Saint Wenceslaus
Martyr
- Feast Day
- September 28
- Life
- 907–935
- Born
- Stochov, Bohemia
Wenceslaus (Czech: Václav) was born about 907, son of Duke Vratislav I of Bohemia and his wife Drahomíra. After his father's death in battle in 921 he was raised by his Christian grandmother Saint Ludmila, who was strangled at the order of his mother in the same year. Reaching his majority, Wenceslaus took control of the duchy and pursued a policy of Christianization and ecclesiastical building, founding the rotunda of Saint Vitus at Prague Castle (predecessor of the present cathedral) and reckoning Bohemia among the Christian states of central Europe.
His policy of submission to King Henry I (the Fowler) of Germany in exchange for peace, and his austere personal piety, alienated a faction of the Bohemian nobility led by his younger brother Boleslav. On 28 September 935, traveling to Stará Boleslav for the dedication of a church, Wenceslaus was attacked at the door of the church and killed by his brother and his retainers. The early tenth-century First Old Slavonic Life of Wenceslaus and Bishop Christian's Latin Life of Saints Ludmila and Wenceslaus (after 992) record the events.
His cultus was confirmed at once. His body was translated to Prague, and he was venerated throughout central Europe by the year 1000. The traditional Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas, written in 1853 by John Mason Neale, made him familiar to the English-speaking world. He is principal patron of the Czech nation; the equestrian statue at Wenceslas Square in Prague is a national symbol.
Wenceslaus is a witness to the hidden contest of every Christian ruler, the willingness to govern in justice and personal piety even at the cost of one's life. His memorial is observed in the Czech Republic and Slovakia as a national holiday and is a Solemnity in his patrimonial dioceses, an Optional Memorial elsewhere on the General Roman Calendar.
Patronages
Bohemia · Czech Republic · brewers
Catholic Churches Named After Saint Wenceslaus
20 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saint Wenceslaus's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:
- St. Wenceslaus — Iowa City, IA
- Saint Wenceslaus Catholic Church — Milligan, NE
- St. Wenceslaus — Gerald, SK
- St. Wenceslaus — Deerbrook, WI
- Saint Wenceslaus Catholic Church — Bee, NE
- St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, Holman — La Grange, TX
- St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church — Beasley, TX
- St. Wenceslaus — Dickinson, ND
- The Church of St. Wenceslaus — New Prague, MN
- St. Wenceslaus — Saint Louis, MO
- Saint Wenceslaus Roman Catholic Church — Dickinson, ND
- Saint Wenceslaus Catholic Church — Spillville, IA
- St. Wenceslaus Parish, Duncan — Britt, IA
- St. Wenceslaus -Archangels Catholic Cluster — Duncan, IA
- St. Wenceslaus — Tabor, SD
- Saint Wenceslaus Catholic Church — Wahoo, NE
- St. Wenceslaus — Suttons Bay, MI
- St. Wenceslaus — Omaha, NE
- St. Wenceslaus Parish — Scappoose, OR
- Saint Wenceslaus Roman Catholic Church — Chicago, IL
Sources