Saint Wenceslaus

Wenceslaus (Václav) was born around 907, son of the Duke of Bohemia. He was raised in the Christian faith by his grandmother, Saint Ludmila, who was murdered in 921 amid the struggles between Christian and pagan factions at court. Around 925 Wenceslaus took power as duke and worked to spread the faith, build churches, bring in priests and establish peace with the neighboring German king, Henry I.

He was remembered for his personal piety and for his charity to the poor, widows and orphans. His policies, however, angered some nobles, and his younger brother Boleslaus joined a plot against him. On September 28, 935, as Wenceslaus was on his way to Mass at Stará Boleslav, he was attacked and killed at the church door. He was soon venerated as a martyr, and he became the patron of the Czech people.

September 28 is Czech Statehood Day, a national holiday in the Czech Republic, and pilgrims gather at Stará Boleslav. His statue on horseback dominates Wenceslas Square in Prague.

In the English-speaking world he is best known from the nineteenth-century carol "Good King Wenceslas," which tells of him bringing food and firewood to a poor man on the feast of Saint Stephen.