ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH
Saints celebrated on the 23rd of March
SAINT PROCOPIUS, ABBOT
Abbot Procopius is the first Bohemian saint to be included in the number of saints by a papal bull. This happened on July 4, 1204 (Pope Innocent III). In the following year he was nominated patron saint of Bohemia, in which capacity he is still honoured to this day. Thereupon the monastery church at Sazawa (formerly dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and Saint John the Baptist), was given his name instead.
The saint's holiness and subsequent fame was founded on a solitary life hidden in God, which he had sought and cultivated from childhood, and from which he emerged only for the glory of God and the good of his fellow men.
Born in A.D. 990 in the village of Chotaun (Chotum, Chottum), situated between Bohemian Brod and Kaurzim, he first had been a diocesan priest. Through association with a devout disciple of Saint Benedict, Procopius then became a hermit to be able to serve God more perfectly. He took his vows in the Benedictine monastery of Brzewnow (later called Saint Margaret).
Afterwards, about the year 1033, he chose the wasteland of Sazawa as his future abode, which was inhabited only by wolves and bears. The cave in which he lived is still a dreadful place, and consists of a deep, dark opening in a rock overhanging the Sazawa River. It has only a very narrow and difficult entrance, and into which some chinks of light fall through cracks in the rock. His encampment and the holes through which the evil spirits escaped when the saint entered the place are still shown here. Later, so the legend goes, they returned to torment and tempt him, but Procopius gained such control over them that they had to do all the servile work for him, clearing the forest, tilling the ground, etc.
After some time it so happened that Duke Udalrik [Ulric], who ruled Bohemia at the time, was hunting in the forest near Sazawa and accidentally, while chasing a deer, discovered the saint's cave. Since he needed a refreshing drink, the hermit led the duke to the nearest spring, drew water, blessed the drink and, without knowing or wanting to, handed the duke delicious wine. In this the duke recognised a sign of divine providence to do penance for his sins. After making his confession to the saint and obtaining absolution, he immediately commenced arrangements for the building of a monastery in the forest of Sazawa; the construction was completed by his son Brzetislaw.
Numerous plots of land and other sources of income were allocated to the new foundation. At the request of the founder, the monastery was managed by Saint Procopius according to the rule of the Benedictines. He was an affable host to strangers, a loving father to the poor. After presiding over the monastery for about ten years, he died on March 23, 1053, as he had predicted. Some sources state that April 1 (or April 25) was the day he went to his eternal reward.
Many miracles took place at his grave soon after his death. An arm of the holy abbot came to Prague and thereby increased the treasure of relics in the Cathedral of Saint Vitus. Many churches and chapels in Bohemia have chosen him as their patron saint. In 1585, Saint Procopius' mortal remains were translated to the Church of All Saints at the Castle in Prague.
Church art shows Procopius as a hermit, with a stag beside him. In the church in Srakonitz you can see him plowing away, using the devil to pull the plow instead of having the customary horse do this work (II. 136–148).
Saint Procopius is also commemorated on April 1, July 4, July 5 and July 8.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 4, Augsburg, 1875, p. 990-91)
Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations
PRAYER:
Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Procopius may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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