SS. Stephen Pongrácz and Melchior Grodziecki, Priests and Martyrs, and St. Mark Križevčanin, Canon of Estergom, Martyr

SS. Stephen Pongrácz, Melchior Grodziecki, and Mark Križevčanin met their martyrdom at the hands of Hungarian Calvinists in Košice (in today’s Slovakia). Stephen was born about 1582 in the family’s Alvincz Castle in Transylvania (now in Romania), and he entered (1602) the Society of Jesus in Moravia (part of today’s Czech Republic). After ordination (1615), he taught for a while at Humenné, Slovakia, and in 1619 was sent to Košice to minister to the Catholics there and in the outlying areas, who had not seen a priest for many a year.

Melchior was born in the family castle of Grodiec in Silesia, Poland, about 1584, and also entered (1603) the Society in Moravia, where Stephen was already a novice. After ordination (1616), he taught for a while in Prague, and then in 1619 he was likewise assigned to Košice. At this time, the city was a Calvinist stronghold. The two Jesuits set about their work within and outside the city. Fr. Pongrácz ministered to the Hungarians, while Fr. Grodziecki saw to the needs of those who spoke Polish and German. When the Calvinists saw that the priests’ work prospered and the number of Catholics increased, so did their hatred of them.

When news arrived that the army of the Calvinist prince of Transylvania was approaching Košice (this was the time of the Thirty Years’ War), both Frs. Pongrácz and Grodziecki returned to the city to be with the Catholics living there. At the same time, Fr. Mark Križevčanin (b. 1589) left Estergom to be with the Jesuits. The army easily gained control of the city on September 5, 1519, and when the military general learned that three Catholic priests were in the city, he had them placed (September 6) under house arrest. Anticipating what was before them, the priests spent the night in prayer. On the morning of September 7, the soldiers—unable to get the priests to apostatize—beat them mercilessly. Fr. Križevčanin was their first victim—they stabbed him numerous times, then rubbed flaming torches over his body and finally beheaded him. They next tortured Fr. Pongrácz in similar fashion, then suspended him from a beam and proceeded to carve his body. Fr. Grodziecki suffered the same torment as Fr. Križevčanin, and he too was beheaded. Although two of the priests died on September 7, Fr. Pongrácz was only released from his sufferings on September 8. These martyrs of Košice were canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1995.