November 12: Saint Josaphat

[SiempreFiel]

http://blog.ancient-future.net/uploaded_images/Saint-Josaphat-750806.jpg

You people of Vitebsk want to put me to death. You make ambushes for me everywhere, in the streets, on the bridges, on the highways, and in the marketplace. I am here among you as a shepherd, and you ought to know that I would be happy to give my life for you. I am ready to die for the holy union, for the supremacy of Saint Peter, and of his successor the Supreme Pontiff.

• Saint Josaphat

 

[thedejongs]

“By thoughtless violence you oppress the Russian people and urge them on to revolt. You are aware of the censure of the simple people, that it would be better to be in Turkish captivity than to endure such persecutions for faith and piety. You write that you freely drown the Orthodox, chop off their heads, and profane their churches. You seal their churches so the people, without piety and Christian rites, are buried like non-Christians. In place of joy, your cunning Uniatism has brought us only woe, unrest, and conflict. We would prefer to be without it. These are the fruits of your Uniatism. It would have been better not to have given us nationwide strife and hatred, and instead to have preserved us from nationwide condemnation.”

March 12, 1622
Letter of Leo Sapiega, Roman Catholic and Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Representative of the Polish Crown
Addressed to Josaphat Kuntsevich

Although I understand that this man is considered a saint by the RCC and that this forum is intended for RCCs of any rite, rather than for EOs, you should be aware that he is not uncommonly referred to as “Josaphat the Malevolent” in EO circles and that his “sainthood” constitutes a very great offense and stumbling block to Catholic-Orthodox dialogue. The reason should be evident from the letter quoted, above-- written by an RC, no less.

 

[SiempreFiel]

Although I understand that this man is considered a saint by the RCC and that this forum is intended for RCCs of any rite, rather than for EOs, you should be aware that he is not uncommonly referred to as “Josaphat the Malevolent” in EO circles and that his “sainthood” constitutes a very great offense and stumbling block to Catholic-Orthodox dialogue.

Yes. I know that he is called “Josaphat the Malevolent” in EO circles. One such EO circle is the Orthodox Christian Information website which in addition to referring to St. Josaphat as “the Malevolent”, it also refers to St. Francis of Assisi as having received his spiritual gifts not from the Holy Spirit but “from another spirit”.

Honestly, I don’t give much thought to what the EO have to say about Catholic saints. After all, the Eastern Orthodox Church is not my Mother. My Mother is the Catholic Church. She loves me and She wouldn’t put my soul at risk. I only trust the voice of my Mother.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

“By thoughtless violence you oppress the Russian people and urge them on to revolt. You are aware of the censure of the simple people, that it would be better to be in Turkish captivity than to endure such persecutions for faith and piety. You write that you freely drown the Orthodox, chop off their heads, and profane their churches. You seal their churches so the people, without piety and Christian rites, are buried like non-Christians. In place of joy, your cunning Uniatism has brought us only woe, unrest, and conflict. We would prefer to be without it. These are the fruits of your Uniatism. It would have been better not to have given us nationwide strife and hatred, and instead to have preserved us from nationwide condemnation.”

March 12, 1622
Letter of Leo Sapiega, Roman Catholic and Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Representative of the Polish Crown
Addressed to Josaphat Kuntsevich

Although I understand that this man is considered a saint by the RCC and that this forum is intended for RCCs of any rite, rather than for EOs, you should be aware that he is not uncommonly referred to as “Josaphat the Malevolent” in EO circles and that his “sainthood” constitutes a very great offense and stumbling block to Catholic-Orthodox dialogue. The reason should be evident from the letter quoted, above-- written by an RC, no less.

Now do you know why the Eastern forum was modified?

 

[jj2011]

Now do you know why the Eastern forum was modified?

The change was a good thing.

As for the calumniated saint, we should recall that even great Fathers like St. Maximus could be quite unpopular in their day, so much so that the saint was asked why he hated the Greeks.

St. Maximus replied, “I love the Greeks because we share the same language. I love the Romans because we share the same faith.”

Pretty sound advice for posters to remember on this forum.