Saint Casimir

Casimir was born in Kraków in 1458, the third child and second son of King Casimir IV of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Elizabeth of Austria. Tutored by the priest and historian Jan Długosz, he grew up devout and disciplined. At thirteen his father sent him with an army to claim the throne of Hungary, but the campaign failed and Casimir returned home, convinced that war for power was not his path.

From 1481 to 1483 he governed Poland as regent while his father was in Lithuania, and he was known for his fairness and his care for the poor. He spent long hours before the Blessed Sacrament, loved the Virgin Mary deeply and refused a proposed royal marriage, choosing to live chaste. Weakened by tuberculosis, he died at Grodno on March 4, 1484, at only twenty-five, and was buried in Vilnius Cathedral. A Marian hymn he loved was placed in his tomb. He was canonized in 1602.

In Vilnius his feast brings the famous Kaziukas Fair, a huge street market of crafts, palm-like Easter verbos and gingerbread hearts. Lithuanian communities in the United States and Latin America celebrate with Mass and folk traditions.