Legend of the Day...The Bell in the Tower of the Týn Church

leg·end [lej-uhnd]  

noun 

A nonhistorical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical.

The Bell in the Tower of the Týn Church

Church of Our Lady before Týn, Old Town Square

In Old Town there once lived a rich but wicked noblewoman.  She was such a tyrant with her servants that none of them stayed in her service for long.  One day a sweet and quiet rural maid entered her service.  She tried to please her ladyship in everything, but without success.  Like all the others, all she received for her pains were insults and blows.  One evening the noblewoman was preparing to go on a social visit, and the maid was helping her dress, when the bell rang in the tower of the Týn Church to call people to evening prayer.  Hearing the bell, the girl stopped attending to her lady, knelt and began to pray as she was accustomed to do at home.  The noblewoman erupted in fury, "I pay you to work, not to pray, you lazy hussy!" she shouted, and, beside herself with rage, she flew at the wretched girl, caught her by the throat and squeezed and cursed until she realized she was shaking a lifeless body.  Only then did the lady come to her senses.  She quickly called the other servants to her aid, but to no avail.  The girl could not be revived.

The lady was called to answer before a court, but because she was rich, she managed to bribe the judge and avoid punishment.  She thought she would soon forget the whole business and live the same carefree life as before.  But every time she heard the bells ringing from the Týn Church, they reminded her of her wicked deed.  In the end her conscience tormented her so dreadfully that she gave all of her property to the poor and entered a convent, but first she had a small bell cast and hung it in the tower of the Týn Church, where it would ring in memory of the dead girl.

Legend of the Day

leg·end [lej-uhnd]  

noun 

A nonhistorical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical.

If you've been reading this blog you can probably tell that there are a lot of legends associated with Prague.  A lot!  So I figured it's about time I started telling you some of them.  Beginning right now...

The Twenty-Seven Beheaded Bohemian Lords

Old Town Square

Twenty-seven white crosses on the paving in Old Town Square commemorate one of the saddest events in Czech history. 

 On this spot, 27 Czech Protestants were beheaded in 1621 by the Habsburgs; an event that ended the first phase of the Thirty Years' War and began the return of Bohemia to Catholicism

It was here, on the 21st of June in 1621, that the Czech lords who had led the Rebellion of the Estates against Emperor Ferdinand II were executed.  Ten noblemen, five Prague burghers and two burghers from Kutná Hora  and Žatec were all beheaded by the Prague executioner Mydlář.  

The Czech lords who met this dismal end included some of the leading noblemen of the land.  Among them were the 74-year-old scholar and writer Václav Budovec of Budov and the traveler Kryštof Harant of Polžice, as well as the celebrated physician and professor of Charles University Jan Jesenius, who conducted the first public autopsy in the Bohemian Lands.  

Václav Budovec of Budov

Kryštof Harant of Polžice

 Jan Jesenius

The dreadful and sorry spectacle lasted from five o'clock in the morning until one o'clock in the afternoon.  The heads of twelve of those executed were then hung in iron baskets from the parapet of the Old Town Bridge Tower as a warning to others, six facing the Old Town and six facing the Lesser Town.  When permission was given for the heads to be taken down ten years later, relatives and friends buried them at an unknown site.  They are said to be interred in the walls of the Church of Our Lady before Týn, or perhaps somewhere in the Church of St. Saviour's in Old Town.  

Church of Our Lady before Týn

Church of St. Saviour's 

According to legend, each year on the day of their death, the 21st of June, the ghosts of the executed gather at the clock and check that it is working properly.  If it is telling the time precisely, they are satisfied that the Bohemian lands are prospering, but if the clock is broken, they return to their eternal resting places sad sand dejected. 

Orloj

Saints Cyril and Methodius Day

Today is a National Holiday for us here in the Czech Republic, for today is Saints Cyril and Methodius Day.

Saints Cyril and Methodius Day was originally a Christian holiday, but now it has deep secular and historical connotations. Saints Cyril and Methodius were two brothers that invented the Cyrillic alphabet...

These two brothers also taught literacy to the Slavs and preached the gospel in the Czech lands.  Their cathedral in Prague was a place where the assassins of Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking German Nazi official, hid in 1942 and where they committed suicide to avoid capture by the German Nazis.

Cathedral of Sts. Cyril and Methodius

Built between 1730-1736

The Infant Jesus of Prague - "the whole of our universe rests in his hands"

In Karmelitská Street in the Lesser Town district of Prague stands the Church of Our Lady of Victory.  It's of quite exceptional significance, not only because of its architecture and artistic decoration, but in particular because it houses the famous statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague.  

Church of Our Lady of Victory

Infant Jesus of Prague

The right hand of the child is raised in blessing, while his left hand holds a sphere surmounted by a cross - the whole of our universe rests in his hands...

The Infant Jesus of Prague receives visitors from all over the world on a daily basis.  People come here to pray for help, healing or peace, and some come to give thanks.  

Visiting the church and Infant Jesus at Christmastime is a tradition...

The Church is beautifully decorated ...

A little history...

The infant Jesus of Prague originally came from Spain.  Legend tells that the Infant Jesus appeared miraculously to a certain monk who modeled the statue based on the appearance of the apparition.  

According to another legend, the statue belonged to St. Teresa of Avia, the founder of the Discalced Carmelites, who was aflame with a great love for the Child Jesus.  She is said to have given the statue to a friend of hers, whose daughter was setting out to travel to Prague.

When the Duchess Maria Manrique de Lara came to Bohemia to marry a Bohemian nobleman in 1556, she received the statue from her mother as a wedding gift.  When her daughter Polyxena of Lobkowicz was widowed, she gave the precious statue to the monastery of the Discalced Carmelites attached to the church of Our Lady of Victory in 1628.

The Carmelites placed the statue in the novitiate chapel so that the young monks could learn from the virtues of the Child Jesus.  At that time, the Thirty Years' War was raging though Europe and even the Infant Jesus was not spared when the Saxon army occupied Prague in 1631.  It was only after his return to Prague in 1637 that Father Cyril of the Mother of God, originally from Luxemburg, discovered the statue, abandoned in a corner.  To his sorrow, however, he found that the Infant Jesus had had both hands broken off.  At this moment it seemed to him that the Infant Jesus was saying to him:

"Have mercy on me and I will have mercy on you.

Give me hands and I will give you peace.

The more you honor me, the more I will bless you."

Eventually Father Cyril had new hands made for the Infant Jesus.  The gold coin invested in this was returned many times over, as the Child Jesus began to bless the monastery, the local people, and the whole of Prague. Miraculous healings were attributed to him, as was the protection of Prague when it was laid siege to by the Swedes in 1639.  In 1651, the statue was carried as a pilgrim round all the churches in Prague and in 1655 it was solemnly crowned by the Bishop of Prague.  This event is still remembered today on the anniversary feast day, falling on the first Sunday in May.

Church of Our Lady of Victory

Infant Jesus of Prague

 

   

The Child Jesus is dressed by religious sisters in various royal robes, whose color changes according to the season of the church year.  The white alb and royal apparel remind us of the defenselessness of the Divine Child and at the same time of Jesus' royal title and his divine almighty power.  The ancient tradition of dressing the grace-giving statue of the Infant Jesus is intended to bring Jesus closer to the faithful as a real human being.  It helps us to experience the closeness of Jesus and to express our love and reverence.  It is not a case of idolatry, for the statue is not alive and it serves only as a reminder and a means of enabling a spiritual encounter with the living Christ.

The Infant Jesus of Prague has been dressed in different clothes from time immemorial, and people know him best in his royal robes.  Most of his outfits are gifts of thanksgiving.  The wardrobe numbers around a hundred costumes, some of which are incomplete or unusable.  Some of the costumes can be seen in the museum, which the public can visit free of charge.  The task of changing the Infant Jesus' robes is entrusted to the Carmelite Sisters of the Child Jesus, who help the Discalced Carmelite Fathers to look after this place of pilgrimage.

The robes of the Infant Jesus of Prague are changed so that the color corresponds to the liturgical season, which is governed by the church calendar.  Four basic colors are normally used:

White - festive color of purity and holiness - for feast days and the Easter and Christmas periods.

Red - color of blood and fire, royal color - for Holy Week, Pentecost time and feasts of the Holy Cross.

Violet - solemn color symbolizing repentance - for the Lenten and Advent seasons.

Green - color of life and hope - for ordinary time (color used most often)

On the feast of his coronation, the Infant Jesus is usually dressed in royal robes with an emine mantle.  On special occasions other colors are used:

Rose - color of subdued joy - may be used on the third Sunday of Advent and the fourth Sunday of Lent.

Gold - festive color - may replace other colors.

Blue - sometimes used as a festive color, especially for feasts of Our Lady.

Prayer of the Holy Father Benedict XVI to the Infant Jesus of Prague

O my Lord Jesus, 

we gaze on you as a baby

and believe that you are the Son of God,

who became man

in the womb of the Virgin Mary,

through the working of the Holy Spirit.

Just as at Bethlehem,

we too, with Mary, Joseph,

the angels and the shepherds,

adore you and acknowledge you

as our only Savior.

You became poor

to enrich us with your poverty.

Grant that we may never forget the poor

and all those who suffer.

Protect our families,

bless all the children of the world,

and grant that the love you brought us

may always reign amongst us

and lead us to a happier life.

Grant, O Jesus, that all

may recognize the truth of your birth,

so that they may know

that you came to bring

to the whole human family

light, joy and peace.

You who live and reign

with God the Father

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever.

Amen.