A Tailor’s Inspiration Brought the World a Pope

By Larry Peterson

            The influence of St. John of the Cross, the great poet and mystic of the 16th century, reached across the centuries and inspired a simple tailor in Nazi occupied Poland to aspire to sainthood. In turn, this simple man became the catalyst for another man who was not even considering becoming a priest. Yet, this aspiring actor would one day become Pope. The tailor’s name was Jan Tyranowski. The man who would one day be pope was Karol Wojtyla.

            Born in Krakow in 1900, Jan Tyranowski was the son of a tailor. His dad had bigger plans for his boy and Jan became an accountant. Jan was a bit of a loner and enjoyed being by himself, allowing his abundantly curious mind to fill his spare time.

            He loved science, studying foreign languages, gardening and even the new science of psychology. He especially loved photography. Even though he kept his mind filled with the wonders around him he knew something was missing. There was an emptiness, an unexplained void which he could not fill.

            Jan took ill in 1930 with a chronic stomach ailment which rendered him constantly sick. So he left accounting and took up tailoring with his father. Amazingly, with his stress levels reduced in his new job, Jan became a much happier man. His faith also began to increase and he became more and more active in his parish.

            Then came Jan’s “enlightening.” It happened at a Sunday Mass sometime in 1935. He heard the Salesian priest saying the Mass make a statement during his homily that changed Jan’s life forever. The priest simply said, “It is not difficult to be a saint.”

            To Jan this was unprecedented. He thought sainthood was only for priests and religious. There was no room in the saintly world for lay people---or was there? The priest went on to say that lay people could also live saintly lives by going to frequent Mass, saying their prayers and doing good works.

            Jan Tyranowski listened and realized the spirituality he thought he was not permitted to have was available to him also. All he would have to do was embrace the work needed to attain it. When he left the church that Sunday, he was a changed man.

            He began growing in spirituality, praying, and meditating every morning for up to four hours. He then began devoting other parts of his day to prayer and reflection. Jan asked a parish priest for advice on some quality reading material and the priest gave him a prayer manual he had used in the seminary. Jan poured through the manual and expanded his reading, eventually coming across the works of St. John of the Cross. The writings of this saint became his constant companion for the rest of his life.

            By 1940 more than half the priestly population of Krakow had been deported. One of the parish priests asked Jan if he would become more involved with the youth ministry in the parish. Jan became the youth leader at St. Stanislaus Parish which also happened to be the university parish attended by a young man by the name of Karol Wojtyla. Karol aspired to be an actor.

            Jan had an innate ability to inspire spirituality in others. His apostolate to the young quickly grew and among those who were part of it was the future pope. At first, Karol was turned off by Jan Tyranowki’s seemingly overbearing and strict manner of dealing with prayer and meditation. But when Jan formed a Living Rosary, Karol began to soften.

            Karol Wojtyla’s dad died in 1941. The young man had no immediate family and before long he became an eager recipient of Jan’s guidance. When Jan introduced the works of St. John of the Cross to young Karol it affected Karol the same way it had affected Jan. It changed his life. The 16th century mystic became one of the future pope’s lifelong inspirations. Jan Tyranowski more or less became a father-figure to Karol. They became great friends and often walked together talking about the things of God.

            Karol Wojytla was ordained a priest on November 1, 1946. Jan Tyranowski died on March 15, 1947. He had lived to see his favorite student attain the priesthood. Father Wojytla would become Pope John Paul II on October 16, 1978. He would be canonized a saint on April 27, 2014 by Pope Francis. Pope St. John Paul II actually credited Jan Tyranowski with causing him to recognize his vocation and reject an acting career. St. John Paul II wrote of his mentor:

“He was one of those unknown saints, hidden amid the others like a marvelous light at the bottom of life, at a depth where night usually reigns. He disclosed to me the riches of his inner life, of his mystical life. In his words, in his spirituality, and in the example of a life given to God alone, he represented a new world that I did not yet know. I saw the beauty of a soul opened up by grace.”

            His old friend, Pope St. John Paul II, launched the beatification process on 28 April 1997 and titled him as a Servant of God. The confirmation of his heroic virtue at the beginning of 2017 allowed for Pope Francis to title him as Venerable.

We ask Venerable Jan Tyranowski to pray for us all.

Copyright©Larry Peterson2023