St. Wenceslaus

Today is the Feast of St. Wenceslaus. Now, he is important in my family. My maternal grandmother's name was Ludmila, as she was named after the saintly grandmother of Wenceslaus. One of her brothers was named Vaclav, which is another translation of Wenceslaus. (My mother's middle name is Ludmila as well.) As some of you know, my ancestors came from what is now the Czech Republic and the first to come on the maternal side was a missionary priest. He wrote to his brother to come help set up a school, and the rest, as we say, is history. The oldest Czech school in America is in northern Iowa, where my ancestors first settled and which my ancestors helped build, as well as being married in the Church, and building the Church in Little Turkey, Iowa. I miss these beautiful places.

Oldest Czech School in America

St. Wenceslaus is loved as the patron of Bohemia, and some of my ancestors were from there, others from Moravia.  That he was a lay person and a martyr also endears him to the family.

Pray to St. Wenceslaus today for Catholic men to be protectors and leaders. We need his intercession more than ever. His body was translated on the day my only sister died when she was a baby, on March 4th. There are no accidents, only God-incidences.

St. Wenceslaus Church in Spillville, Iowa

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

Duke, martyr, and patron of Bohemia, born probably 903; died at Alt-Bunzlau, 28 September, 935.
His parents were Duke Wratislaw, a Christian, and Dragomir, a heathen. He received a good Christian education from his grandmother (St. Ludmilla) and at Budweis. After the death of Wratislaw, Dragomir, acting as regent, opposed Christianity, and Wenceslaus, being urged by the people, took the reins of government. He placed his duchy under the protection of Germany, introduced German priests, and favoured the Latin rite instead of the old Slavic, which had gone into disuse in many places for want of priests. Wenceslaus had taken the vow of virginity and was known for hisvirtues. The Emperor Otto I conferred on him the regal dignity and title. For religious and national motives, and at the instigation of Dragomir, Wenceslaus was murdered by his brother Boleslaw. The body, hacked to pieces, was buried at the place of murder, but three years later Boleslaw, having repented of his deed, ordered its translation to the Church of St. Vitus in Prague. The gathering of his relics is noted in the calendars on 27 June, their translation on 4 March; his feast is celebrated on 28 September.

Here is a beautiful painting of his grandmother, St. Ludmila, giving out bread to the poor. She is also a martyr.