St. Wenceslaus

Wenceslaus, known commonly as "The Good King Wenceslaus" for that wonderful Christmas carol about his compassion toward a poor man and beggar, showing that one ought to share their wealth with those needful of it, was the grandson of the Holy Martyr Ludmilla. Ludmilla and her husband Borivoi were converted to the faith by St. Methodius, the Apostle to the Slavs. The Bohemians resisted the Christian faith and would exile the King and Queen but later called for Borivoi and Ludmilla back. After Borivoi's death, Ludmilla's oldest son, Spitihnew would hold the throne. But his reign was short and after his death, his brother Wratislaus would hold the throne for Spitihnew had no heir. Wratislaus had two sons by his wife Drahomira, Wenceslaus and Boleslaus. Wratislaus had left in his will Ludmilla as the regent, not Drahomira. So when he died, leaving Wenceslaus a king at the very young age of eight, it was left to the regency to serve as guardian until Wenceslaus was no longer a minor. Ludmilla took over the charge of the education of the young Wenceslaus.

The Bohemians as a whole were still resistant to Christianity and Drahomira was sympathetic to the cause of the Pagans. It may have been that she was a Christian but preferred the survival of Paganism nonetheless. She despised Ludmilla's instruction of her own son and sought to regain control over the young king. There was definitely envy over the fact that Ludmilla was effectively serving as regent for the boy which Drahomira believed to be in her rightful possession. Though there was definitely a religious nature to the political struggle, one cannot ignore that it was a political struggle. Drahomira ordered Ludmilla to be assassinated. Ludmilla, sensing the danger to her life, made one last confession and communion, and on that night, she was strangled to death by the assassins who used her own veil to strangle her.

Wenceslaus though, was still deeply influenced by his grandmother's Christianity and when he became of age, he would further advance the cause of Christianity in Bohemia. One of the means he took to ensure this was his purchasing of Pagan children who were sold as slaves and he baptizing them as Christians. He translated the Gospel of John and translated the relics of St. Vitus and St. Ludmilla to Prague.

Wenceslaus was a practitioner both of strict Christian asceticism and Christian charity. During the day, he would devote himself to the duties of the State, and at night he would pray. He would bake prosphora for himself, especially when he desired Holy Communion. As the Christmas carol testifies, he would always give generously to strangers for any of them could be an angel in disguise. Because of his faithful commitment to the poor and needy, many churches were built in which daily services to God were rendered. He was also a lover of peace. When Radislav threatened the Good King to take away the entire Czech territories, Wenceslaus asked him why he was waging war. Radislav replied that it was to seize the throne of Bohemia and take the land of the Czechs. Both men met each other with an army of their own, but the Good King, seeing the bloodshed that was about to occur due to a dispute between him and Radislav, offered instead to duel the potential usurper. Radislav agreed and upon defeat, fell to his knees and begged forgiveness for which the Good King granted (Prologue of Ochrid, September 17).

Wenceslaus, as testified by both St. Alphonsus de Liguori and St. Nikolai of Ochrid, faithfully attended the liturgy. Here is where the two divert. St. Nikolai, an Orthodox hagiographer, makes the martyrdom about the Latin Mass over the Vernacular Byzantine Liturgy. St. Alphonsus does not make mention of this. Boleslav was doing the bidding of his mother. His mother was sympathetic to Paganism. The martyrdom of Wenceslaus should not be used for reasons of ecclesiastical triumphalism. Faithfully on his way to Liturgy one day, his brother Boleslav had the Good King assassinated. Wenceslaus suffered in the year 935 and his relics repose in Prague. After the assassination, Boleslav turned to Christianity. He brought in German priests who celebrated the Latin liturgy to complete the missionary work started by Wenceslaus. As to when the Czechs in Bohemia adopted as a whole the Latin liturgy over the Byzantine liturgy is difficult to determine. Although the assassination of Wenceslaus should not be used for triumphalist purposes, the bringing in of Latin bishops is important to note for the historic development of the Latin Mass in the Slavic world. Wenceslaus and his grandmother Ludmilla are both ranked among the patron saints of Bohemia.