Monthly Archives - May 2024

On Saturday, April 6, 2024, it was exactly 50 years since the death of the great Salesian witness of faith, Cardinal Štěpán Trochta SDB, who died as a result of the last of his many interrogations at the StB. This prisoner of Nazism and Communism was a personal friend of the future Pope John Paul II. His native people from Francova Lhota in the czech region Wallachia, cherishing the legacy of his life, initiated the celebration of the Holy Mass on the anniversary of his death in all the places where he lived and worked - and therefore also in Rome. They asked P. Jaromír Zádrapa, a native of neighbouring village Lidečko, to do so. He decided to celebrate it in the chapel of our Pilgrimage House, which is a "piece of Czech land" in Rome, of which he is the former director. We were very happy to remember the great bishop together with him.
At the end of April, on 23rd April, Velehrad commemorated the 100th anniversary of the birth of P. Vojtěch Hrubý SDB, a confrere of Cardinal Trochta and a great figure of the Velehrad Pilgrimage House. He selflessly served the pilgrims for several decades and imprinted himself in the hearts of many of them. He is also the co-author of a publication about Rome in the Czech language, which has not been surpassed so far. In gratitude for his legacy, the sisters visited his grave in Guidonia, near Rome.
The 55th anniversary of the death of Cardinal Joseph Beran, the founder of the Pilgrimage House and the Association Velehrad, falling on May 17, 2024, has given rise to a little more spectacular celebrations here in Rome. A colloquium was held at the Pontifical College Nepomucenum, where he died, on May 15. Contributors included, among others, Cardinal Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, and Beran's former secretary, Prof. Karel Skalicky, one of the founding members of the Association Velehrad. Velehrad was very happy to welcome Prof. Skalicky for a short visit the next day.
In connection with the anniversary of the eminent native, representatives of the Pilsen Region visited Rome with Bishop Tomas Holub, who also contributed to the colloquium. On the morning of 16 May, they also came to see the Pilgrimage House Velehrad. Bishop Holub was then the main celebrant of the memorial Holy Mass for Cardinal Beran in Vatican at the tomb of Apostle Peter on 17 May. Just a few steps away, Cardinal Beran was buried until his remains were transferred to Prague in 2018... Both this Mass and the stimulating colloquium in Nepomucenum were held on the initiative and cooperation of the aforementioned College with the Embassy of the Czech Republic to the Holy See and the Pilsen Region - and representatives of the current team of the Pilgrimage House Velehrad were not absent, that rightly considers Cardinal Beran as its spiritual father.