Wenceslaus I, was born in 907, in the region that is now the Czech Republic, as the son of Vratislaus I, Duke of Bohemia, and his wife Drahomira.

His grandfather and grandmother had been converted by Saints Cyril and Methodius before the Great Schism. His grandmother, who was greatly devoted to the Catholic Church, saw that he was educated in the Old Church liturgical and at an early age, had him sent to the college at Budeč to be taught by monks with the hopes he’d join an Order himself. His mother was forced to concentrate her efforts on her youngest son, Boleslaus, as a ruler.

When he was 13, his father died, and his paternal grandmother became Regent, the temporary ruler. His mother, Drahomira, out of envy of her influence, especially over Wenceslaus, arranged to have her mother-in-law killed. She then assumed the role as Regent.

Drahomira who favored anti-Christian factions, immediately initiated measures against Christians.

When Wenceslaus was 18, Christian nobles who had remained against the persecution, rebelled. With the nobles support, Wenceslaus took control and had his mother sent into exile. He then used his faith and Christianity to strengthen his state.

His rule was marked by efforts toward unification within Bohemia, support of the Church, and peace-making negotiations with Germany, a policy which caused him trouble with the anti-Church opposition.

He was able to incarnate his Christianity in a world filled with political unrest that had been caused by past weak alliances from his father and continuous raids by Hungarians and the Ottonian dynasty. He introduced German priests into his realm and favored the Latin rite. He also founded a rotunda consecrated to Saint Vitus at Prague Castle.

He traveled to the churches and gave alms generously to widows, orphans, those in prison and afflicted by every difficulty, and became seen as the father of all the wretched.

His brother, Boleslav, joined in a plot against him, and in September of 929, invited him to Alt Bunglou for the celebration of the feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian. On September 28, on the way to Mass, his brother, along with 3 accomplices, stabbed and killed him.

Wenceslaus was considered a martyr immediately after his death. Within a few decades, 4 biographies of him were in circulation which had powerful influence on the concept of a righteous king with a monarch whose power stems mainly from his great piety. His tomb became a pilgrimage shrine.

Although he was only a duke, the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I posthumously conferred on him as “King”.

He is the patron saint of the Bohemian people and of former Czechoslovakia.

His feast day is September 28.

For God’s Glory.

Prague Castle and Saint Vitus Cathedral