December 23
The saints and feasts remembered on December 23, each with a short life, a Bible passage and a prayer.
Saint John of Kanty
Kraków teacher and priest known for his simple life and care for the poor
John was born around 1390 in Kęty, a small town in southern Poland, and studied at the university in Kraków. After he was ordained a priest, he spent most of his life teaching there, first philosophy and later theology. For some years he also taught at a monastery school in Miechów and served as parish priest in Olkusz, a job he reportedly found heavy, before returning to the classroom.
He was a patient scholar who copied many books by hand, and a number of manuscripts in his handwriting still survive in Kraków. He lived simply and gave much of his modest income to poor students and beggars. Stories told after his death describe him handing his coat and shoes to someone in need and walking to Rome as a pilgrim.
He died in Kraków on Christmas Eve 1473 and was canonised in 1767. Poles remember him as a teacher whose learning and generosity went hand in hand.
The crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” John replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with him who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.”
Luke 3:10–11 · BSB
A prayer
God of wisdom and mercy, you made Saint John of Kanty a faithful teacher who lived simply and cared for the poor. Give us minds eager to learn the truth and hands ready to give, so that what we know and what we have may serve our neighbours. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The lives are written with AI help from public-domain histories and checked before publishing; the prayers are ours. Bible quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), in the public domain. How we write.