Saint Wenceslaus, Duke of Bohemia

At night, he would make processions around the churches, walking barefoot on the snow and ice during the harshest rigors of winter. He was so little attached to the grandeurs of the earth that he deliberated whether he should relinquish his scepter to enter the Order of Saint Bened Ordre de Saint-Benoît Religious order occupying the monastery of Honnecourt. ict. He sent ambassadors expressly to Rome to obtain from the Sovereign Pontiff the permission to establish it in Bohemia, and perhaps he would have executed this project had he not been struck by a violent death brought upon him by the cruel Drahomira, as we shall relate hereafter.

This admirable devotion, so uncommon in crowned heads, far from diminishing his courage, gave him a surprising intrepidity on occasion, founded on the perfect trust he had in God. He gave striking proof of this in a war he had to sustain against Radislas, prince of Gurime, whom some seditio us men h Radislas Military adversary of Wenceslaus. ad called into Bohemia, where he was ravaging the country; he first sent deputies to him to persuade him, through gentle means, to withdraw; having been able to obtain nothing from him, he placed himself at the head of a powerful army to go and fight him; but, to spare the blood of his subjects, instead of giving a pitched battle, he offered his enemy to decide their dispute by a single combat between them. Radislas accepted the challenge and presented himself for the duel, well-armed, mounted on a good steed, and holding his lance on his thigh. Wenceslas, on the contrary, had only a simple cuirass over his hair shirt, with a saber in his hand, trusting for the rest in the omnipotence of God. They both rushed to the head of the two armies, waiting for the signal to clash. As soon as it was given, our Saint armed himself with the sign of the cross and advanced toward his adversary, who, for his part, came charging at him at full gallop to pierce him with a lance thrust; but, as he was on the point of doing so, he perceived near the holy duke two celestial spirits who were providing him with weapons to defend himself. He also heard a voice saying to him: "Do not strike him." These wonders terrified him so much that, dismounting from his horse at that very moment, he threw himself at the feet of Wenceslas and asked for his forgiveness. Thus peace was re-established in the State, to the great contentment of the Bohemians, who could not praise enough the divine Goodness for having given them such a prince.

This is not the only time he was seen accompanied by angels. Having been obliged to attend the diet that Emperor Otto I had convened l'empereur Othon Ier Holy Roman Emperor, brother of Bruno of Cologne. at Worms, one day when the assembly was being held, he arrived at the chamber too late, because the Mass he wished to hear beforehand was longer than usual. The Emperor and the other princes, who had already arrived, finding it disagreeable that he made them wait for him, had resolved among themselves that, when he entered, not one would rise from his seat to greet him. But as soon as he was seen to appear, the Emperor changed his sentiment entirely; for, having perceived him in the midst of two angels who were escorting him and covering him with a golden cross, he rose from his imperial throne, went to meet him to receive him, and even had him sit at his side. This favor from heaven so reconciled him to the good graces of this prince that, in his consideration, he erected the Duchy of Bohemia into a kingdom, exempted it from all the subsidies it was obliged to pay to the empire, and permitted him to bear in the future in his arms a black eagle on a field of silver. Wenceslas accepted these last two graces, because they were equally honorable and advantageous to his people; but he never wished to take the title of king, which his modesty could not suffer, although the same Emperor and the other princes always gave it to him in their letters and in public acts, and his successors, less humble and less moderate than he, allowed themselves to be addressed as royal majesty. However great these benefits were in the eyes of men, Wenceslas esteemed them almost nothing in comparison to the gift that Otto made him, of the arm of Saint Vitus, which had been brought from France to the abbey of Corvey or Corbie, in Saxony, under Emperor Louis the Pious, as we have said on June 15 in the life of the same holy Martyr, and of some bones of Saint Sigismund, King of Burgundy, for whom our Saint bore a singular veneration, because he was from the same country as this prince, originating from the nation of the Vandals. When he returned to Bohemia, he had a magnificent church built in Prague in wh Prague Capital of Bohemia and final burial place. ich he deposited the arm of Saint Vitus, in whose honor it was consecrated by a bishop whom Saint Wolfgang sent there.

Such was the life of the prince until his martyrdom, of which his brother Boleslav and Drahomira, his mother, were the authors, and which we shall now describe. We have until now deferred speaking of the cruelty that this new Jezebel exercised a gainst L Ludmille Grandmother of Wenceslaus, martyred by Drahomira. udmila, her mother-in-law. The influence that this holy princess had over the duke, her grandson, and the zeal she displayed for the preservation and propagation of the Catholic faith, causing her to wither with spite, she resolved to be rid of her and to have her put to death. The execution was not difficult for her. Ludmila knew by revelation of her ill will; but, far from defending herself, whether by doubling her guards or by remaining always in places of safety, she prepared herself, by the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist and by the distribution of all her goods to the poor, to receive this blow which was to merit her the crown of martyrdom. When she was in her chapel, making her thanksgiving after communion, two assassins, sent by Drahomira, entered and strangled her with the veil with which her head was covered. This happened almost at the beginning of Wenceslas's reign. God did not leave this crime unpunished, for the assassins all died miserably and left to their posterity visible marks of their infamy.

The body of the Saint was buried in Prague, in the church of Saint George; but three years later, Saint Wenceslas had it transferred to that of Saint Vitus, which he had just had built. It was found entirely intact and without corruption, and such a pleasant odor emanated from his tomb that it was easy to judge that the soul which had resided in this body was one of the most beautiful flowers in the garden of the heavenly Spouse. Such a horrible parricide could not yet satisfy the rage of Boleslas Brother and assassin of Saint Wenceslaus. Drahomira and Boleslas; the mother bore a grudge against her son, the brother bore a grudge against his brother. To assassinate him more surely, they seized the following opportunity: Boleslas held a public celebration for the birth of a son; he invited the greatest lords of Bohemia to it, and he also begged the Duke, his brother, to honor the feast and the company with his presence. The Saint knew their malice and cruelty well enough; however, he did not want to fail to be there, so that, by giving them this mark of friendship, he might soften the hardness of their hearts. But, as he had reason to distrust them, he prepared himself just as if he were going to martyrdom. After having confessed and received the Holy Eucharist, he went to Boleslaw, where this feast was taking place; he gave them all possible testimonies of his tenderness and benevolence. At the end of the meal, he retired to the church to pray, according to his custom. It was then that the cruel Drahomira, who had not been able to find the opportunity to execute her detestable design, powerfully solicited Boleslas to go there to take his life. Indeed, he went there with haste, and, finding the Duke in prayer and defenseless, he struck him with two sword blows from which he fell dead on the spot: this was on September 28, around the year 936. His blood splashed against the wall, where the Roman Breviary says it can still be seen. At the same hour, the King of Denmark had a revelation and a strong inspiration to honor him as a martyr: which he did by founding a church under the name of Saint Wenceslas, where God has performed several miracles to exalt the glory of his servant. It is held that he had preserved his innocence and the flower of his virginity throughout his life.

His death was followed by a horrible persecution against the Christians; for the fratricide Boleslaus put a great number of them to death, under the pretext that, being in the interests of the deceased, they might lack fidelity in his service. He particularly persecuted the priests, driven to this by the counsel of the cruel Drahomira, his mother, who had resolved to entirely exterminate the Christian r eligion. But this wi cette méchante femme Mother of Wenceslaus and Boleslaus, instigator of the murders. cked woman did not remain long without receiving the just punishment for her perfidy: for, one day as she was passing through a place where the bones of the martyrs she had sacrificed to her fury, and whom she had caused to be deprived of burial, were scattered here and there, the earth opened and she was swallowed alive into the depths of hell with her carriage and all those who were inside and upon it, except for the coachman who, having stepped down at the sound of the bell to adore the Blessed Sacrament which was passing by, was preserved from this misfortune. This terrible example should have made Boleslaus return to himself; but far from profiting from it, he continued his cruelties; finally, he was forced by Emperor Otto to recall the banished priests and to restore the Christian religion in his states.

## CULT AND RELICS.

Boleslaus, unable to endure the account of the miracles that God performed every day at his tomb, sent for his body to be exhumed and secretly carried to Prague, to the church of Saint Vitus, so that the miracles he would perform might be attributed to the power of that ancient Martyr rather than to his own merits. But, in wishing to obscure the glory of his brother, he served to increase it admirably; for the horses that pulled the cart carrying this precious relic, leading the coachman rather than being led by him, instead of crossing the bridges of the two overflowing rivers, passed over the water which wetted only their feet. Having arrived in Prague, before going to the church door, they stopped at the prison door, and it was impossible to make them leave until it was broad daylight and all the prisoners had been released. Thus, when the body was in the church, everyone came to see it; the coffin having been opened, it was found as intact as on the day of his burial, three years earlier, and without any wound appearing. Only one ear was missing, which Primislava, the Saint's sister, had found at the door of the church where he had been murdered. She had kept it very carefully; but, having learned what was happening, she sent it back; no sooner had it been placed in its position than it rejoined his head as if it had never been separated from it.

His feast is marked in the martyrologies on September 28, the day of his death. Pope Clement X, at the request of Emperor Leopold, permitted by a brief of Ju ly 26, 1670, f pape Clément X Pope who extended the cult of Saint Gonsalo to the entire Dominican Order. or his office to be celebrated as a semi-double throughout the Church, but without express obligation. The feast of his translation is marked in some martyrologies on March 4.

Acta Sanctorum; History of Bohemia, by Jean Dubraw, Bishop of Olomouc in Moravia; Aeneas Sylvius; Dalimil.