Saint Wenceslaus, Duke & Martyr
S. Wenceslai Ducis et Martyris
Saint Wenceslaus, Duke of Bohemia, governed his people in justice and piety, fostered the Christian faith in his land, and was slain by his own brother, winning the palm of martyrdom.
Saint Wenceslaus was born about the year 907, the son of the Duke of Bohemia, and was reared in the Christian faith by his devout grandmother, Saint Ludmila, who herself is venerated as a martyr. Coming to rule his people while still young, he proved a prince devoted to God and zealous for the good of his subjects, governing his duchy of Bohemia in a time when the Christian faith was still taking root among his people.
A Christian prince
As ruler, Saint Wenceslaus was renowned for his justice, his mercy, and his personal piety. He laboured to spread and to strengthen the Christian faith throughout his land, to build churches, and to honour the worship of God; and he was known for his charity to the poor, the orphan, and the stranger. The accounts handed down remember his reverence for the holy Mysteries and his tender care for the needy, whom he is said to have served with his own hands. He sought peace for his people and ordered his own life by the fear of God.
His piety and his policies, however, stirred up against him the resentment of some among the nobles, and above all the envy of his own brother, Boleslaus. Drawn into a plot against the holy duke, Boleslaus invited his brother to a celebration and there, with his accomplices, fell upon him. Saint Wenceslaus, set upon near the door of a church to which he had gone to pray, met his death forgiving his murderers and commending his soul to God. He was slain about the year 929 or 935, and was at once venerated by the faithful as a martyr.
Patron of his people
The memory of Saint Wenceslaus was held in great honour from the time of his death, and he came to be venerated as the heavenly patron of the Bohemian people and lands, a prince who had ruled them well and had died for the faith and for righteousness. His relics were enshrined with reverence, and his feast spread beyond his homeland into the wider Church.
His feast is kept on the twenty-eighth of September. The collect of the day praises God who, through the palm of martyrdom, raised blessed Wenceslaus from an earthly throne to the glory of heaven, and asks that by his prayers we may be defended from all adversity and may be made worthy to share his joy. In Saint Wenceslaus the Church honours a Christian ruler who joined justice and charity to a holy life, and who bore witness to Christ unto death at the hand of his own kin.
The Collect
O God, who didst teach blessed Wenceslaus, by the palm of martyrdom, to pass from an earthly princedom to the glory of heaven: defend us, we beseech thee, by his prayers from all adversity, and grant us to rejoice in his fellowship.
Deus, qui beátum Wencesílaum per martyrii palmam a terreno principatu ad cæléstem glóriam transtulísti: eius précibus nos ab omni adversitáte custódi; et eiusdem tríbue gaudére consórtio.
Patronage
He is venerated as the patron of the Bohemian people and of the Czech lands, and is honoured among the holy rulers and martyrs.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar he is observed on the same day, 28 September, as an optional memorial.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Wenceslaus?
His feast is kept on 28 September in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast. The modern calendar likewise observes him on 28 September, as an optional memorial.
Who was Saint Wenceslaus?
He was a tenth-century Duke of Bohemia, raised in the faith by his grandmother Saint Ludmila, renowned for his justice, charity, and piety, and for fostering the Christian faith among his people. He was murdered by his own brother and is venerated as a martyr and as the patron of the Czech lands. He is the figure remembered in the well-known Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslas.”
How did Saint Wenceslaus die?
He was slain about the year 929 or 935 through a plot led by his own brother Boleslaus, who fell upon him near a church to which he had gone to pray. Tradition remembers that he died forgiving his murderers and commending his soul to God, and he was at once honoured by the faithful as a martyr.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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