We are still trying to find out what Wenceslaus did for his capital and
country besides collecting odds and ends of saints and building a
chapel here and there, and regretfully state that little record of
anything but his piety is handed down to us. Piety, it seems, was no
more compatible with statecraft in the early days of Christendom than it
is to-day, and as Wenceslaus took the pious line, he gave way too much
to the German menace, thus laying up a store of trouble for his
successors and the sons of Czech which lasted well up to the present and
does not appear to be exhausted yet. In the meantime Wenceslaus,
evidently well pleased with himself, continued to set his people a godly
ensample. I should like to know whether they appreciated him to the same
extent as did some members of his family, Boleslav for instance, who
helped Wenceslaus to a crown of celestial glory by the simple process of
hitting him over the head. I am rather inclined to think that the piety
of Wenceslaus interfered with some of the innocent amusements of his
people, among whom paganism was not quite dead yet, as subsequent events
show. There was an interesting burial ground lying on the route which
Wenceslaus would follow when going from the Hradšany to Vyšehrad,
which remained the seat of government for several generations of
Přemysls after the pious prince's demise.... This burial ground, a
very extensive one, is now covered by the Church of Emaus and its
monastic buildings; you can see those twin towers, dark ochre in colour
and topped by characteristic steeple and pinnacles, rising from among
fruit-trees and red-tiled roofs. Na Morani was the name of this burial
ground, after Morana, the goddess of death. It was the correct thing in
pagan society to make pilgrimages to this place in spring: a pleasant
afternoon in a cemetery was a pastime as popular then as it appears to
be to-day. The _cachet_ of Na Morani had been rather spoilt by the
erection of a little church some time in the ninth century, perhaps by
Wenceslaus himself. Anyway, the pious prince found this church a
convenient half-way house between Vyšehrad and Hradšany, and he
was wont to put up a prayer or two here before going on to drop a tear
on the Hradšany relics. The little church was dedicated to Cosmas
(not the chronicler) and Damian, saints of the third and fourth
centuries. It is not known why these gentlemen clubbed together to have
a day to themselves, but this need not act as deterrent to anyone who
wishes to observe their day. Wherever pilgrims visit, there you will
find settlements growing up, beginning with booths and shanties of those
who sell appropriate commodities, candles, wreaths and such-like. The
traffic in these articles continues; it was only last Palm Sunday that I
was offered a variety of wreaths to choose from, small wreaths of
snowdrops and fir twigs, to be worn on the wrist, to be blessed by the
priest and then to be left lying about the sitting-room until fit for
the dustbin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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