Andrzej Bobola

Saint Andrzej Bobola was born in 1591 to a noble family in the Sandomierz region of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. As a young man he entered the Society of Jesus in Vilnius in 1611, and after his ordination in 1622 he served the Church with tireless zeal as a preacher, superior, and spiritual guide. In later years he became a devoted missionary in the countryside of Lithuania and neighboring lands, earning the title “Apostle of Lithuania” for his ardent care for souls and his steadfast witness to the Catholic faith. During the violence of the Khmelnytsky Uprising, Father Bobola was captured near Pinsk and taken to Janów, where he was brutally tortured and killed on 16 May 1657, refusing to renounce Christ. His martyrdom, and the remarkable veneration that followed—including the discovery of his well-preserved body—helped spread his reputation for holiness. Canonized in 1938, he is a patron of several dioceses and archdioceses in Poland. His feast day is May 16.