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Blessed Ladislas of Gielniów

detail of a statue of Blessed Ladislas of Gielniów, date and artist unknown; the statue stands in Gielniów, Poland; photographed on 10 November 2009 by ToSter; swiped from Wikimedia Commons Also known as

Apostle of Lithuania
Lithuanian Apostle
Wladyslaw of Gielniów
Władysław z Gielniowa

Memorial

4 May
formerly 25 May
formerly 21 September

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Educated at the University of Warsaw, Poland. Joined the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor Observant. Doorkeeper in his monastery. Elected provincial of his Order in 1487 and again in 1496. He sent Franciscan missionaries to Lithuania; their work brought many schismatics back to the Church. A noted preacher, he travelled across Poland, evangelizing from one end to the other. In 1498 he led a prayer campaign to protect Poland from invading Tatars and Turks; a raging winter storm stopped the invaders, the Polish army routed them. and the victory was attributed to the prayer warriors. Abbot of the Warsaw monastery. On Good Friday 1505, while in prayer, Ladislas levitated, hanging in the air as if crucified; when he came down he collapsed completely, and was bed-ridden until his death a few weeks later.