Good King Wenceslas On The Feast Of Stephen

Why did Good King Wenceslas look out on the Feast of Stephen

On Christmas Eve, i.e. 2 days ago, Cyril challenged me to put a sermon together on Good King Wenceslas and the first Christian martyr.

So who was Wenceslas?

Firstly he wasn’t a King, though Otto the Great who was Holy Roman Emperor from 962 to 973 when he died, made him a King posthumously.

Wenceslas was Duke of Bohemia, duchy in the modern Day Czech Republic.

Wenceslas was the 15th Duke of Bohemia and was born on a date between 907 and 911 AD.

His parents were Vrat-is-laus, a Christian ruler and Draho-míra, who was the daughter of a pagan tribal chief.

Although she was raised as a pagan, Drahomíra was baptised at the time of her wedding to Vratislav.

Wenceslas’s paternal grandparents Boriv-oj and Ludmila were converted to Christianity and baptised by St. Methodius in 874.

Wenceslas’ grandmother Ludmila – who had the same name as my own mother - wanted Wenceslas to be a Christian ruler

She therefore undertook her grandson’s upbringing and education upon herself, as she did not believe her daughter-in-law to be a sincere Christian.

Wenceslas was educated in Budec near Prague, where he learned to read, write, and converse in Latin and Greek.

When her husband died, Draho-mira was named as Regent since Wenceslas was not yet 18.

Once in power Draho- mira showed her true colours and started to repress Christian noblemen and persecuted priests.

Ludmila, Wenceslas’s paternal grandmother fled to her castle Tetín, where she was murdered on Drahomíra’s orders on the 15th September 921.

When he came of age, Wenceslas banished his mother for killing his grandmother but then had a change of heart and allowed her to come back.

Wenceslas was loyal to his Christian faith and it is said that he spent long hours in prayer and provided for the poor.

Although loved by his people, many nobles were not pleased by his religious endeavours and a monk-like style of reign.

Wenceslas signed a treaty of alliance with Henry I of Saxony that bound him to pay tax to Saxony.

Boles-laus his brother and Draho-míra, his mother did not like this treaty as they wanted Bohemia to be an independent state.

Consequently, they plotted against Wenceslas and on 27th of September 935, Wenceslas arrived in Stará Boles-lav to celebrate the birth of his brother’s son.

The next day, Wenceslas was killed by his brother Boles-laus while on his way to the mass.

Wenceslas died on the church steps, holding the knocker of the church in his hand and was declared a saint and martyr soon after his death.

(My thanks to https://historyofyesterday.com/who-was-good-king-wenceslas-ff1128cb56b2)

So you see the link between Wenceslas and Stephen?

They are linked by Jesus’s two commandments.

The first is You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

And the second is You shall love your neighbour as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-40)

1. Stephen took Jesus’s first commandment to love the Lord your God seriously.

He took the Church’s only commission form Jesus seriously. To make disciples of all people.

Stephen was a persuasive debater and when the religious Jews could not get the better of him, they stoned him to death

2. Wenceslas took seriously Jesus second great commandment seriously “To love your neighbour as yourself,” by caring for the poor around him.

And that got him killed too.

Good King Wenceslas is based on a legend about Wenceslas.

A 12th century preacher summed up the life of Wenceslas when he said

But his deeds I think you know better than I could tell you.

For, as is read in his Passion, no one doubts that(Wenceslas) rising every night from his noble bed, with bare feet and only one chamberlain, he went around to God's churches and gave alms generously to widows, orphans, those in prison and afflicted by every difficulty, so much so that he was considered, not a prince, but the father of all the wretched.

The Carol is based on an incident in Wenceslas’s life

In 1849 John Mason Neale (the author of the Carol Good king Wenceslas) published Deeds of Faith: Stories for Children from Church History which recounted legends from Christian tradition.

One of the chapters told the legend of St Wenceslas and his footsteps melting the snow for his page, Otto

"My liege," he said, "I cannot go on. The wind freezes my very blood. Pray you, let us return."

"Seems it so much?" asked the King. "Was not His journey from Heaven a wearier and a colder way than this ?"

Otto answered not.

"Follow me on still," said Wenceslaus. "Only tread in my footsteps, and you will proceed more easily."

The servant knew that his master spoke not at random.