Saint Maxim Sandovich

Maxim Timofeyevich Sandovich (Russian: Максим Тимофеевич Сандович, Polish: Maksym Sandowicz, Maksym Gorlicki; 1 February 1888 – 6 August 1914) is a New Martyr and Orthodox saint. He was canonised with the name of Maxim of Gorlice with the title of hieromartyr. (Polish: Maksym Gorlicki, Russian: Максим Горлицкий, Rusyn: Максим Горлицкый). He is the protomartyr of the Lemko people. He was trained as an Eastern Orthodox priest, and was executed by the officially Catholic state of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a Russophile after his conversion to the Orthodox Church. After his execution, his wife was imprisoned in Talerhof, where his son, also named Maxim Sandovich, was born. The memory of Saint Maxim and his spiritual heritage continues to be an important identification and value guide for the faithful of the Polish Orthodox Church, first of all for the Lemkos, reminding them of their spiritual roots, strengthening them in faith and inspiring them to work revealing the historical past of the Carpathian Ruthenians. Maxim Sandovich was born in Zdynia, Galicia, in family of Tymoteusz (or Timofej) and Krystyna Sandovich. His father owned a farm house and was a chanter in the local Greek-Catholic church of the Protection of the Mother of God (pl). His mother was a housewife. He graduated from a four-class school in Gorlice and started his studies at a Gymnasium in Jasło. He then moved to the same school in Nowy Sącz. Among his colleagues he distinguished himself with religiosity; He planned to join the monastery. On the other hand, he had poor academic results, so he had to quit his high school after four class. Without parental consent, he then entered the novitiate to the Monastery of Krechov of the Basilian Order. After three months, in 1904, he left the congregation, disappointed with the spiritual level and general atmosphere of the monastery.