May 16th - St. John Nepomucene
When John was born in 1330 in Nepomuk, Bohemia, extraordinary lights were
seen over his house. When he was a child, the Holy Virgin Mary cured him
of
a grave illness. After he was ordained a priest he dedicated himself to
preaching, with great success. The whole city of Prague changed its
customs
because of his sermons, which were listened to by multitudes. To this day
he
is the most popular saint of Prague.
Wenceslas IV, King of Bohemia and Emperor of Germany, named him provost of
Witchad and gave him the title of chancellor of the Kingdom, but John
refused these honors to remain a regular canon. The Empress chose him as
her
confessor.
King Wenceslas went astray and became a tyrant over his people. He was
very
jealous and suspicious of the Empress, who used to spend hours in the
Church
praying for his conversion. Imagining bad things about her, the King
called
St. John Nepomucene and ordered him to reveal what his wife had told him
in
confession. The Saint refused.
This happened several times. Nothing could make St. John reveal the secret
of confession. After torturing him and putting him in prison several
times,
the King was forced to free him because he feared a public revolt, given
the
popularity of the Saint. The King even threatened him with death, but St.
John Nepomucene remained firm in his position.
One day, feeling that his end was near, he gave a sermon on these words of
Our Lord: "Yet a little while, and you will see Me no more." He predicted
the devastation that the heresy of John Hus would cause in Bohemia. Then,
he
went to pray at the feet of the statue of Our Lady that had been brought
to
the region by St. Cyril and St. Methodius.
Returning to Prague he was taken by agents of Wenceslas and again
threatened. He remained constant: when he was tortured again, he refused
to
break the secrecy of confession. Finally the King ordered that he be cast
into the river and drowned. That night his hands and feet were bound, and
he
was thrown from the Charles Bridge of Prague into the Moldau River.
When his body hit the water, five stars appeared over the spot. The people
of Prague came in great numbers to witness the marvel. The Empress pointed
out the miracle to the King, who became terrified and closed himself in
his
room for several days.
St. John Nepomucene became a special Patron Saint of the more illustrious
families of Germany. In gratitude for the many graces received from St.
John
Nepomucene, the House of Austria offered whatever assistance it could in
the
process for his canonization. He was raised to the altars in 1729.
Ten years before, in 1719, his body was found intact in the Moldau River,
as
if it had been thrown into it minutes before. When his shrine was opened
many years later, his tongue remained incorrupt, which for its silence,
gave
such a great glory to God.
Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)
This is a very beautiful biography. To place it in its historical context,
we should recall the historical conditions of Europe at that time.
Those regions of Central Europe often rebelled against the Catholic
influence. Bohemia, Moravia, and other neighboring regions were lands of
witchcraft and occultism where heresies of all kinds were born. In that
epoch when the Middle Age was starting to decline from its apogee, a
heresy
took root in that region: The heresy of John Hus, the famous heresiarch
who
was a precursor of Luther.
This heresy of Hus was both similar to and different from that of
Protestantism.
Let me address the similarity. A heresy, at least a heresy that achieves a
certain success, is never just the product of a single individual's mind,
but rather it results from a whole environment. The heresiarch produces a
doctrine that those in his region are eager to receive. The heresy goes
forward because a part of the public is receptive to it. The foolish
heresiarch elaborates a doctrine that is not accepted by those around him.
He is rejected and his name is not recorded by History. He goes to Hell
alone. But the shrewd heretic prepares a doctrine that corresponds to the
bad tendencies of the environment in which he lives. This is why his
doctrine spreads.
John Hus perceived that pride and sensuality inclined the souls of his
region toward the doctrine he elaborated. Luther took up the doctrine of
Hus
because the same decadence existed in the Germany of his time. One thing
for
which Emperor Charles V stands responsible is that he did not take the
strong stand against Luther that his predecessors did against Hus. On
certain occasions, the only solution is to extirpate the evil at its root.
St. John of Nepomucene was living in that epoch when the region was moving
from Catholicism to the heresy of Hus. In the beginning of his public
mission, he was well considered by the King of Bohemia, who sup****ted him.
But, influenced by the bad forces in the region, the King deteriorated and
became a bad man. The Queen, however, remained good. Since she used to
spent
long periods of times in the Church, the King imagined that this was a
pretense to commit adultery. Hence his insistence with St. John Nepomucene
to reveal what she had told him in confession.
You know that the seal of confession is sacred. Never, for any reason or
under any cir***stance can a priest reveal anything that he heard under
the
seal of confession. He cannot even say that a man who is being accused
unjustly is innocent: Revealing anything is forbidden. It is a complete
secret.
So the King began to persecute the Queen's confessor. He tortured St. John
several times, threw him in prison, but the Saint refused to say anything.
Then the King, who had been elected Emperor of the Holy Empire, decided to
kill the Saint.
The latter had a divine premonition of his martyrdom and prepared himself
to
die. From the pulpit he commented on those beautiful words of Our Lord:
"Yet
a little while, and you will see Me no more." It was his way to warn the
people that he would die. Afterwards, being a great devotee of Our Lady,
he
went to a village where the first statue of Our Lady had been brought to
the
country by St. Cyril and St. Methodius, the two Saints who evangelized the
Slavic world. Then he returned to Prague, where he was taken by the King,
who ordered him to be drowned in Moldau River.
When he was thrown into the river, a great marvel occurred. Five stars
emerged from the waters over the place where he had submerged, clearly a
miracle. The Queen called her husband to see it so he could realize the
crime he had committed. Seeing this miracle, he became disturbed and spent
some days locked in his room. But the crime had already been committed.
Soon after his death, veneration of the martyr began. Such veneration
would
grow until he would become the most popular Saint of the region. The House
of Austria would make every effort for his canonization. After due
demonstration of his sanctity was given, he finally reached the glory of
the
altars in 1729, four centuries after his death.
When we compare the history of the expansion of the heresy of John Hus
with
that of Luther's Protestantism, we see that they began in a similar way.
There was a general movement of deterioration that generated the heresy of
Hus. The King was influenced by it, and this resulted in the death of St.
John Nepomucene.
But, there are also many differences regarding this environment and the
one
that generated Protestantism. In Bohemia there was a Saint who resisted;
there was a King who, even though he fell, was shaken by his crime. There
were m***** so enthused with the Saint that the King feared a popular
revolt. He had to commit the crime at night or else the people would have
prevented it. Then when the Saint was drowned, a miracle took place.
In the environment that generated Protestantism, there was no longer a
general resistance to the deterioration; there was no popular indignation
against the heresy. Even when there were martyrs, there were no great
public
miracles like the one we saw with St. John Nepomucene. Everything gives
the
impression that the supernatural was less present.
How can such a difference be explained? One could argue that ordinarily
the
greater the need, the more extraordinary the favors Divine Providence
should
give. The heresy of Luther had a much stronger power of dissemination than
the heresy of Hus. Why was the latter heresy smashed, and the former
spread?
Protestantism was the beginning of a much greater tragedy for the Church.
It
was the expansion of the Religious Revolution throughout the world. Why,
then, didn't Our Lady assist the Church with similar great miracles on
this
occasion?
After the Revolution was born, it seems that this unremitting rule has
applied: Miracles and supernatural manifestations appear less and less
frequently, and there are fewer and fewer persons touched by great saints.
One has the impression of a dusk setting in, of a loss of strength and
vigor
of the Church. On the contrary, the enemies of the Church seem animated by
a
youthful vigor. How can such a thing be explained?
Does it mean that Divine Providence loves the Catholic Church less? Does
God
no longer hate evil persons as much as before? No, of course these
hypotheses are not true.
For one who considers things from the perspective of the Theology of
History, the explanation is quite simple. If the Catholics at the time of
Protestantism had remained faithful and loved the Catholic Faith as they
should have, the consequences would have been different. One third of
Europe
became Protestant. If the two-thirds that remained Catholic had been
faithful and good Catholics, the Protestant third would not have achieved
the influence it did. If the Catholics had been what they should have
been,
the power of Protestantism would have been cut, as was the heresy of John
Hus.
Most of the Catholics of that time, however, were lukewarm and weak. To
show
its disapproval of them, Divine Providence retracted its supernatural
manifestations and permitted the heresy to gain force. Following the same
process, God gradually drew back His special graces right up until the
present moment when we face this paradox: truth and goodness always seem
to
be weak, and error and evil always strong. This is a manifestation of the
discontent of Divine Providence with the lukewarmness and lack of valor of
Catholics.
You can imagine, for example, the city of Paris, with its progressivist
Archbishop, Cardinal Marty, with its progressivist clergy, with its
revolutionary people, with the swarms of tourists who go there seeking
moral
corruption. The Catholic Faith is so weak in the people of Paris - even
though there are still good Catholics there - that it could almost be
called
inconsequential.
Do you think that if the people of Paris would see the body of a Saint
floating on the waters of the Seine River, they would convert, change
their
immoral habits, close their nightclubs, cabarets, and other places of
corruption? I don't think so. I think that a very small number of people
would be impressed. The general public would be waiting for some
"scientific" explanation for that floating body so that the topic could
die.
You can ask me what this means? I respond that this situation proves that
God needs to intervene, make an exemplary chastisement of the world, and
rebuild a new Christendom, the Reign of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
predicted at Fatima. This situation cannot last very long.
These are some considerations suggested by the marvelous live and death of
St. John Nepomucene.
See pictures at:
http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j178sd_JohnNepomuk5-16.shtml
Saint Quote:
There is nothing which edifies others so much as charity and kindness, by
which, as by the oil in the lamp, the flame of good example is kept alive.
-St. Francis de Sales
Bible Quote :
1 At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest thou is
the
greater in the kingdom of heaven? 2 And Jesus calling unto him a little
child, set him in the midst of them, 3 And said: Amen I say to you, unless
you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this
little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And he that
shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me. (Matthew
18:1-5)
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TRAVELLER'S PRAYER
(Before starting a Journey)
My holy Angel Guardian, ask the Lord to bless the journey which I
undertake,
that it may profit the health of my soul and body; that I may reach its
end,
and that, returning safe and sound, I may find my family in good health.
Do
thou guard, guide and preserve us.
Amen.
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