Stanislaus Kostka
Polish Jesuit, saint, secondary patron of Poland (1550–1568)
Feast: 15 August (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Stanislaus Kostka was born near Kraków in 1550, son of a noble military leader and senator. At fourteen he was sent to the Jesuit college in Vienna, where his brother's worldliness clashed with his sober life; he felt 'born for greater things'.
Longing to join the Society of Jesus, he fled his father's house and walked to Rome, where St Francis Borgia admitted him to the novitiate. Worn out in a short time by the humblest services, he died there with a reputation for holiness at eighteen.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A young nobleman who walked to Rome to become a Jesuit and died a saint at eighteen.
Connected on this site
- Stanislaus of Szczepanów Saint“Stanislaus is venerated in the Catholic Church as Stanislaus the Martyr (as distinct from the 16th-century Jesuit, Stanislaus Kostka).” — Wikipedia
- Jan Swierc Servant of God“Stanislaus Kostka Parish in Kraków before being murdered at the Auschwitz concentration camp.” — Wikipedia
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Stanislao Kostka
- Wikidata Q203437 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Stanislaus Kostka (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.