ST JOHN NEPOMUCEN - MARTYR OF THE SEAL OF CONFESSION - 20 MARCH

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH

Saints celebrated on the 20th of March

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SAINT JOHN NEPOMUCEN - MARTYR OF THE SEAL OF CONFESSION 

Saint John Nepomucen was born in Bohemia, probably between the years 1340 and 1350. He studied in the University of Prague, which had recently been founded by the King of Bohemia, Emperor Charles IV. After ordination as a priest, John occupied various ecclesiastical posts before being appointed as Vicar General to the Archbishop of Prague. In 1378 Emperor Charles IV died and was succeeded by his son Wenceslaus IV. 

THE NEW KING WAS A VICIOUS YOUNG MAN

The new King was a vicious young man who gave way unrestrainedly to fits of rage, in which he would perpetrate acts of great cruelty. St John and Wenceslaus IV had many quarrels, St John always being obedient to his religious superior rather than give in to the King’s wishes. On occasions St John was attacked and suffered injuries.

HE WAS INTENSELY JEALOUS

Shamelessly unfaithful himself, Wenceslaus IV was intensely jealous, and harboured suspicions of his wife’s conduct, which was actually irreproachable. Tradition recounts that the King’s great anger and resentment was aroused when St John refused to reveal to the King the substance of his wife’s confessions. For this Wenceslaus IV had St John’s body trussed up and taken secretly at night through the streets of Prague to the St Charles Bridge and then cast off the bridge into the River Moldau (Vltava).

ST CHARLES BRIDGE IN PRAGUE

The next day St John’s body was washed ashore and taken and buried in the cathedral of St Vitus, the first martyr of the ‘seal of confession’. The St Charles Bridge in Prague today has a statue of St John and a metal plate marks the spot where he was thrown over the bridge. St John Nepomucen is invoked for help to make a good confession.

From: Spiritual Thought from Fr Chris