Saint John of Kanty, Priest

John was born in 1390 at Kęty in southern Poland and studied at the Academy of Kraków, where he spent most of his life as a professor of theology. For a few years he was a parish priest at Olkusz, but returned to teaching. He copied many manuscripts by his own hand, and volumes he copied are still kept in the Jagiellonian Library. He was known for his simple life and his generosity to poor students and beggars, and tradition says he made a pilgrimage to Rome on foot several times. He died in Kraków on 24 December 1473 and was buried in the church of St Anne, the university church. He was canonized in 1767 and is a patron of Poland and of Polish students.