SAINT HYACINTH
Dominican Missionary
(1185-1257)
St. Hyacinth was an apostle to Poland and Russia. Born to noble Polish parents in 1185, he received his calling and vocation to give his existence singularly to Christ. In 1218, being already Canon of Cracow, he accompanied his uncle, the bishop of Cracow, to Rome. There, St. Hyacinth met St. Dominic, and received the habit of Friar Preachers. His progress in virtue was so stunning that St. Dominic sent him to preach and plant the Order in Poland. Once there, St. Hyacinth founded two houses.
St. Hyacinth's apostolic journeys extended over numerous regions. He evangelized in Austria, Bohemia, Livonia, on the shores of the Black Sea, Tartary, and Northern China. To the West, he evangelized Sweden, Norway and Scotland. Churches and convents were built thanks to his work. Miracles are also connected to his intercession.
St. Hyacinth inherited St. Dominic's filial confidence in the Mother of God. She guided his vocation and secured his final perseverance. When St. Hyacinth was at Kiev and the Tartars attacked, he rescued the ciborium and a Statue of Mary from being looted, but only after finishing the Mass. The statue was made of heavy alabaster, but when Hyacinth took in it in his arms, it became light as a reed. He came to the other side of the river Dnieper carrying the Statue and the Eucharist, as if he walked on water.
On the eve of the Assumption, St. Hyacinth was told by an angel of his impending death. Despite extreme physical weakness, he celebrated Mass the next day. Shortly afterward, he was annointed and passed away at the foot of the altar.