SAINT WENCESLAS

Evening Star, Issue 20373, 3 January 1930, Page 1

SAINT WENCESLAS

BOHEMIA’S REFORMER HERO IN LIFE AND LEGEND Hagiologists differ concerning the year in which the saintly Prince of Bohemia met his death by band of a treacherous and envious _ younger brother, but in the land winch venerates him as founder and patron of the Czech nation 929 is the accepted date (writes C. B. Alortlock, in the ‘Daily Telegraph’). All agree that he died on September 28, the day on which he is commemorated in the Roman calendar. On that day the Cathedral, originally projected by the saint a thousand years ago, and completed this year, is solemnly consecrated. . Wenceslas. built up a little church which he dedicated in honour of St. Vitus, and the great cathedral which is at last complete was begun by the Emperor Charles IV. (who was also King of Bohemia and the second founder of the nation) at a time when the kingdom was at the height of its power and prosperity, it is a happy circumstance that , the consummation of his work coincides with the national and political renaissance of the nation.

TRIALS OF YOUTHFUL RULER. Though in the St. Wenceslas Festival the religions clement is naturally uppermost, it lias been conceived as a great national celebration, symbolising the achievement of unity in the Czechoslovak nation. The name of Wenceslas is familiar in Great Britain as that of the good king whoso charitable deeds provided John Mason Neale with the theme of his famous Christmas carol; yet it may be doubted whether the knowledge of. most of us goes beyond that of the story of his carrying faggots on a winter night to a poor old man suffering from cold. There are many such tales reflecting' tho gentle piety of his character. One relates how lie would go into tho fields and vineyards to cut wheat and pick grapes, and make therewith tho sacramental bread and wine. Diligent as legend represents him to have been in such acts of charity and devotion, it is as a wise and far-seeing ruler and great reformer that Wcnceslas is venerated in Czecho-Slovakia toaile assumed the government of his country when but a youth. . Tho Emperor of the West was on tho threshold with his armies, and tho young prince, unlike his neighbours, saw the hopelessness of attempting to resist the Germanic forces. .Instead of allowing Ins people to' be Swallowed up. »i bloodshed, thus sharing the fate of other Slav peoples on the eastern borders of the empire, Wenceslas concluded a peaceful treaty with Henry Ho took an oath of allegiance to the Imperial Crown, and engaged to pay a yearly tribute of 500 silver marks and 120 head of oxen. PAGAN RIVALS’ REVENGE. Tho consequences were twofold—the nation retained its national rnaracter and traditions, with support against tho Magyars on its other frontier, end by the encouragement of German priests Wenceslas was able to further Ins passionate desire to Christianise the nation. .... . With tho principality i a. peace the saint was able to devote his remarkable energies to raising, the religious, cultural, and moral standards or the Bohemians. When one considers the social state of Europe at the beginning of the tenth century, Wenceslas seems remarkably in advance of his times. He carried out, for instance, drastic ieform of the prison system, and abolished public gallows on the ground that they tend to brutalise the minds of the people rather than deter them from crime. He also put an end to torture as a means of extorting confession. Such activities and the German alliances were extremely distasteful to the pagan party, and Boleslas, Venceslass brother, gauging the extent of the discontent, resolved to take advantage of it He contrived tho young prince s death while ho was his guest. Wenceslas was' accustomed to visit the principal cities of his realm at the dedication festivals of their churches. On i feast of Saints Cosraas and Damian he came to Altbunstlau. His brother propared a banquet in his castle, end, prevailing upon Wenceslas to remain until the morrow, fell upon mm in the early morning as Ho was going to Mass Tho cult of St. Wenceslas has been continuous ever since his tragic death, after a reign of but nine years. During the nation’s darkest period, in the seventeenth and eighteenth <entunes, it inspired the people with courage. The Hussites had borne his imago on their shields, and his name was invoked to lead tho people back to 1 lie 1 apal allegiance. Alany years later, when the Czech delegates went to toe ' Jenna Parliament in 1848 to npnoid tho nation’s rights, their departure was signalised by a Alass celebrated in the public square of Prague before the statue of the saint. PROHIBITED ANTHEM.

During the Great War the Austrian Government prohibited the singing of tho anthem of tho -amt, winch had been in use at least seven luindted vears, because they regarded i» a« a national protest. The Czec i battalions, whoso service on the side of the Allies was one of the most romantic episodes of tho war, had a picture of Wenceslas on their standard, and when the nation recovered its independence, as a result of the revolution of 1913 aid by the treaties of 1920, one of the early Acts of the now Parliament of Hie republic was to decree that the first gold coins to be minted sliou.d bear tile figure of Saint Wenceslas.