Born to a peasant family in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Seminarian at Klagenfurt, Austria. Ordained on 8 September 1824. Parish priest for five years. Spiritual director of the Klagenfurt seminary. Taught the Slovene language to seminarians; because the rulers of the empire spoke German, Slovenian was in danger of disappearing. Prince-bishop of Lavant, Austria (modern Maribor, Slovenia) on 30 May 1846, a diocese with a Slovene majority.
Bishop Slomsek began a campaign of patriotic education. He built new schools, encouraged Slovenian language and culture, wrote textbooks, and edited others. He founded a weekly newspaper, and published his sermons and episcopal statements. Founded the Saint Hermagoras Society publishing house to publish popular works in Slovenian. Today the region is nearly 100% literate, much of it due to Bishop Anton’s good work.
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Saint of the Day Quote: Blessed Anton Martin Slomsek
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 41 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.