Past Martyrs and Modern Missionaries

As I write this article for a special issue of „Nowe Życie”, it is November 13th. The Diocese of Zielonogóra-Gorzów, in which I live, is celebrating the feast of its patron saint. This is a commemoration of the First Polish Martyrs (Benedict, John, Mateusz, Izaak and Krystyn), who died on 11 November 1003 in the vicinity of Międzyrzecz. Two of these – Benedict and John – were Italians, the others – Mateusz, Izaak and Krystyn – were Poles. All were killed together at the hands of their attackers during an attack on the local population. The Italian monks had only been living in the settlement for a short time, and had been warmly welcomed by Duke Bolesław, later the first king of Poland. St Bruno of Querfurt, who described the life and death of the martyrs, testifies that Duke Bolesław, „according to his custom, accepted the servants of God with extraordinary courtesy and with great desire. And in all his actions showing them kindness, in a secluded hermitage with great readiness, he built a place that they themselves considered suitable, and provided them with all the necessary means to live.”
When, a few years earlier, Benedict and John had set out for the Alps, which constituted not only a geographic but also a cultural boundary, they had set out into a world completely unknown to them.
St Bruno eloquently writes about this: „And so they went under a common star to receive the Kingdom of God and their great fate in the land of the Slavs. […] Thus, having covered the road, long and winding, through the Alps, they completed this laborious crossing. They entered the land of the Polan, where an unknown language was spoken – and many such alien lands they had already journeyed through.” What did these monks from southern Europe expect? And why had they come here? The idea of sending missionaries to Poland was born at a meeting between the German emperor Otto and the Polish duke Bolesław, which had taken place in the year 1000 in Gniezno, then the capital of Poland. It was on the basis of this agreement that it was decided to send missionaries „to the country of the Slavs to build a monastery where a beautiful forest would be suitable for a hermitage, in a Christian country, near the border with the pagan.” The missionaries en route to Poland were great realists. They were aware that – as St Bruno relates – „preaching the Gospel to pagans” is a risk. This was a mission only „for those wishing to abandon life and to be together with Christ.” The beginnings were difficult. Poland had converted to Christianity only forty years before their arrival, i.e. in the year 966, during the reign of Prince Mieszko.
The Christianisation process had just begun, and around the Christian Polan there lived pagan tribes. The mission seemed destined not to be fruitful. The two Italians were joined by only two Polish novices – Izaak and Mateusz – while Krystyn was their serving boy. There were also not too many conversions. Is it surprising that discouragement and sadness overwhelmed them? Once again, St Bruno wrote thus: „Having left their homeland, they dared to enter a strange country lying under another sun, and with great difficulty they learned the unknown language. There was not even a trace of the brothers arriving, nor signs that they had dedicated themselves to Apostolic service.”
Instead of confreres and successors, they found a martyr’s death, following in the footsteps of St Wojciech, whom the chronicler called a „rare bird”, seeking thereby to emphasise the uniqueness of his character.
Why am I writing about this?