Anton Martin Slomšek
| His Excellency Blessed Anton Martin Slomšek | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Lavant | |
Photograph taken in Vienna in 1862.
| |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Diocese | Lavant |
| See | Lavant |
| Appointed | 30 May 1846 |
| Installed | 4 September 1859 |
| Term ended | 24 September 1862 |
| Predecessor | Franz Xaver Kuttnar |
| Successor | Jakob Ignaz Maximilian Stepišnik |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 8 September 1824 |
| Consecration | 5 July 1846 by Friedrich Joseph Cölestin zu von Schwarzenburg |
| Rank | Bishop |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Anton Martin Slomšek 26 November 1800 Uniše, Styria, Habsburg monarchy (modern Slovenia) |
| Died | 24 September 1862 (aged 61) Maribor, Styria, Austrian Empire (modern Slovenia) |
| Motto | Ad maiorem Dei gloriam animarumque salutem ("For the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls") |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 24 September |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 19 September 1999 Maribor, Slovenia by Pope John Paul II |
| Attributes | Episcopal attire |
| Patronage | Students Educators Writers Poets Wine makers Diocese of Lavant |
Blessed Anton Martin Slomšek (26 November 1800 – 24 September 1862) was a Slovene Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Lavant from 1846 until his death.[1] He served also as an author and poet as well as a staunch advocate of the nation's culture. He served in various parishes as a simple priest prior to his becoming a bishop in which his patriotic activism increased to a higher degree since he advocated writing and the need for education. He penned textbooks for schools including those that he himself opened and he was a vocal supporter of ecumenism and led efforts to achieve greater dialogue with other faiths with an emphasis on the Eastern Orthodox Church.[2][3]
His beatification had its origins in the 1930s, when petitions were lodged for a formal cause to commence; this all culminated on 19 September 1999, when Pope John Paul II presided over the late bishop's beatification in Maribor.
Life
Anton Martin Slomšek was born as the eighth child to the peasants Marko Slomšek and Marija née Zorko on 26 November 1800 in Styria in Slovenia. The priest Blaž Slomšek (1708–1740) was his paternal uncle and Janez Slomšek (1831–1909) was his paternal cousin Gregorius' son.[1][3]
He underwent his theological and philosophical studies since 1821 (a classmate was the poet France Prešeren) in order to enter the priesthood and he was later ordained as such on 8 September 1824 in Klagenfurt. He celebrated his first Mass on 26 September at Olimje.[1] He first served as a parish chaplain at Bizeljsko and then at Nova Cerkev.[3] From 1829 until 1838 he served as the spiritual director of seminarians at Klagenfurt. In 1838 he became the parish priest at Vuzenica. In 1844 he relocated to Sankt Andrä and headed the school in Lavant while also serving as the cathedral canon there.[2] He became the parish priest in Celje in March 1846 just prior to his episcopal appointment. In one of his final appointments, Pope Gregory XVI, made Slomšek the new Bishop of Lavant and he received his episcopal consecration a couple of months later in Salzburg, although he did not celebrate his formal installation until September 1859, when he first moved to his new see.
He strove for religious education in schools and for education in Slovene; he began writing numerous books on the matter. Slomšek was considered to be an excellent preacher as well as a tireless and modest cleric. The bishop oversaw the construction of new schools and he himself issued textbooks for students and edited others while also publishing his own sermons and episcopal statements.[1] He also wrote songs and some of which (like the toast "En hribček bom kupil") achieved great social standing and some are still sung at present. Together with Andrej Einspieler and Anton Janežič he was the co-founder of the Hermagoras Association which is the oldest Slovene publishing house.[2] He founded movements for greater ecumenism efforts. Pope Pius IX entrusted him with the mission to renew the religious life in Benedictine monasteries and so he made a series of apostolic visits to see these places. He also invited the Vincentians to settle in his diocese and in 1846 began the publication Drobtinice for his diocese. He also founded the Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius in 1851 for greater ecumenism with the Eastern Orthodox Church.[3] Slomšek also supported those in the missions and prompted the Spiritual Exercises.
Slomšek died on 24 September 1862 after having suffered a series of stomach ailments for some time. His remains are interred in the Maribor Cathedral.[3]
Beatification
The beatification process opened in Maribor in an informative process that investigated his life and his virtues which later received validation on 2 December 1994 from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints; the postulation sent the Positio in 1995 to the C.C.S. for assessment. Historians first approved the cause on 9 January 1996 as did theologians on 2 April 1996 and the C.C.S. on 7 May 1996. His life of heroic virtue was confirmed on 13 May 1996 and this allowed for Pope John Paul II to title him as Venerable.
The miracle for his beatification was investigated and received C.C.S. validation on 20 June 1996 prior to a medical panel approving it on 4 February 1997; theologians did so also on 20 June 1997 as did the C.C.S. on 1 July 1998. John Paul II approved this miracle on 3 July 1998 and beatified Slomšek in Maribor while in Slovenia on 19 September 1999.
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Anton Martin Slomšek — Slomöek, Anton Martin, Bishop of Lavant, in Maribor, Styria, Austria, noted Slovenian educator, born 1800; died 24 Sept., 1862. The dawn of the nineteenth century found the Slovenian schools in a precarious condition; their number was pitifully small, and the courses they offered were inadequate and unsatisfactory. This deplorable state was due to the fact that the Austrian officials endeavoured to suppress the national language, and, to compass this end, introduced foreign teachers thoroughly distasteful to the people, whom in turn they despised. Moreover, books, magazines, papers, and other educational influences were lacking, not because they would not have been gladly welcomed, but because they were forbidden by the Government in its fear of Panslavism. This situation Bishop Slomöek was compelled to face. A man of initiative and discernment, the changes he wrought in a short time were wonderful. In the Constitution of 1848, granting national rights long denied, he found his instrument. Following this measure, though only after many futile attempts, he received official sanction to undertake the reform of the schools. The first fruits of his labours were a series of excellent text-books, many from his own pen, which proved powerful factors in the growth and development of religious as well as national education. The founding of the weekly, "Drobtinice" (Crumbs), was his next step. Essays and books on a great variety of subjects, embracing practically every question on which his countrymen stood in need of enlightenment, were published in quick succession, and his vigorous and incisive style, well adapted to the intelligence of his readers, though not lacking scholarly refinement, made his works exceedingly popular. His pastorals and sermons constitute a literature of lasting value. In 1841 he sought to realize a dream of years - the establishment of a society for the spread of Catholic literature. Unfortunately, the movement was branded as Panslavistic, and failed at the time; but ten years later this organization was effected, and Druzba sv. Mohora began sending a few instructive books to Catholic homes. To-day, a million educational volumes have been distributed among a million and a half of people.
Although Slomöek was ardent and active in the interests of his own race, yet he was admired and loved by great men of other nations, and his kindness and tact eliminated all bitterness from the controversies in which he was forced to engage. Patriotism, the education of his people. their temporal and spiritual welfare, were his inspiring motives, as the non-Catholic Makusev remarks: "Education, based on religion and nationality, was his lofty aim". Humility and childlike simplicity marked his life. His priests, sincerely devoted to him, frequently heard him repeat the words: "When I was born, my mother laid me on a bed of straw, and I desire no better pallet when I die, asking only to be in the state of grace and worthy of salvation".
GRAFENANER, Hist. of Slovenian Literature (1862).
P. Cyril Zupan.
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Back to citation occurrence 1.2 Back to citation occurrence 1.3 "Blessed Anton Maria Slomšek". Saints SQPN. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
- Back to citation occurrence 2.0 Back to citation occurrence 2.1 Back to citation occurrence 2.2 "Biographies of New Blesseds – 1999". EWTN. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
- Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 Back to citation occurrence 3.2 Back to citation occurrence 3.3 Back to citation occurrence 3.4 "Blessed Anton Martin Slomšek". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
Bibliography
- Šavli, Jožko, Slovenski svetniki Bilje: Studio Ro, Založništvo Humar 1999 ISBN 961-6097-03-2 COBISS 100488960
- Rebič, Adalbert, Splošni religijski leksikon Modrijan 2007 ISBN 978-961-2411-83-1 COBISS 235261696