Jan Sarkander was born on 20 December 1576 in
Skoczów,
Lands of Bohemian Crown (now in Poland) into a Silesian household as the son of Georg Mathias Sarkander and Helena Górecka. He had one sister and three other brothers: Nicholas (a priest himself), Paul, and Wenceslas. His father died in 1589 and so his family moved to
Příbor. He continued theological studies in
Austria from 1604. He later underwent theological studies at the
University of Graz and passed his examinations on 21 December 1607. He was made a sub-deacon on 20 December 1608 and elevated into the
diaconate on 16 March 1609. On 22 December 1607, he received the minor orders from Cardinal
Franz von Dietrichstein. The
bishop of Olomouc, Giovanni Battista Civalli,
ordained him to the priesthood on 22 March 1609 in
Graz. Sarkander was assigned to work as a parish priest in
Boskovice and then sent to
Holešov in 1616. Catholic noble Ladislav IV Popel of Lobkowicz supported Sarkander's efforts in the region but anti-Catholic nobleman Wenceslas Bítovský of Bítov opposed him to the extent that he wanted Sarkander killed. The
Thirty Years War began in 1618 and it saw a bitter conflict between the
Protestants and Catholics and this forced him to flee to Poland on 17 May 1619 for a brief period of time when the Protestants occupied
Holešov. He made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of
Our Lady of Czestochowa, and passed a few weeks of retreat with the
Minims, who had a house there. He also spent a few months in Cracow. Then he returned home. In February 1620 Polish auxiliary troops sent to the emperor by
Sigismund III Vasa passed through Moravia and committed many depredations on the lands of the Protestants, but spared Holešov when Jan met them with the Blessed sacrament in his hands. The Jesuits helped him to reconcile 200 non-Catholics to the faith but other non-Catholics were severely angered by this. During the ongoing
Bohemian Revolt, Protestant Moravian Estates (under Wenceslas Bítovský of Bítov) accused Sarkander of collaborating with Lord Lobkowitz to bring the enemy into the territory. He was taken prisoner and brought to Olomouc where he was tortured. Sarkander was interrogated regarding who had called the troops into the country; what dealings had he in Poland, and with whom; and what had Lobkowitz confided to him in confession. He refused to divulge what was said under the
seal of confession. The rack was used on him on 13 February and again on the 17th and 18th for up to three hours. Lit candles were applied to him and feathers soaked in oil, pitch, and sulphur strewn over his body and ignited. He lingered for a month, before dying from the effects in prison on March 17, 1620. ==Veneration==