Even if one adds up all the sparkling crystals that Bohemia may have produced, one cannot reach the supernatural radiance of this soul who sought and achieved holiness.
Newsroom (16/05/2022 12:30 PM Gaudium Press) Not more than twenty years ago, the fall of the so-called “iron curtain” not only allowed hope and freedom to grow again in those countries but also made some of the most splendid cultural and architectural wonders of beautiful Europe more accessible to millions of people around the world.
Among these, it is fitting to mention the charming city of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, famous for its ancient and magnificent buildings. The Czechs are also known for having offered the world the classical music of Dvorak and a delicious beer named after one of their important cities: Pilsen. Moreover, for centuries, Bohemia produced crystals recognized as standards of refinement and beauty the world over.
However, none of the sparkling crystals of Bohemia can resemble the supernatural brilliance of a soul committed to seeking and achieving holiness. Such was the example left to us by one of the most illustrious sons of these lands, John Nepomucene, priest and martyr, in defence of the rights of the Holy Church.
A hard-working priest
John Nepomucene was born in the town of Nepomuk, in one of the valleys of Bohemia, around the year 1345. In 1370, he held the position of a notary in the Metropolitan Curia. Nine years later, he was ordained a priest and appointed pastor of St. Gall. Despite the burdens of this serious function, he continued his studies of ecclesiastical law at the University of Prague, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree. In 1382, the archbishop sent him to Padua, where he obtained a doctorate in canon law in 1387. Returning soon after to Prague, he was appointed canon of the church of St. Gil but remained there only two years. In August 1390, he became honorary canon of St. Vitus Cathedral and vicar general of this already large and vital archdiocese. From that moment on, Providence transformed him into a public man.
As the sermons preached by St. John Nepomucene produced notable spiritual fruits, he was appointed to be the Queen’s confessor. His already known virtue and the doctrinal security he often demonstrated in the pulpit contributed to this.
If, however, the pious Queen meekly placed herself under the spiritual direction of such a virtuous priest, the same was not true of the King. Besides being given to violent fits of rage, he was seized by jealous distrust of his wife’s fidelity. His stingy heart continued to cling to this fanciful idea. He had the confessor brought before him and demanded that he tell him in detail what the Queen confided to him in the confessional. Astonished by the unheard-of request, John Nepomucene firmly refused, categorically affirming the principle of the inviolability of the secret of Confession, the same one maintained by the Holy Church to this day:
“What is said within the holy walls of the confessional is the most stringent of secrets. The words recited by the penitent before the priest, being the material for the absolution of the sinful soul, die right there. Of all this, God alone is witness; and the priest who reveals any of it to a third party commits one of the most abominable sacrileges, against which the terrible excommunication will immediately arise.”
The wicked King, however, would not listen to any of this. Blinded by rage, he brutally ordered the faithful confessor to be tortured. Enduring terrible suffering, John Nepomucene remained unyielding, and this only increased the cruel sovereign’s fury. Finally, he ordered the guards to tie him up and throw him off one of Prague’s bridges, seeing that he could take nothing from a man so firm and committed to his faith. Thus, the brave priest surrendered his soul to God and drowned in the waters of the Moldavian River. It was the night of March 20, 1393.
A historical controversy
The tragic death of such a well-known and esteemed personage shocked many of the townspeople and the King, unwilling to admit openly why he had Fr. John Nepomucene was murdered.
Meanwhile, in the area, there was a large and prestigious abbey in Bohemia: Klandrau. Taking advantage of the lapse between the death of the old abbot and the election of a new one, the monarch intended to suppress it, transforming it into a new episcopal See and then assigning it to a court member. The King tried to pressure the vicar general to support him in this action. And since he would have violently opposed this, the King declared this opposition sufficient to condemn him to death.
Although some official chronicles of the kingdom have transmitted this version, many refer to the real reason (2).
After being found, John Nepomucene’s body was buried in the cathedral itself, where it soon received from the people the honours due to a martyr. Thus began a sound veneration of the priest who died in defence of the secret of the Confession, even narrated in the letter of accusation to the King, which Archbishop John Jenzenstein presented to Pope Benedict IX (3).
Beatification and canonization
In 1721, Pope Innocent XIII declared John Nepomucene blessed. Subsequently, letters from emperors, bishops, religious orders, and the universities of Vienna, Prague, and Bratislava, in chorus, asked the Sovereign Pontiff to open the canonization process, which began in July 1722.
Years later, on January 27, 1725, a commission presided over by the Archbishop of Prague, composed of some ecclesiastical dignitaries and a professor of medicine and two surgeons, carried out the exhumation of the martyr’s remains. In the presence of these authorities, an extraordinary event took place.
The body was naturally ravaged by time, except for the tongue, miraculously preserved, although withered. Then, in the presence of everyone, it began to rebuild itself, presenting a pinkish colour as if it were a living person. The miracle, performed in such solemn circumstances and with renowned witnesses, was the fourth of those included in the process of canonization.
And so, on March 19, 1729, in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, by the hands of Pope Benedict XIII, Saint John Nepomucene, martyr of the secret of the Confession, was solemnly raised to the honour of the altars.
By Fr. Mario Beccar Varela, EP
(Heralds of the Gospel Magazine, May 2007, n. 65, pp. 38-39)
1) This excerpt is an adaptation of excerpts from the radio Catechism classes given by Cardinal Eugênio Salles after the publication of the New Catechism of the Catholic Church, in 1993.
2) “Instructions for the King, by Paul Zidek, 1471, in “Zeitschrift für kathol. Theologie”, 1883, 90 sqq.; “Chronica regum Romanorum”, 1459, by Thomas Ebendorfer; “Scriptores rerum Prussicarum”, III, Leipzig, 1860, 87.
3) “Pubitschka, Gesch,” IV, app.; ed. Pelzel.
Compiled by Gustavo Kralj
