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Thursday, March 4

ST. CASIMIR OF POLAND (b Cracow 1458, d Vilnius 1483), Confessor
Patron Saint of Poland and Lithuania, Patron of Young People
He was born in Cracow's Wawel Castle, to King Casimir III of the Jagiellon dynasty, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of the
Holy Roman Emperor Albert II Hapsburg. From childhood, he chose to live a higly-disciplined severe life and vowed himself to
lifelong celibacy. When he was 15, the nobles of Hungary were dissatisfied with their king, they asked King Casimir to send his
son to be their king. The young Casimir went eagerly, but the army at his disposal was weak and in no position to withstand
a threatened Turkish invasion. He fled back to Poland, returned to his studies, and vowed never again to be involved in any war.
He served as regent of Poland in 1481-1482 when his father was away, and he was said to have ruled with prudence and justice.
In 1483, while on a visit to Lithuania, of which he was the Grand Duke, he succumbed to a lung disease. He was buried in
Vilnius. Several miracles were quickly ascribed to him, and he was canonized in 1522, and in 1948, Pope Pius XII declared him
a patron saint for young people.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/030410.shtml


OR today.

Illustration: 'Bonaventure seeks admission to Franciscan order', F. Herrera, 1628.
At the General Audience, the Pope speaks on St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio:
'A master of knowing Christ'
Other papal stories in this issue: A brief announcement of the Holy Father's visit to Spain on November 6-7, and an item
about Vatican TV going high-definition starting October. Page 1 international news: Northern Ireland approaches a new
stage in the long peace process when London turns over control of justice and police to the Belfast government this week;
more violence in Iraq before the national elections on March 7; and a teaser for an interview with Cardinal Agostino Vallini,
the Pope's Vicar for Rome, as he completes two years in that position. Other inside stories of note: Turkish Premier grants
first interview to Cypriot newsmen since Cyprus was split in 1974, saying Turkey will withdraw its troops from the northern
part of the island as soon as Greek and Turkish Cypriots agree on reunification; and an article citing what Joseph Roth,
an Austrian who was considered in his time the most outstanding Jewish writer in German, wrote about Pius XII after
attending his coronation ceremonies in Rome, describing him, among other things, as "the enemy par excellence of the
pre-Apocalyptic beasts of Nazi Germany". The article appears in a newly published collection of Roth's journalistic work.


THE POPE'S DAY

The Holy Father met today with

- Bishops of Uganda (Group 2) on ad-limina visit

- H.E. Francisco A. Soler, Ambassador of El Salvador, on a farewell visit.