St Stan Illustrated Story

33 G od, in His Mercy, did not abandon him. He found people will- ing, out of kindness and charity, to take him in and care for him. And, strangely enough, the household dogs, by licking his wounds, caused them slowly and almost miraculously to heal and disappear, one after another. In February 1649, some men from the vicinity of Podegrodzie, in Lvov for their pre-Lenten marketing, somehowmanaged to locate John, and gave him some money from his father. They found him still weak from his recent illness and on their return, told his parents of his pitiable state. Because of his advanced age, Thomas was in no condition to make the long and arduous journey himself. He did, however, send a man to Lvov with the family horse and wagon to fetch the boy. On the return journey, John again came down with a violent fever. He was received at home with joy and naturally with some tears. Under his mother’s loving and solicitous care, he convalesced rapidly. By the summer of 1649, having completely regained his strength, he began to make plans for continuing his studies. When, in 1646, John had gone to Jaroslaw and Lvov for further stud- ies, he probably knew about the school that the Piarist Fathers had started three years before at Podoliniec, on the side of the Carpathians, and only about 17 miles from his home. At that time, however, the Piarist school lacked the particular grade that he needed (the grade was added on to the school only in September 1646, shortly after John’s departure for Lvov).