Bystrík

Holy Hieromartyr Bystrík was bishop of Nitra (in present-⁠day Slovakia) in the kingdom of Hungary and was killed in 1046 during the pagan uprising of Vata. He is thought to have been of Slavic or Hungarian descent, from a family Christianized through the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius, and to have been trained at the school of Zobor abbey.

King Stephen I appointed him bishop of Nitra around 1034. According to the legend, in 1046 he was on his way to Buda for the coronation of the future king Andrew I, together with the bishops Gerard Sagredo and Buldus. On 24 September they were attacked by Vata's mob, who began to stone them. Buldus died at once. Bystrík managed to flee by boat across the Danube, but was mortally wounded by a sword on the bank at Pest and reposed on 27 September.

He was canonized in the reign of King Ladislaus I, in 1083. He is commemorated on 24 September together with Gerard and the other martyrs. His veneration is not widespread, but some two dozen depictions of him are found in Slovakia and Hungary, and in 2006 the first church dedicated to him was consecrated at Nemce near Banská Bystrica. He is honored as a saint of the undivided Church.