Image 1 of 1: Saint John of Kanti, devotional print
Saints and feasts
St. John of Kanti
St. John of Kanti is remembered as the kind of scholar people can trust: learned without pride, disciplined without hardness, and serious about truth without losing poverty, patience, or mercy.
The reading
ⓘ Butler source
Butler's Lives of the Saints, Volume IV (October-November-December), October 20, St John of Kanti, Christian Classics 1990, pp. 153-154.
John of Kanti is one of those rare scholars whose learning made him gentler instead of prouder. Priest, teacher, preacher, and university man at Cracow, he held books and holiness together without strain. His brief removal into parish work and his later return to teaching Sacred Scripture only sharpened that union.
He studied seriously, loved truth without bitterness, gave generously to the poor, and kept a life of personal simplicity and austerity. This life is attractive because nothing in it feels divided. Academic discipline and practical mercy belong to the same man, so he feels like a teacher people could safely trust.
Historical note
For October 20, this page uses St. John of Kanti as the strongest full Butler life on the date, centered on learning joined to humility and charity.
Carry this reading into prayer
Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas Before Study
John's learning invites us to seek wisdom with charity. This study prayer is attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas.
Pray now →
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Read question 1099 and its complete answer in the Baltimore Catechism.
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