St. Andrew Bobola

St. Andrew Bobola was a Polish Jesuit priest and martyr who lived from 1591 to 1657. He was born in Sandomierz, Poland and joined the Jesuits in 1611. Bobola was known for his tireless efforts to convert Protestants to Catholicism, which led to his brutal torture and martyrdom at the hands of Cossacks in 1657. He is venerated as a patron saint of Poland, Belarus, and Lithuania, and is also the patron of those facing a violent death. Bobola was beatified in 1702 and canonized in 1938 by Pope Pius XI.