Day: September 7, 2023

Saint of the Day – 7 September – Blessed Marko Križevcanin (c1588-1619) Priest Martyr, Missionary, Professor of Theology. Born in c1589 in Križevci, Koprivnicko-Križevacka, Croatia and died on 7 September 1619 in Košice, Košický kraj, Hungary (now in Slovakia). At the time of his Martyrdom he was 31 years old.Also known as – Marek Križin, Mark Crisin, Mark Crisinus, Marko Krizevcanin, Marko Krizin. Marko was Beatified on 15 January 1905 by Pope Pius X.

Born in KriÏevci in Croatia in 1588 to a noble Croatian family, Marko became a student of the Jesuits in Vienna and Graz, where he obtained his Doctorate in Philosophy, he then studied at the Gregorian College in Rome (1611-1615) as a student of the German-Hungarian College.

Marko was Ordained in Rome together with others who would later became his companions in Martyrdom. Returning to Croatia he exercised the pastoral ministry for two years and was then called, by Cardinal Pázmány, (his former Professor in Graz) to direct the Trnava Seminary.

At that time Marko was also appointed Canon of Esztergom (the Chapter was located in Trnava, due to the presence of the Turks in Hungary).

At the beginning of 1619, he was sent by the Chapter to administer the assets of the former Benedictine Abbey in Krásna, near Kosice.
When the Hungarian Prince of Transylvania, Calvinist, Gabor Bethlen, began the war against the Emperor (beginning of 1619) the Jesuits, already expelled from Bohemia and Moravia (by the Bohemian Lutherans in agreement with Prince Bethlen), found asylum in Austria, Poland and Hungary.

In September 1619, Kosice was besieged by the army of George I Rákoczi, future Prince of Transylvania. On 5 September 1619, the Catholic Governor of Kosice was betrayed by the Mercenaries and the Calvinist population handed him over to Rákoczi, together with his three Priest guests. The head of the Municipal Council, Reyner, instigated by the Calvinist preacher, Alvinczi, called for the death of all the Catholics in the City! The majority of Calvinists opposed total extermination but the condemnation of the three Priests suited everyone.

On 7 September, at night, the torture began, aimed at bending the spirit and leading to the renunciation of Catholicism. The material executors were Rákoczi’s soldiers. In the presence of the Calvinist preacher, Alvinczi and the Municipal Official, Reyner, Fr Marko Krizevcanin was beheaded after the first tortures. Fr Grodziecki was beheaded a little later. Fr Pongrácz had to suffer much longer. Emasculated, suspended upside down, burned with torches until his bowels came out. Believed dead, the following morning he was thrown with the bodies of his companions into a drain, where he lived for another 20 hours, praying unceasingly.

The murder of the gentle victims aroused consternation among the Protestant population, however, funerals were prohibited.

The burial of the bodies took place only 6 months later (the Relics are currently in the Ursuline Church in Trnava). Shortly after the Martyrdom, Cardinal Pázmány began the canonical process in view of Beatification, which would take place on 15 January 1905 in Rome by St Pius X.