St John Cantius: Life, Charity, Prayer and Feast Day

St John Cantius (Jan Kanty in Polish, 1390-1473) was a priest and professor of the University of Cracow, famous in his own lifetime for his learning, his penance and above all his charity to the poor, to whom he gave literally everything he had. He died on Christmas Eve 1473, was canonized in 1767, and is honoured among the chief patrons of Poland and Lithuania. In the 1962 calendar his feast falls on 20 October, a feast of the third class; here is his life from Butler and the Roman Breviary, the prayers and hymns of his feast, and the story of the great Chicago church that bears his name.

Who was St John Cantius?

John takes his name from his birthplace, the little town of Kęty (in Latin Kenty, hence "Cantius"), in the diocese of Cracow, near Oświęcim. The Breviary names his parents, Stanislaus and Anne, "pious and honest" people; Butler calls them country folk of respectable position. Seeing that their son was as quick as he was good, they sent him to the University of Cracow. He studied philosophy and theology there, rose through every academic degree, was ordained priest, and became a lecturer in the university.

He was known for a very strict life. When friends warned him to look after his health, he answered by pointing out that the Fathers of the desert had been notably long-lived. The Breviary says that he taught "doing and teaching at once": his lectures did not only enlighten his hearers' minds but set them on fire for every kind of piety, and he offered the Holy Sacrifice every day, often with tears, to make amends for the offences against God that grieved him so much.

"A poor man is coming" — "Jesus Christ is coming"

The best-known story of his life is told by Butler. One day, as he was dining in the university hall, a starving beggar passed the door. John jumped up and carried out his whole meal to the man; when he came back, he found his plate full again. For a long time afterwards, the university remembered it by setting aside a meal for a poor man every day. When dinner was ready, the vice-president would call out in Latin, "A poor man is coming," and the president would answer, "Jesus Christ is coming," and the poor man was served.

His charity had no limits. The Breviary says he fed the hungry from his own table and clothed the naked not only with clothes he bought but with those he took off his own back, his own shoes included, letting his long cloak fall to the ground so that no one would see he was going home barefoot. Butler says his money and goods were always at the disposal of the poor of Cracow, who "time and again literally 'cleared him out'." He slept on the floor, never ate meat (for about the last thirty-five years of his life, says the Breviary), and kept only the clothing that covered him and the food that kept him alive. All of this is the corporal works of mercy practised to the letter.

Parish priest at Olkusz, professor of Scripture at Cracow

His success as a teacher and preacher made him enemies, and his rivals had him removed from the university and sent as parish priest to Olkusz. He threw himself into the work, though his parishioners did not like him at first and he himself was frightened by the responsibility for souls. He persevered for some years, and when he was recalled to Cracow his people followed him part of the way in tears. He told them: "This sadness does not please God. If I have done any good for you in all these years, sing a song of joy."

Back at the university, he held the chair of Sacred Scripture until his death. His doctoral gown was long used to vest each new candidate at the conferring of degrees, and it is natural that students and teachers should take him as their intercessor. His advice to his pupils is worth remembering in any controversy: "Fight all false opinions, but let your weapons be patience, sweetness and love. Roughness is bad for your own soul and spoils the best cause." Our page on the patron saints of students gathers the other great intercessors for those who study, among all the Catholic saints and their patronages.

He did not like gossip. Following the example of St Augustine, the Breviary says, he wrote verses on the wall of his room warning himself and his guests against speaking ill of the absent.

Pilgrim to Jerusalem and to Rome

The lessons of his Office add two journeys that his Vespers hymn also sings. Burning with love for the Passion of Christ, over which he sometimes spent whole nights in meditation, he went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where, longing for martyrdom, he did not hesitate to preach Christ crucified to the Turks themselves. And four times he went to Rome to the tombs of the Apostles, on foot and carrying his own baggage, to honour the Holy See, to which he was deeply attached, and, as he used to say, to pay off his own purgatory by the indulgences offered there every day.

On one of these journeys he was robbed by highwaymen. They asked if he had anything more, and he said no. Then he remembered some gold coins sewn into his cloak, ran after the robbers and offered them these too. Astonished at such honesty and generosity, the robbers gave back everything they had taken.

The death and miracles of St John Cantius

Butler records that several miracles were reported of him in his lifetime, and that when the news spread that he was dying, the whole city was in grief. Foreseeing his death, he gave away to the poor whatever was left in his house, so as to be bound by nothing. To those caring for him he said: "Never mind about this prison which is decaying, but think of the soul that is going to leave it." Fortified by the sacraments, he died on the eve of Christmas, 24 December 1473, aged eighty-three, and was buried in the university church of St Anne at Cracow.

The record of the miracles attributed to him after his death was drawn up by a contemporary, Matthias of Miechów. The hymn of Lauds in his Office sums them up: at his prayer plague and disease retreat, the dying are snatched from death, and goods swept away by a flooded river flowed back upstream. As the cult grew, he came to be honoured among the chief patrons of Poland and Lithuania. Pope Clement XIII canonized him on 16 July 1767, and his feast was extended to the whole Church.

Prayer to St John Cantius: the Collect of his feast

The Mass of St John Cantius is proper to him, and every part of it speaks of mercy. The Introit is from Ecclesiasticus: "The compassion of man is toward his neighbour: but the mercy of God is upon all flesh. He hath mercy, and teacheth, and correcteth, as a shepherd doth his flock" (Ecclesiasticus xviii. 12-13). The Epistle is St James on faith and works, "judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy" (James ii. 13); the Offertory is Job's "I was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame. I was the father of the poor" (Job xxix. 15-16); and the Communion, "Give: and it shall be given to you" (Luke vi. 38). The Collect asks for the two things his life joined together: the science of the saints and mercy toward others.

Collect, 20 October

Da, quǽsumus, omnípotens Deus: ut, sancti Joánnis Confessóris exémplo in sciéntia Sanctórum proficiéntes atque áliis misericórdiam exhibéntes; ejus méritis, indulgéntiam apud te consequámur. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that, advancing in the science of the Saints by the example of Saint John Thy Confessor, and showing mercy to others, we may by his merits obtain pardon from Thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Secret

Has, quǽsumus, Dómine, hóstias sancti Joánnis Confessóris tui méritis benígnus assúme: et præsta; ut, te super ómnia et omnes propter te diligéntes, corde tibi et ópere placeámus. Per Dóminum nostrum.

Graciously receive these offerings, we beseech Thee, O Lord, through the merits of Saint John Thy Confessor: and grant that, loving Thee above all things and all men for Thy sake, we may please Thee in heart and in deed. Through our Lord.

Postcommunion

Pretiósi Córporis et Sánguinis tui, Dómine, pasti delíciis, tuam súpplices deprecámur clementiam: ut, sancti Joánnis Confessóris tui méritis et exémplis, ejúsdem caritátis imitatóres effécti, consórtes simus et glóriæ: Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre, in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

Fed with the delights of Thy precious Body and Blood, O Lord, we humbly entreat Thy clemency, that by the merits and example of Saint John Thy Confessor, being made imitators of his charity, we may also be sharers in his glory: Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

The hymns of St John Cantius

Butler notes a singular honour: St John Cantius is the only confessor not a bishop who has his own distinct hymns at Matins, Lauds and Vespers in the Roman Breviary. Here is the hymn of Vespers, Gentis Polonae gloria, with a literal translation.

Hymn at Vespers

Gentis Polónæ glória, / Cleríque splendor nóbilis, / Decus Lycǽi, et pátriæ / Pater, Joánnes ínclite.

Legem supérni Núminis / Doces magíster, et facis. / Nil scire prodest: sédulo / Legem nitámur éxsequi.

Apostolórum límina / Pedes viátor vísitas; / Ad pátriam, ad quam téndimus, / Gressus viámque dírige.

Urbem petis Jerúsalem: / Signáta sacra Sánguine / Christi colis vestígia / Rigásque fusis flétibus.

Acérba Christi vúlnera, / Hæréte nostris córdibus, / Ut cogitémus cónsequi / Redemptiónis prétium.

Te prona mundi máchina, / Clemens, adoret, Trínitas, / Et nos novi per grátiam / Novum canámus cánticum. Amen.

Glory of the Polish nation, noble splendour of the clergy, ornament of the University and father of your country, renowned John:

As a master you teach the law of the Most High, and you keep it. Knowledge alone profits nothing: let us strive with care to carry out the law.

A traveller on foot, you visit the thresholds of the Apostles; guide our steps and our way to the homeland toward which we are journeying.

You make for the city of Jerusalem; you venerate the holy footprints of Christ, marked with His Blood, and water them with your tears.

O bitter wounds of Christ, cling fast to our hearts, that we may set our minds on gaining the price of our redemption.

Let the whole frame of the world bow down and adore Thee, O merciful Trinity; and may we, made new by grace, sing a new song. Amen.

His whole Office, with these hymns and the proper lessons from which this page draws, is in the Breviary.

St John Cantius feast day

The feast day of St John Cantius in the 1962 calendar is 20 October, a feast of the third class, in white vestments, with Gloria and without Creed. You will find it in our traditional Catholic calendar of 1962. Butler notes that after his canonization his feast was extended to the whole Church.

In the calendar reform of 1969 his memorial was moved to 23 December, the day before the anniversary of his death on Christmas Eve, and he is now commonly called "St John of Kanty" in English. Those who keep the 1962 calendar celebrate him on 20 October, as the universal Church did from the eighteenth century until 1969.

St John Cantius Church in Chicago

For most Americans, "St John Cantius" first means a church. St John Cantius in Chicago was founded in 1893 at the request of Polish immigrants of the neighbourhood, who asked the pastor of St Stanislaus Kostka, the mother church of Chicago's Polish parishes, for a new church; its great church was completed and dedicated in 1898. After decades of decline, the parish was revived from 1988 by a pastor devoted to a reverent liturgy, and in 1998, with the approval of Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago, he founded there the Canons Regular of St John Cantius, a community of priests and brothers dedicated to restoring the sacred in parish life. The parish became known well beyond Chicago for its sacred music and its liturgy in Latin, both in the traditional Latin Mass and in the newer rite.

Is St John Cantius SSPX? No. St John Cantius in Chicago is a parish of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and the Canons Regular of St John Cantius are a community approved by the Archbishop of Chicago; neither belongs to the Society of St Pius X.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was St John Cantius?

A Polish priest (1390-1473), born at Kęty near Cracow, who taught at the University of Cracow for most of his life, mostly as professor of Sacred Scripture, after a few years as parish priest of Olkusz. He was renowned for his austerity and his limitless charity to the poor, and he is honoured among the chief patrons of Poland and Lithuania.

What is St John Cantius the patron saint of?

The Roman Breviary honours him among the principal patrons of Poland and Lithuania. Because he spent his life teaching at the University of Cracow, students and teachers naturally turn to him as well, though this is a devotion rather than a title given in the Breviary.

What miracles are attributed to St John Cantius?

The best known is the meal he gave to a starving beggar, after which his plate was found full again. Many cures were reported after his death, recorded by his contemporary Matthias of Miechów; the hymn of Lauds of his feast speaks of the sick healed, the dying restored, and goods swept away by a flood flowing back upstream.

When did St John Cantius die?

On Christmas Eve, 24 December 1473, at the age of eighty-three, in Cracow. He was buried in the church of St Anne, the university church.

Why is it "St John Cantius" and not "St John of Kanty"?

Both are correct. "Cantius" is the Latin form of his surname, taken from his birthplace, Kęty (Kenty), and it is the name used in the Missal and Breviary of 1962; "John of Kanty" or "Jan Kanty" is closer to the Polish.

Why is St John Cantius on 20 October and not 23 December?

The 1962 calendar keeps him on 20 October, the date his feast held in the universal calendar from soon after his canonization in 1767. The 1969 reform moved him to 23 December, next to the day of his death.

The Iter Fidei app carries the calendar of 1962 with every feast, the Roman Missal and the Breviary in Latin and English, with the proper hymns of St John Cantius in their place. Join early access here.

Sources. Alban Butler, Lives of the Saints, 20 October (St John Cantius, Confessor). Roman Breviary (edition before 1960), 20 October, lessons of the second nocturn (in the Breviary of 1962 this third-class feast has a single, contracted lesson) and hymns of Vespers, Matins and Lauds. Roman Missal (1962), Proper of Saints, 20 October. Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims version, Ecclesiasticus xviii. 12-13; James ii. 13; Job xxix. 15-16; Luke vi. 38.