Saint John of Nepomuk is one of the most revered Czech saints by the residents of Prague. He is considered the patron saint of Prague and the entire Czech Republic. He lived in the 14th century, during the reign of King Wenceslas IV, and was a priest. It is not known exactly what John of Nepomuk did wrong before the king, but one of the most plausible assumptions is the following. As the queen's confessor, he refused to reveal the secret of his wife's confession to Wenceslas IV. For what, after much torture and torment. the king ordered his execution. The priest was put in a sack and thrown from the Charles Bridge into the Vltava.
There is a legend that when the bag was swallowed up by the river, at that moment a glow in the form of five stars appeared above the water. Since then, Saint John of Nepomuk has been depicted with five stars above his head. In 1683, a sculpture of the saint was created and placed on the Charles Bridge. They say that if you touch her bronze bas-reliefs, your most cherished wish will come true. Nobody knows whether this is true or not, but there is no end to those who want to touch these same bas-reliefs. Sometimes there is even a queue of tourists who dream of fulfilling cherished desires and be sure to take a photo as a souvenir with your hand pressed to the bas-relief. Over the years, tourists have polished them to a shine.
But there is another way you can ask John of Nepomuk to fulfill your wishes. Few people know about this, but it is considered no less effective. In the place where the martyr was thrown into the river, on the parapet there is a marble slab with a cross and five stars. So, touching this cross also guarantees the fulfillment of your cherished desires.
Choose any method and may all your wishes come true.
In the Czech Republic the church long time occupied significant position. Before the advent of socialism, the Catholic country consisted of 95% adherents largest direction in Christianity. Today the country preserves the memory of prominent religious figures of the past. In the center of Prague stands a sculpture of one of the most revered saints in the country.
Jan of Nepomuk was born in mid-XIV centuries in a small settlement. Little information about the parents has been preserved. The father is a mayor, and the mother is presumably from a local noble family. The newborn was baptized in the Church of St. James. From 10 years to adolescence The future clergyman spent his time at school at the Church of St. James. At the age of 30-40, he served as the archbishop's notary, ten years later he became a priest. Since 1378, John of Nepomuk has been the confessor of the wife of Wenceslas IV, the king of the Czech Republic and Germany from the Luxembourg dynasty.
The life of a clergyman is connected with tragic events, and his untimely death is shrouded in mystery. According to legend, the king wanted to convict his wife of treason and demanded that the clergyman reveal the sacrament of Queen Zsofia’s confession. The confessor refused the king’s order, for which he paid with his life.
Another version explains the death of John of Nepomuk political reasons and the escalating conflict secular power and churches. IN different eras the church had a huge social influence. Reigning monarchs sought to limit its power. Wenceslas IV wanted to gain an advantage in the selection and appointment of high church officials. This led to disagreement between the king and Archbishop Enstein, whose supporter was Jan of Pomuk. Another probable reason for the execution was the clergyman's criticism of the king.
In 1939, John of Nepomuk was imprisoned by order of Wenceslas IV. In the casemates above the clergy they carried out brutal torture. The king, who was not known for his cruel disposition, personally burned the confessor’s body with a torch. What caused such a serious punishment remains unknown today. The lifeless body was thrown into the Vltava River. Soon the body of the deceased was found on the shore by the monks and the body was buried in the ground. Later the remains were transferred to St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle.
In the 18th century, under Pope Benedict XIII, the martyr John or John of Nepomuk was canonized. Today a church is built on the site of the house where he was born and raised.
Jan of Nepomuk
queen (king's wife)
I hear a roar and birds chirping.
Oh, glory to you, our Father, and to all the saints,
What they serve as an example for us
And in the manner of his hard torments
We are protected from the beauty of physical holidays.
And there will be a world of seduction,
And irrepressible minds will form our beliefs.
You were called Svetovit, You were divided into a host of gods,
And, looking up from the trough, we did not feel the weight of the shackles.
Hands always raised towards you
AND pure in heart and changed
And he never knew boredom,
Whose hand did you take?
Why, oh, why has spring come?
My husband left the house in the field in the morning,
And I itched, I couldn’t bear it, it hurt!
And then this Frantisek - knock! at my window
“I brought it,” he says, “the cloth is ready.”
Not remembering, not knowing, blazing in the heat,
I found myself under Frantishka on the table...
Those will be pleasing to God
Who will reveal the sign of the universe?
In a complete bustle of temptations.
What I feel is the edge of the limit,
And my thought is infringed,
And a vile veil of laziness
She enveloped me,
I UNDERSTAND, my God!
But I can’t bring myself to be a king
And rule the body when it is tired,
It wouldn't take so much
Total me with your whim,
After all, I am relentlessly lazy,
Then I repent, then I pray.
Always hold the arrow with your hand,
And see your goal more firmly,
And let the horse rest,
But try not to forget where you are looking.
The higher the heights are whiter,
How is faith strengthened in the forehead?
More dirty desire
And useless suffering.
And clothed in such firmness,
Man will be great
In the malignancy of your hopes.
And the hem of your clothes
Winged angels will touch you,
And the gold blinds the armor
Their troops and battle rewards
My chest is burning with prayers!
And in it I see our stronghold.
After all, the grave awaits us all at the end
Our ardor will fade, our mouth will fall silent.
Will we find death in war?
Let us find our death in years,
To put in a cradle for descendants
We have nothing and are on the edge
We'll have sharp daggers
We are still fit to dance,
But the meaning of our lives
And so we can only believe,
So we'll patch up the hole,
And the demon in us may not wake up,
And maybe we will live in peace.
That there is a certain vicar, Ian,
And they say he is very wise,
And miraculously gifted by God
High spirituality, yes
And I want you to
He was a confessor.
And they told me too
And I already want to go to him.
And sometimes talk
With such a knowledgeable
No one tells everyone's fortunes,
And whose soul is directed
And to the question she completely
Will answer the simple-minded flock
We will learn obediently!
We need sun, rain, vegetable harvest,
So that there is always a red log in the stove,
The pork knee crunched on my teeth!
We famously give birth to fairy tales and legends
We darn, mend, plan, forge,
We dance great and sing loudly!
And how we live on the spot,
And how much do we have left to do?
And that someday we will die
We forget, but when faced
With death right around the corner
Let's go pray for the breach,
To beg, forget, not know,
But let HE confess us
He won’t forget, we’re talking about HIM
Dreamed from candle to fire!
Pray everyone! Since there is so much fear,
Once the bloody scaffold calls out
Horror and delight at the same time,
And this greed is exorbitant!
Swarms of different wishes, like stars, hum in public
And everywhere, mutually
They break their dogs from their chains...
The numbers can't be counted
And sometimes ugly
And how many variations of “I”!
Truly I admire the skill
Creator and teaching
Gifted with his life
And inspired by this thought!
And in balance, understanding with a simple “I can.”
After all, this is the key to the castle,
What is the mighty worth
Standing out so clearly on the hill
Like a sword in stone
He is direct and simple...
Yes! God's providence!
And strings of numbers
Weaving into a pattern!
Along the edge I hurry swiftly
My gaze created by You
Capable of shining like a lantern!
I'm already following the thread!
She is graceful, like the Vltava,
Her move is extraordinary!
Now I see a power
Yours and Your people!
ABOUT! These are feathered angels!
But it hurts! My eyes are blinded by armor,
Their gold shines deadly!
I can't reach heaven with my hand.
I did not see any flaw in the speeches,
And all the people's ears are turned
It was as if he was exhausted
With my inept life
Where good is food, and where fighting is courage!
Well, trust saliva
Trembling like a thick string
Rebecca, I have power
Play the instrument Tom.
And let the church echo me
And let the arrogance in people die.
Sacred musical ringing
What will be like a bubo plague
To mature on a sinful body!
After all, I have to keep them in my body!
After all, I am appointed to rule the roost!
And since I was gentle until now,
That means it didn’t bother me
And someone won't remember us,
And we live in this place,
The Queen enters. Her head is slightly tilted.
QUEEN: Oh, you’re resting...
And I can’t find the sparkle in my eye,
Perhaps you want a dress according to fashion?
PEASANTS: Oh, Virgin Mary, give us and give!
We need sun, rain, vegetable harvest,
So that there is always a red log in the stove,
The pork knee crunched on my teeth!
There is no sign of any help from God!
And cold and hunger have been tormenting us for a long time,
We moan and cry, there is evil in our souls!
Ruined my fishing gear!
I'd like to stick a hoe between his eyes,
And let your head break right away!
ANGELS: The planets are in tension.
River bank. Ian walks along it to preach.
YAN: Oh, how many secrets there are around!
Without knowledge of the law of meetings
I don’t recognize their connection
I can’t put them in any form.
Like a device, I am sensitively tuned
To the extent of time and effort.
And I remember everyone who comes,
And who asked what when?
Maybe it's just too much
I happened to hear it, huh?
After all, I know the den from the inside
I am a fierce beast - Sin.
The Queen comes to me
And the girl is mean and a troublemaker,
And crawls into the ear on the left
But this is my cross,
I keep an awareness of this place,
Although I don’t foresee all the events,
I do not tremble before fate.
Or the air became a little heavier,
Or as if someone is tightening the knot
Sipping in a sash?
It will happen, it will happen, and it will pass.
I will walk according to my conscience, and as a shadow
I'm slipping into a big whirlpool.
My mind wanders in the dark and
Fierce thoughts drive me crazy!
Discontent is brewing among the people,
The wife doesn’t walk around like herself,
My any willfulness
Can't stand it, eyes closed.
But I'm not used to desires
Mine ran into a fence
And from childhood I was ready
There is room for all my actions!
Now I'm very angry
I look at the world from myself,
And I am ready to execute abundantly
All those who spoil my feast!
I've been wanting to ask for a long time
Why is there so much cold today?
In your words, in your eyes,
In your hands, in your feet,
In your blushes and silks?
You spend the night in the bedroom,
Alone, or maybe not?
You won’t let me in with you either
Only moonlight, or maybe not?
You take care as if from now on,
And you don't like gingerbread,
So maybe the whip tastes like that?!
Why so many thoughts all of a sudden?
The head was just sick
And the days formed a boring circle.
You're in confession now.
Tell me what you dream about
When will you close your door?
And that's why I need it like this
That I'm in pain
And the body is my severe enemy...
Now I see what's what!
Well, you don't want to give away the truth,
So I'll send it to him then!
ANGELS: Weak-willed people submit more laws.
The queen runs away in tears. The rabbit angrily spits on the floor. They bring Yan.
KROL: Answer, priest on God's guard,
My wife comes to you,
What is he rushing to tell you from the doorway?
Tell this lady?
What sins are in a young body
How do dogs get hungry?
And what kind of thoughts are weaving in the mind
Behind my stone back?
Here we play our part,
And we must do every thing
Do it with your soul, right, King?
After all, the confession of someone else's soul
There is a secret, and God knows about it
No one else can judge.
After all, I am the King and I can do anything,
My power sits below me,
So speak quickly, I'm waiting!
But your power is small,
And our joys and pains,
Everything will be lost in the centuries.
What you ask for so greedily,
I can't tell you.
And much of what happened
I myself would prefer not to know.
KROL: How dare you resist?
You have a lot of ideas!
Here I am the king! And everything happens
It will be here as I decided!
Ian is taken away. The rabbit stomps his foot with all his might.
Dungeon. John of Nepomuk on a cold stone floor, sparsely sprinkled with straw.
YAN: To make a deal with your conscience? Well, no.
The body weakened, but not the spirit.
Not rotting rags,
Not a flock of fat black flies,
Nor the cries of the poor martyrs,
To which I belong,
Nothing in me can change,
Can't change the boundary
ANGELS: There are hard and soft substances in the universe.
GUARDS: Let's go, the King wants to talk to you.
Or did you ask God for time?
Well, why didn’t your God heed your prayers?
Didn't give you more strength?
Tell me, get rid of the torment,
And continue with your business
Come back and moralize
Your saw will ring again!
There's nothing left to add
Will it be or not,
It's not up to you to decide.
You and I are just nails
Hammered with someone's hammer
Don't flatter yourself, on the skids
We'll be drawn along the way
Which has already been trodden for us,
You won't find another one.
What did you choose?
Your last journey out of prison,
And whoever you are, no matter what you know,
You won't be able to turn back from your path.
You will be executed publicly
thrown down from the bridge into the Vltava,
I think it's mutual
Our whim is satisfied.
Prague. The Charles Bridge. Crowd of people. Everyone is waiting for the execution of vicar John of Nepomuk. The hubbub mixed with crying in the crowd.
We need sun, rain, vegetable harvest,
So that there is always a red log in the stove,
The pork knee crunched on my teeth!
Let the rebel and the redneck be punished!
We are thirsty for blood, a torn goiter
Let him wheeze, choking in the river!
We squeeze the truth into right hand!
WOMAN 1: Lord, what is this? What are you doing?! Stop!!
JOHN OF NEPOMUK
[John of Nepomuk, John of Nepomuk, John of Pomuk; lat. Ioannes Nepomucenus; Czech Jan Nepomucký] (between 1340 and 1350, Pomuk, now Nepomuk, Czech Republic - 03.20. 1393, Prague), St. Catholic Church (memorial May 16). Due to discrepancies in information in sources, the question of the real existence of I.N. before the present day. time remains debatable. Most modern researchers consider it historical figure. Genus. in the family of the headman in places. Pomuk, which belonged to the Cistercian Zelenogorsk monastery, where he probably received elementary education. In 1369 he became a notary in the office of the Prague Archbishop. Yana Glasses from Vlasim. In 1380, I. N. was appointed cleric of the chapel of Saints Erhard and Otilia (after Archbishop Jan Ochko from Vlasim was buried there, the chapel began to be called Vlasimskaya) in Prague cathedral St. Vita. He was ordained a presbyter and served in the church. St. Galla in Stare Mesto (now historic district Prague) (the inventory of the temple compiled by I.N. dates back to this time). He continued his education at the Faculty of Law of the University of Prague, and in 1381 received a bachelor's degree. From 1383 he studied at the University of Padua (he was elected to the honorary position of rector of students from the Trans-Alpine countries in 1386). In 1387 he received the degree of Doctor of Canon Law. Returning to Prague, I.N. became canon c. St. Aegidius, in 1389 - canon of the chapter c. Saints Peter and Paul in Vysehrad and at the same time the archdeacon of Žatec. In the same year, the Prague Archbishop. Jan from Enstein appointed I.N. vicar general.
St. John of Nepomuk. Sculptor J. Brokoff. 1683 ( National Museum. Prague)
In the beginning. 1393 I.N. was involved in a conflict between cor. Wenceslas IV and Archbishop of Prague. The king, wanting to weaken the position of the archbishop, who criticized his way of life, is an unworthy Christ. ruler, decided to separate part of the territory of the Prague Archbishopric and create a new bishopric in the West. Bohemia, material base for whom the possessions of the rich monastery in Kladrubi became. The king's actions caused significant financial damage to the Prague Archdiocese. After the death of the elderly abbot, I.N. approved the candidate, who had been proposed by the archbishop and not the king, as rector of the monastery in Kladrubi and, accordingly, bishop of the new diocese. Wenceslas IV ordered the arrest of the archbishop. Yana from Enshtein and his entourage. The archbishop managed to escape, but the rest were brutally tortured. During torture, I.N. died. The king, probably fearing the manifestation of dissatisfaction with the reprisals against representatives of the highest Catholics. clergy of the country, released those arrested, and the body of I.N., on his orders, was thrown from the Charles Bridge into the river at night. Vltava. According to legend, a month later, April 17. 1393, the body was found near the Franciscan monastery “On Francis” and buried in the cemetery near the church. St. Grand Cross.
Archbishop who fled from Prague. Jan from Enstein informed Pope Boniface IX of the details of the death of I.N. and called him St. a martyr because he suffered while honestly fulfilling his job responsibilities. I.N. received veneration as a martyr wide use. In 1396, his remains were reburied in the Cathedral of St. Vita in Prague next to the Vlasim Chapel. The grave was covered with a tombstone with an image of a cross, then surrounded by a fence. Miracles at the grave are reported in the biography of the Prague Archbishop. John of Enstein, compiled in 1402-1403. Prior of the archbishop's residence in Roudnice Castle by Peter the Clarifier, and is also mentioned several times in the “Old Czech Chronicles” (2nd half of the 15th century). In the 80s XV century in the room above the chapel of St. Wenceslas in the cathedral there was a communion cup with the inscription: “In honor of the blessed John of Pomuk.”
St. John of Nepomuk in front of Our Lady. Artist K. D. and E. Assam. 30s XVIII century (Chapel of St. John of Nepomuch in the Church of St. Martin, Messkirch, Germany)
At the turn of the XIV and XV centuries. A local legend has developed about I.N.: he suffered martyrdom for maintaining the secret of confession. Sofia, whose confessor he allegedly was. The legend was first recorded in 1433-1434. prof. Vienna University T. Ebendorfer von Haselbach, a member of the embassy of the Basel Council sent to the Hussites. He spent 3 months in Prague collecting information about the cor. Wenceslas IV for his Chronicle of the Roman Kings (Chronica regum Romanorum, ca. 1450). Referring to an earlier report by the Augustinian Andrew of Regensburg (Cronica pontificum et imperatorum romanorum, 1433), Ebendorfer von Haselbach writes that Wenceslas IV ordered the drowning of the master of theology I.N., who criticized the king for immoral behavior, and adds that, being the queen’s confessor , the martyr refused to reveal the secret of confession to the king. The Prague canon Pavel Židek (Spravovna, 1470-1477) also writes about this, who also probably used the local legend about I.N. In modern I.N. written sources there is no mention of him being the queen's confessor. However, most researchers tend to trust legend. Indeed, the wife is Czech. cor. Wenceslas IV bavarian princess Sophia was dissatisfied with the policy pursued by her husband, and the king was going to divorce her (it is known about negotiations in 1391 with Antipope Clement VII, who promised to declare the marriage invalid in exchange for the Czech king’s recognition of his supremacy in the Catholic Church).
A mistake in interpreting the events of I.N.’s life was made by Vaclav Hajek from Libočani. In the “Czech Chronicle” (Kronika česká, 1541) he wrote about 2 Catholic ministers. Churches sunk by order of the king. One, the queen's confessor, died in 1383, the other in 1393. In the twentieth century. researchers discovered the cause of the error: when copying a message from the book of the dean of the cathedral, Jan of Krumlov, Hajek mistook the page number to indicate the year. The popularity of the Czech Chronicle contributed to the spread of the error: all authors, subsequent. those who wrote about I.N. indicated the incorrect date of his death - 1383. This date, together with erroneous information that I.N. was a canon of the chapter of St. Vita, indicated on the one made in gray. XVI century grate at the coffin. Then for the first time the martyr was called Nepomuk.
Veneration of I.N. as a saint. patron of the Czech Republic finally took shape in the 16th-17th centuries. In Op. “Spiritual Joy of the Czech Crown” (1599) G. B. Pontanus placed a prayer at that time not yet officially canonized I. N., calling him St. patron of the country. In 1608 in the book. “Pious Bohemia” (Bohemia pia) S. F. Villaticus and Pontanus published poems about the holiness of I. N. In 1621, the Archbishop of Prague. John VIII Logelius consecrated in the Cathedral of St. Vita altar, dedicated also to I.N. The martyr is also depicted on the relief of St. patrons of the Czech Republic (1630) in the Cathedral of St. Vita with an inscription on it. language: "Confessor". Important role The Jesuits played a role in spreading the veneration of I.N. in the Czech Republic, as they sought to supplant the widespread worship of Jan Hus. The Jesuits I. Plachiy-Ferus (in 1641) and J. I. Dlugovsky (in 1668) compiled the Lives of I. N. in Czech. and lat. languages. The life of I.N., written in 1670 by the Jesuit historian and hagiographer Boguslav Balbin, distinguished by the drama and tragic flavor of the narrative, was rejected by the archbishop's chapter as full of literary fiction and not corresponding to historical data, however, the Bollandists included it in the publication “Acta Sanctorum” ( 1680). This Life, published in 1725, was richly illustrated with engravings by I. A. Pfeffel, under the influence of which the later iconography of I. N. was formed. In the hagiographic works of ser. XVII century it was erroneously stated that the martyr died on May 16; Subsequently, this date was established as the date of memory of I.N.
Church of St. John of Nepomuk in Zdar nad Sazavou. Archit. J. B. Santini-Eichel. 1720
In 1675, the chapter of the Cathedral of St. Vita filed an official a request to begin the canonization process of I.N., however, this and subsequent requests for canonization were refused (1696, 1706) due to contradictions and ambiguities written information about the life of I.N. In 1715, Archbishop of Prague. Ferdinand Künburg created a commission to collect the documents necessary to begin the process. By decision of the commission on April 14. In 1719, the grave of I.N. was opened. When extracting the remains from the skull, a piece of soft tissue fell out, well preserved, natural Pink colour, which the doctors present declared “tongue”. It was placed in a special reliquary in the chapel of St. Vyacheslav (Vaclav) in the Cathedral of St. Vita, the relic began to be revered as evidence God's help in maintaining the secret of confession. 27 Jan 1725 The “tongue” was examined again; According to the report sent to Rome, the “tongue”, discovered upon opening the reliquary as a shrunken, gray-brown color, after some time became red again. In 1972, an anthropological study was carried out on the remains of I.N., a thin man, 169 cm tall, who died at the age of 45-50 from torture (traces of fire on the ribs, broken bones), and not from drowning. According to experts, repeated blows provoked a cerebral hemorrhage, which was the cause of death. The “tongue” is recognized as deformed brain tissue. Data from anthropological research do not allow us to doubt the authenticity of the remains.
On May 31, 1721, based on widespread local veneration, Pope Innocent XIII beatified I.N., and on March 19, 1729, at the Lateran Cathedral in Rome, Pope Benedict XIII proclaimed him a saint with the bull “Christus Dominus” Roman Catholic Church. In Prague, the canonization of I.N. was celebrated on October 9-16. 1729 In 1736, in the Cathedral of St. Vita, behind the main altar, a silver sarcophagus of the saint was installed (cast according to the sketches of I. E. Fischer von Erlach). Since that time, the Holy Religious Procession has been held annually in Prague on May 16th.
During the era of the Counter-Reformation, I.N. became not only a symbol of the Czech Republic’s return to Catholicism, but also a symbol of the national identity of the Czechs during the period of loss of state. independence and prevalence of German element in “high” culture. The image of I.N. as a national saint acquired folklore features and became part of folk culture, symbolizing nonviolent resistance to unjust secular power. In the 2nd half. XVIII century texts were discovered that made it possible to correctly date his death (the complaint of Archbishop John of Enstein against Wenceslas IV, stored in the Vatican Library; the biography of the archbishop, compiled by Peter the Clarifier and published in 1793 by the Czech historian J. Dobrovsky). In the 19th century Among parts of Czech society, the idea has become widespread that the Roman Catholic Church has canonized a man who never existed. On turn of the 19th century and XX centuries. among patriotic Czechs. Protestant. or atheistic intelligentsia, I.N. was considered a symbol of forced re-Catholicization and oppression of the Habsburgs, and the propaganda of his cult was a means of ousting them from people's memory veneration of Jan Hus. In the 20-30s. XX century in independent Czechoslovakia, criticism of the veneration of I.N. intensified.
In a commentary to the Roman Martyrology (MartRom. 1940), the publishers expressed doubt about the reliability of the events described in the hagiography dedicated to I.N. Under the influence of criticism, the Congregation of Rites in 1960 abolished the memory of I.N. general calendar Roman Catholic Church. However, I.N. is widely revered in the Czech Republic and in the Center. Europe. This was greatly facilitated by both secular and ecclesiastical events held on the occasion of the 280th anniversary of his canonization (in 2009), including the exhibition “Saint on the Bridge” (a research catalog of the exhibition was published in Prague).
Iconography
Construction of the center St. John of Nepomuk "On the Skalce". Engraving based on fig. K. Shkrety. ser. XVIII century
Plan
Introduction
1 Biography
2 Martyrdom
3 Reverence
4 Iconography
5 Sources
Bibliography
Jan of Nepomuk
Introduction
Saint John of Nepomuk (c. 1350, Nepomuk, Czech Republic - March 20, 1393, Prague) - (Czech Jan Nepomucký), John of Nepomuk, John Nepomuk- Czech Catholic saint, priest, martyr.
1. Biography
Jan was born approximately between 1340 and 1350 in the settlement of Pomuk (modern Czech Nepomuk), not far from the Cistercian monastery at the Green Mountain hill. In the place where the Church of St. John of Nepomuk is located today, previously (according to oral sources) there was a house where John was born. Jan's father, Welfin, was mayor from 1355 to 1367. settlement Pomuk, nothing is known about the mother. Basic education Jan received his education at the school at the Church of St. James. In 1370 he became a notary for the Prague archbishop, and in 1380 he was ordained a priest. After receiving the rank, he continued his education, studied law, received a bachelor's degree in Prague in 1381, and in Padua in 1387 doctorate. In 1389, Jan was appointed vicar general of the Prague archbishopric.
2. Martyrdom
The Czech king Wenceslas IV (1378-1419) was constantly in conflict with senior clergy country, defended the priority of secular power and interfered in internal church affairs, considering the Prague archbishopric one of his main opponents in domestic politics.
In 1393, on his orders, John of Nepomuk and two other priests were captured and thrown into prison. Soon, Jan's comrades were released, and Jan, after painful torture, was executed - he was thrown in a sack from the Charles Bridge into the Vltava. The specific reason why the king’s anger fell specifically on John of Nepomuk is not precisely known. In 1433, chroniclers put forward the assumption, very probable, but not definitely proven, that Jan refused to reveal to the king the secret of the confession of the queen, whose confessor he was.
According to legend, in the very place where the saint’s body plunged into the Vltava, a glow in the form of 5 stars appeared above the water; since then Nepomuk has been depicted with five stars above his head. The place where Jan was thrown over the railing can be seen on the right hand on the way across the bridge towards Mala Strana; this place is marked by a cross embedded in the railing of the bridge and two copper nails not far from the cross.
3. Reverence
Body of St. Jana was recovered from the Vltava and subsequently buried in the Cathedral of St. Vitus in Prague.
The veneration of Jan by Czech Catholics as a saint and martyr began in the 15th century. He was canonized in 1729. John of Nepomuk is considered heavenly patron confessors, as well as the patron saint of Prague and the entire Czech Republic. Memory in Catholic Church- 16th of May.
Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk near the town of Zdar nad Sazavou - object World Heritage UNESCO.
4. Iconography
The most famous statue of the saint was created in 1683 (even before the official canonization) by J. Brokoff for the Charles Bridge in Prague. Now the original has been moved to the National Museum in Prague (like most of the Charles Bridge sculptures), and an exact copy has been installed on the bridge.
Created in the 18th century a large number of iconographic cycles with scenes from the life of the saint. The most famous is in the Lateran Basilica in Rome.
Saint John of Nepomuk is depicted on icons with a palm branch and a crown of stars above his head.
5. Sources
· Catholic Encyclopedia. Ed. Franciscans. M., 2002.
· St. John Nepomucene (Catholic Encyclopedia)
Bibliography:
1. Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk on Green Mountain (Zdar nad Sazavou) (1994)
The night came on March 20, 1393. A group of people carries a motionless body out of the residence of the old town mayor (the house on the corner of Rytirzhskaya and Na Mustka streets), stumbling in the confusion, they head towards a stone bridge and throws his exhausted body into the Vltava. The dim light of the waning moon faintly illuminates the gloomy scene to a few random passers-by, who instinctively hide in the dark corners.Jan, son of the late Welfin from Pomuk, is the chief vicar of the Archbishopric of Prague, a public notary. In 1380, when he probably completed his theological studies and became a clergyman, he received the high position of altar boy at St. Vita. In the same year he took on the next important position as parish priest at St. Havel at Prague's Old Town and began legal training at Charles University, located next door. Already in 1381 he was proclaimed Bachelor of Laws. He soon entrusted the parish to his deputy and continued his studies at the University of Padua, the third oldest university in Italy. Since 1389, Jan was already listed as vicar general - the second man of the archbishopric, his representative, especially in legal matters.
There are several reasons that crystallized Jan’s death. The main one was the conflict between secular and ecclesiastical authorities, due to which enmity arose between King Wenceslas IV and Archbishop Enstein. It was very important for the king to have influence on the appointment of bishops and other high church officials. In 1393, these disputes intensified due to the election of a new abbot in Kladruby. Historical sources they claim that Jan died because he confirmed the choice of the abbot, and also because he was an official of the Prague Archbishop Enstein, the king's sworn enemy.
Other sources call the dominant reason that Jan allowed himself to criticize the king. The third reason is considered to be Jan's refusal to reveal the secret of Queen Zsofia's communion. Some researchers consider this a legend that appeared much later than the death of John of Nepomuk - in the second half of the 15th century.
It is difficult to say unequivocally what served as the basis for the tragic death of the saint, but much speaks in favor of concealing the sacrament of the sacrament, which drove Wenceslaus IV into an insane rage. This also explains the unprecedented activity of the king in the torture chamber, because he personally burned the saint with a torch to obtain information. For the final disposal of the tortured body of the saint, he ordered it to be thrown in the evening from the bridge into the Vltava. On April 17, the river returned his body, which was found on the shore by the monks (cyriak) and buried in their monastery, and later the remains of the saint were transferred to the Cathedral of St. Vita.
According to legend, when John's body sank into the Vltava, 5 stars appeared from the water - an attribute of the saint's halo, which can be seen on the sculpture of John of Nepomuk on the Charles Bridge. Many legends are associated with the name of John of Nepomuk, especially that his tongue was cut out. During the exhumation of the body, it was discovered soft fabric, which was mistaken for a miraculously preserved tongue, but when studying the remains of the saint in the 20th century, it was found that this relic was undoubtedly of organic origin, but did not consist of muscles, but more likely, of brain tissue. This discovery had no effect on the legend of St. John of Nepomuk, who lives his own life in the hearts of people, independent of his historical prototype.
He was canonized in the 18th century during the Catholicization of the Czech Republic, some believe in opposition to Jan Hus. Buried in the Cathedral of St. Vita at Prague Castle. There are also legends about his silver tombstone.
Hundreds of his sculptures, placed mainly on bridges in the Czech Republic and other countries, are a manifestation of great respect for the saint.
Attributes of John of Nepomuk:
Virtues of St. John of Nepomuk
To personify virtue on the original tombstone of St. John of Nepomuk:
- Hope is the anchor that life preserves when sailing on a stormy sea, and the dove that Noah released from the ark and she returned with a palm branch
- Valor or strength Soul Strength- covered in armor with a lion skin over the shoulder, with a helmet on her head, holding a column (part of it)
- Silence is a finger on the lips, a padlock in the right hand
- Vera - a figure with a cross in his hand and a wafer raised in his right hand
- Love is the third of the main Christian virtues. John of Nepomuk helped the poor and orphans. Depicted as a scantily clad figure breastfeeding a child; also indicated by a heart
- Fear of God or Submission - a figure with a closed, bowed head.
- Justice - a figure leaning on a shield with scales
- Wisdom of God - figure with an open book (Bible) and a burning torch
Janska Square in Prague got its name in memory of St. John of Nepomuk. The dead body of the saint floated to this place in 1393 along the Vltava; here it was caught and temporarily buried in the Church of St. Great Cross.
On the square there was a sculpture by F.M. Brokoff - John of Nepomuk giving alms. Initially, the statue was located near the Old Town Church of St. Mikulas, in 1828 it was moved to Janskaya Square. Less than 100 years later it was moved to the Church of St. Spirit, where it still stands today.
Later, a square in front of the Chekhov Bridge was created at this location.