Stanislaus was born in the town of Szczepanow in Poland around the year 1030. He studied in Paris and was ordained to the priesthood. In 1072 he succeeded Bishop Lambert at Cracow. In this post he ruled as a good shepherd by helping the poor and visiting his clerics every year. He courageously rebuked King Boleslaw II for his immoral life, and may have plotted his overthrow. In any event, the king himself murdered the bishop while he was offering Mass in 1079. Devotion to Stanislaus grew at once, and he was canonised in 1253. He is the patron of Poland. – CTS New Daily Roman Missal 2012, p 2633; Christian Prayer 1990, p 1115.
