Mikołaj Łęczycki (

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

: Niesobia), in Latin Nicolaus Lancicius (December 10, 1574 – March 30, 1653) was a Polish

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, Catholic

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

, writer and mystic.

Life

Łęczycki was born near

Nesvizh Nyasvizh or Nesvizh is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Nyasvizh District. Nyasvizh is the site of Nesvizh Castle, a World Heritage Site. In 2009, its population was 14,300. As of 2025, it has a population ...

, the son of a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

Daniel of

Łęczyca Łęczyca (; in full the Royal Town of Łęczyca, ; ; ) is a town of inhabitants in central Poland. Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the county seat of the Łęczyca County. Łęczyca is a capital of the historical Łęczyca Land. Or ...

and Katarzyna Gotart. At the age of 18, Łęczycki converted from

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and persuaded his father to do it as well. On February 17, 1592, he entered the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

. He spent several years in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where he was studying and working with

Niccolò Orlandini Niccolò Orlandini (April 10, 1553 – May 17, 1606) was an Italian Jesuit author. Biography He was born at Florence in 1553. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in November 7, 1572, became rector of the Jesuit college at Nola and was master of no ...

in the congregation's central archive to compile the history of Jesuits. During the stay, he received the

holy orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

on April 14, 1601. Łęczycki returned to

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

in 1607, bringing many

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

s for Jesuit churches. He was a professor at the

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

and

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

college, the rector in

Kalisz Kalisz () is a city in central Poland, and the second-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, with 97,905 residents (December 2021). It is the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of Gr ...

and

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, then he was working in

Braniewo Braniewo () (, , Old Prussian language, Old Prussian: ''Brus''), is a town in northern Poland, in Warmia, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with a population of 16,907 as of June 2021. It is the capital of Braniewo County. Braniewo is the seco ...

, and what is now the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. He was serving as a provincial for

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and visited Rome several times. He was commonly considered a master of the spiritual life and a worker of miracles such as revelation, prophecy, healing,

levitation Levitation, Levitate, or Levitating may refer to: Concepts *Levitation (illusion), an illusion where a magician appears to levitate a person or object *Levitation (paranormal), the claimed paranormal phenomenon of levitation, occurring without an ...

psychokinesis Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...

and

bilocation Bilocation, or sometimes multilocation, is an alleged psychic or miraculous ability wherein an individual or object is located (or appears to be located) in two distinct places at the same time. Reports of bilocational phenomena have been made i ...

. He died in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

Writings

He was the author of many

theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...

writings, published together by

Jean Bolland Jean Bolland, SJ () (13 August 1596 – 12 September 1665) was a Flemish Jesuit priest, theologian, and prominent hagiographer. Bolland's main achievement is the compilation of the first five volumes of the ''Lives of the Saints'' in Latin ...

in two volumes as ''Opuscula spiritualia'' (

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

1650) and separately many times all over Europe. The most important are: * ''De piis erga Deum et coelites affectibus'' – a diary, with several editions under various titles and in translations to Polish, English, French, German and Czech * ''Florilegium piarum meditationum'' (

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

1713) * ''Insignis conversio Mariae Bonaventurae monialis Romanae'' * ''De officiis sacerdotum'' * ''De conditionibus boni superioris'' * ''Dissertatio historica et theologica de praestantia Instituti Societatis Jesu'' * ''De recta traducenda adolescentia'' * ''De exteriore corporis compositione'' * ''De humanarum passionum dominio'' * ''Medytacje nowym i doskonałym sposobem na każdy dzień roku rozłożone i na święta znamienitsze'' (

1723) * ''Koło rycerskie rocznego obrotu'' (

1727)

References

* Bronisław Natoński, ''Mikołaj Łęczycki'', in ''

Polski Słownik Biograficzny ''Polski Słownik Biograficzny'' (''PSB''; Polish Biographical Dictionary) is a Polish-language biographical dictionary, comprising an alphabetically arranged compilation of authoritative biographies of some 25,000 notable Poles and of foreigner ...

'', vol. XVIII, Zakład Narodowy imienia Ossolińskich, Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków-Gdańsk 1973, p. 347-350 * Ludwik Grzebień, ''Mikołaj Łęczycki'', in ''Słownik polskich teologów katolickich'', vol. II: do 1918, H-Ł, Akademia Teologii Katolickiej, Warszawa 1982, p. 560-566 * Aleksandra Witkowska, Joanna Nastalska, ''Staropolskie piśmiennictwo hagiograficzne'', vol. I: ''Słownik hagiografów polskich'', Wydawnictwo Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego Jana Pawła II, Lublin 2007, p. 139-142

External links

Works by Mikołaj Łęczycki
in digital library

Polona Polona is a Polish digital library, which provides digitized books, magazines, graphics, maps, music, fliers and manuscripts from collections of the National Library of Poland and co-operating institutions. It began its operation in 2006. Colle ...

1574 births 1653 deaths 17th-century writers in Latin Polish nobility 17th-century Polish Jesuits Academic staff of Jagiellonian University Academic staff of Vilnius University Converts to Roman Catholicism from Calvinism 17th-century Polish philosophers 17th-century Polish male writers 16th-century Polish Jesuits {{RC-bio-stub

Life

Writings

See also

References

External links