
St. Wenceslas
Feast day 28 September
"Good King Wenceslas" I. M. Neale's famous carol has made this good man a
household name, but although it is typical of what we know of him the contents
of this hymn seem not to be based on any known incident in his life,
Wenceslas or Wenzel became Duke of Bohemia in 922 following the death of his
father Duke Wratislaw. Born in 902, Wenceslas was educated mainly by his
grandmother Ludmilla, a pious and holy woman who instilled in him the Christian
faith, a faith he strongly adhered to for his tragically short life,
Wenceslas was in every way a good leader of his people, working with the
clergy to improve their religious and educational lives, Realising his people
needed closer contact with the rest of the Christian world Wenceslas allied
Bohemia with the German Empire, whose king, Henry the Fowler he recognised as
his overlord, but more importantly as the successor of Charlemagne.
These politics brought out a strong pagan reaction against this good
Christian king and led to his assassination, in 929. at the hands of his brother
Boleslav's followers. Although implicated in Wenceslas's murder Boleslav
honoured his late brother enough to have his relics buried in the church of St.
Vitus in Prague where they became the centre of a cult and a place of
pilgrimage.
Within a hundred years Wenceslas had become the patron saint of Bohemia, his
image was engraved on the coins and the crown of Wenceslas became the symbol of
Czech independence and nationalism.
There are no ancient churches dedicated to him in England, but his charity
and sacrifice popularised Victorian Christian ideals of social benevolence and
practical almsgiving.
John Hayward