St. Szymon of Lipnica

Szymon (Simon) was born to a poor but pious family, the son of Grzegorz and Anna. In 1454, at age 17, he moved from his small town to Kraków to study at the Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego. While there, he heard a sermon by Saint John Capistran which led him to consider a call to religious life and the priesthood. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1457, and joined the Franciscan Friars Minors (Observants) at the convent of Saint Bernard in Stadom, Poland, making his vows in 1458. He was ordained a priest around 1460 and assigned first to the Franciscan convent at Tarnów, Poland, and then back to Stadom. He was known as a powerful preacher who helped spread popular devotions such as that to the Holy Name of Jesus. Father Szymon had a devotion to Saint Bernardine of Siena, modeled his preaching after that of Bernardine, and assisted at the transfer of Bernardine‘s relics to Aquila, Italy on 17 May 1472. He attended the Franciscan General Chapter in Pavia, Italy in 1478 and then ventured on pilgrimage to the Holy Lands and to the tombs of Saint Peter the Apostle and Saint Paul the Apostle. Fr. Szymon died tending the sick during a plague epidemic on July 18, 1482, and is remembered on that date.