14 November 2020
Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
In the United states, parishes noted the feast of Francis Cabrini on November 13, but at Jesuit novitiates throughout the world they celebrated the feast of Stanislaus Kostka, patron of Novices. His story recounted a familiar plot line in the hagiographic retelling of his life; a scion of a wealthy family who wanted to abandon all and seek Christ in poverty and prayer against the objections of his family. St. Stan, affectionately referred to by Jesuits, was very pious and his short life does not provide a wealth of examples as do other Jesuit saints. He died in the novitiate, and in his brief time there, he became known for his great piety and love of God, particularly his strong devotion to the crucified Jesus. Ignatius would have agreed with this young man’s starting point for it was the essence of the Spiritual Exercises. He is the patron saint of novices, not so much because he died in the novitiate, but because he identified the starting point of any Christian journey, centering one’s life on Christ and his message of love of God and love of neighbor.