Day of Czech Statehood
Description:
On September 28, the Czech Republic celebrates the day of its patron Saint Wenceslas, which is also the Day of Czech Statehood. Although the Czech state did not arise on this day, St. Wenceslas Day is a public holiday.
Wenceslas (907–936) of the Przemyslovich family, son of Duke Vratislav and pagan Dragomira, was a Czech prince from 928 to 936. Raised by his paternal grandmother, a zealous Christian, Wenceslas was religious from childhood and led a monastic rather than a secular lifestyle. Wenceslas did much to spread Christianity in the Czech Republic, by his order in Prague was built the Church of St. Witt. It was Wenceslas who promoted the development of liturgies in both Slavic and Latin in his country in mutual respect. Thus, already in the 10th century, the idea of the current Pope Paul John II was realized that “the church will be richer if it breathes with both its lungs – eastern and western.”
For his time, Wenceslas was an unusually educated man: he wrote Glagolitic, spoke Latin and Greek. In 925, when he came to power, he already knew that a small country like the Czech Republic, tormented by internal strife and surrounded by neighbors greedy for foreign lands, could survive and flourish only if its people were more demanding of their education and morality. According to one legend, when he came to the throne, Wenceslas said that he wanted to rule so that there would be peace in his country, that judges would judge justly and that the people would live according to the laws of God. He set an example in that. Being a devout man, he ruled with a firm hand. He knew how to distinguish one from the other; he knew when to take up the sword and when to avoid evil in the process of patient negotiations.
The Christian way of government and the social order that Wenceslas introduced ran into opposition from the pagan nobility, who eventually killed him by uniting with his brother Boleslav. The result was the opposite of what the killers expected. The blood of the martyr Wenceslas influenced the final victory of Christianity in the Czech Republic. Numerous legends told about his kindness and justice. One of them, translated into Church Slavonic, at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries came to Russia. And in England, and still at Christmas sing the song "About the Good King Wenceslas".
Wenceslas had great popularity among the people and, being proclaimed a saint, began to be revered as the heavenly patron of the Czech Republic, its symbol. By the XIV century, the cult of St. Wenceslas became official in the Czech Republic. The Russian Orthodox Church also honors Prince Wenceslas as a saint, but under the Old Slavonic name Vyacheslav.
Currently, the remains of St. John. Wenceslas is buried in the chapel of St. Vita in Prague. The walls of the chapel are decorated with semi-precious stones, and its compositional basis is a statue of St. George. Wenceslas by architect and sculptor Petr Parlerj. The helmet, shell and sword of the prince kept here are revered as shrines.
The crown, called Svyatovacław, from the fourteenth century crowned Czech kings. There are an infinite number of images of St. Wenceslas – as a young man preparing wine and bread for the celebration of the sacrament of the Eucharist, as a knight with a spear, sword and shield. Since the Middle Ages, the Czech people, during the difficult periods of their history, expected the fulfillment of the legend of the Blanica knights. According to this legend, the knights of St. Wenceslas are always ready for battle in Mount Blanik, and when the Czechs have the worst, they will come to their aid and at the head of them will ride Wenceslas on a white horse.
If you happen to visit Prague, take a twenty-icron coin with you. It depicts the symbol of the country - St. Wenceslas on horseback - exactly the same as the monument on Wenceslas Square.