in Poland into a Silesian household as the son of Georg Mathias Sarkander and Helene Górecka. He had one sister and three other brothers: Nicholas (a priest himself), Paul and Wenceslas. His father died in 1589 and so he moved alongside his mother and siblings to Příbor. His mother remarried and he ended up having a half-brother Matthew as a result. Sarkander believed he was going to become a priest but dropped the idea and instead married before the two settled in Brno. The marriage was short lived for his wife died not too long after (in 1607) the couple married; the two were childless. He then decided to resume his studies for the priesthood.
Sarkander studied at the Olomouc college from 1597 until 1600 due to the plague which forced him to transfer to the Charles University in Prague on 20 October 1600 where he graduated with a master's in philosophical studies. He obtained further education from the Jesuits in Prague and received his doctorate in philosophical studies in 1603. He left once again on 3 September 1603 to marry Anna Platská who came from a Lutheran family. He continued theological studies in Austria from 1604. He later underwent theological studies at the Graz University and passed his examinations on 21 December 1607. He was made a sub-deacon on 20 December 1608 and elevated into the diaconate on 16 March 1609.
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