St Josaphat

Josaphat was named John when he was born. His father was a merchant (he sold things) and his mother loved God very much. When John grew up he joined the order of St. Basil and chose the name Josaphat. He became the Bishop of Polotsk and helped his people get closer to God. Before he was even born, the Catholic Church had split because of different ideas on some important teachings of the Church. Bishop Josaphat was a leader in the Eastern Church, which did not follow the Pope in Rome. Many people had already tried to unite the Catholic Church and many people had died as martyrs trying to find peace. Bishop Josaphat continued this work towards finding unity with the Church of Rome, but it was very difficult because a lot of his work made many people angry. He worked very hard to rebuild the Church in Polotsk, where many Churches were falling apart and the priests were not following the ways of God. People from the Eastern Church and people from the Roman Church would often fight and go against what Bishop Josaphat taught; some even wanted to kill him. One day there was a big group of these people who wanted the Church to stay separated, and they were angry with Bishop Josaphat. Instead of avoiding the group, the Bishop went to speak with them to try to make peace. But this group of separatists ended up killing Bishop Josaphat; he died a martyr for his faith. Even though the separatists thought that by killing Bishop Josaphat they would keep the Church separate, his death actually caused healing and unity between the two sides of the Church. Bishop Josaphat became the first Saint of the Eastern Church to be canonized (made a saint) by the Church of Rome.