John Paul II to Archbishop of Prague

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Letter from St. John Paul II to the Archbishop of Prague (2-II-82) VII centenary of the death of the Saint

In the year in which the Church celebrates the eighth centenary of the birth of the seraphic Francis of Assisi, it is appropriate to remember that next March 2 will also mark 700 years of the holy death of the blessed Agnes of Bohemia, which, as well as Saint Clare, faithfully walked in the footsteps of Francis, having left his home, brothers, sisters, mother and father for the love of Christ and to bear witness to his Gospel (cf. Mk 10:29). He lived and died in Prague, but the fame of his virtues spread, already during his life, throughout Europe. Following the example of my predecessors, and in particular of Pope Gregory IX, his contemporary, I too wish to honor this Saint whom the citizens of Prague and the Czech people have invoked for centuries as their patroness before God and who is, at the same time , one of the noblest figures of your nation.

The life of Saint Agnes was extraordinary, as was her personality. Daughter of the King of Bohemia, Premysl Otakar I, Agnes was born at the end of the first decade of the 13th century and was related to the main royal and princely families of Central Europe and Denmark. On his father's side, she descended from the famous lineage of the Bohemian saints Ludmila and Wenceslao; Saint Hedwig of Silesia was her great-aunt; Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, cousin, and Saint Margaret of Hungary, niece. Still, she was able to enjoy the serenity of family life for a short time. When she was only three years old, she was sent with Ana, her older sister, to the monastery of the Cistercian nuns of Trebnica, in Breslau, where Saint Hedwig was then living. It was this relative of hers who taught her the fundamental truths of the faith and the first prayers, and who shaped her in the Christian life. The example of her holy aunt was deeply imprinted on Inés's heart and accompanied her throughout her life. When she was six years old, he went to the Premonstratensian monastery of Doksany, where he learned to read and write. Already at that time he had such a predilection for prayer that she preferred it to games with her companions.

An extraordinary life in the spiritual school of Saint Clare of Assisi

The betrothal to Henry, King of Sicily and Germany, son of Emperor Frederick II, took Agnes at the age of 8 from the tranquility of the monastery and transferred her to the worldly environment of the Vienna court, where she was to receive an education worthy of a future empress. But Agnes did not feel comfortable there. She gave many alms, she mortified herself with frequent fasts and she consecrated herself totally to the Mother of God, wishing to keep her virginity intact. The engagement was annulled, but this did not mean for the Bohemian princess to be freed from the political speculations that were made at her expense at the royal court in Prague. The same Emperor Frederick II wanted her as his wife, and the project faded only thanks to Pope Gregory IX himself, who, at the request of Agnes herself, intervened with her brother. The news of this rejection, motivated by the words of the Apostle: "Let those who enjoy the world live, as if they did not enjoy, because the appearance of this world passes away" (1 Cor 7:31), spread throughout Europe, arousing great admiration.

Agnes wanted with all her heart to live the ideal of the Gospel and "to care about the things of the Lord, to be holy in body and spirit" (1 Cor 7:34), knowing very well that whoever allows himself to be overcome by the love of others earthly goods cannot be enjoyed in the Lord (cf. Saint Gregory the Great, In Ezechielem II, XVIII, ix, 16; CCL 142, p. 896). Having had news of Saint Francis and of the new Order of Saint Clare through some Bohemian nobles who had returned from Italy, she was kindled with desires to follow the poor Christ in total poverty herself. She got rid of all his jewels, ornaments and precious clothes and distributed their amount among the poor, knowing that good works, although they come from expired goods, never perish. The example of Saint Hedwig and Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, "consolation of the indigent", led her to found in Prague a hospital with an attached fellowship, the Crucifers of the Red Star - who later became Canons Regular - (cf Pontifical Annuario 1981, page 1.207), dedicated to the care of the sick. Agnes, for her part, entered the monastery of the Poor Clares, which she herself had previously built in Prague on the banks of the Vltava, in the neighborhood that still today bears the name of "Na Franzisku", Saint Francis. "Like a dove, she flew from the deluge of the corrupted world to the ark of holy order" (J. Kapistrán Vyskocil, Legenda blahoslavené Anezly a ctyri listv svaté Kláry, Prague 1932, p. 107), accompanied by five other young women, daughters of the principal Prague noble families. She was joined in the monastery by other five Poor Clares from Trent, expressly sent by Saint Clare. She then sent her a letter from San Damiano, in which she was pleased by the fame of Agnes, "known not only to her, but by almost everyone," and enthusiastically praised her for having preferred to marry Christ to all the honors of the world, choosing with all her heart "the most holy poverty and bodily pains" to become the wife of "the noblest Spouse" (Letter I).

In this way, one of the most beautiful friendships emerged between the two women of God. Despite the fact that they could not meet on this earth, and despite the great difference in their lives, they felt united in the same love for Christ and in the same desire for holiness.

Thanks to the example of Agnes, the monastery of the Poor Clares in Prague became a home that gave rise to other monasteries of the same Order in Bohemia, Poland and other countries.

Agnes, for her part, even renounced her right to the hospital founded by her, which would have supplied the Poor Clares with the necessary food, stating that "she would rather suffer indigence and misery than renounce the poverty of Christ" (Vyskocil, op. Cit. ., p. 109).

The charity that burned in her heart did not allow her, however, to close herself in a sterile solitude, but rather led her to put herself at the service of all. She cared for sick sisters, cured lepers and those afflicted with contagious diseases, washed their clothes and mended them at night, giving proof that the edifice of her spiritual life was founded on the solid foundation of humility. In this way, she became the mother of the destitute, conquering, in the hearts of the poor and humble of Prague, a place that has been reserved for her for centuries.

Her charity was nourished by prayer centered on the passion of Christ. The suffering Christ was for her, in fact, the expression of supreme love and his cross comforted her especially in the last years of her life, when, with heroic patience, without ever regretting, she endured misfortunes, injustices, needs and diseases, following Christ to the end. He loved solitude as an occasion to engage in prayer and contemplation during which he fell into frequent ecstasy. She did not speak much to her religious sisters, but when she did, her words were fired with love for Christ and desire for paradise, so that she could only barely hide her tears. He guarded, as a precious inheritance from Francis and Clare, the veneration of the Eucharist, and it was his merit that this veneration also penetrated other monasteries of the Order, culminating later in the desire for daily communion.

But suffering accompanied Agnes continuously. She fell ill frequently. When on one occasion, convinced that the end was near, she wanted to receive the viaticum, an inner voice assured her that all the members of her family would precede her in eternity. And in fact, during his long life he saw his father die, several relatives, his brothers and sisters and, among them, King Wenceslas himself - whom he had managed to reconcile with his rebellious son Premysl Otakar in his same monastery, where he witnessed his kiss of peace - and almost all of his children. To drink the cup of pain to the end, on August 26, 1278, during the Evening Service, he had a vision of the tragic death of his nephew Premysl Otakar II, who fell that same day at the battle of Morasvke Pole.

Clare, her favorite sister, also died many years before her, that is, 1253, the year her father died. The friendship between Agnes and Clara lasted two decades and was strengthened and purified in such a way that the Italian Saint loved the Sana Bohema as if she were both her mother and her daughter. Before dying he said goodbye to her with a moving letter in which he called her "half of his soul" (Letter IV).

The life of Agnes was extinguished like a votive candle in particularly sad circumstances. After the death of Premysl Otakar II, Bohemia was occupied by foreign armies, disorder and violence reigned, it was dying of famine and plague, and, at the door of the Poor Clares, whose pantries were empty, hungry dying piled up in seek help. In the midst of these horrors, Agnes, who was already venerated as a saint, ended her earthly existence on March 2, 1282. Upon leaving this world she was comforted by the affection of the nuns and the Friars Minor who attended her, and for her burning desire to find the heavenly Spouse. Before she died, she still exhorted the nuns to love Him faithfully and to follow Him in humility and poverty, always remaining faithful to his Vicar and to the See of Rome, according to the example of Saints Francis and Clare.

Testimony and message for our time

Thus, in those sad times, the Bohemians, who in the midst of vexation and abandonment, begged their national patron Saint Wenceslaus to "not let them or their descendants perish" (Hymn to Saint Wenceslaus, which is sung even in the churches), they could also open their hearts to Agnes, daughter of the same royal family, which, from the tribulations of those days, had passed into eternity in order to help them before the throne of her divine Spouse. And so it happened later too. Her compatriots, remembering the goodness and mercy that Saint Agnes showed during her earthly life, sought refuge and help in her, giving rise to a cult that my predecessor Pius IX confirmed and approved in 1874.

And now, my venerable and dear brother, what does your Saint say to you who live today in her land? Above all, she continues to be the model of the perfect woman (cf. Prov 3,10), who knows how to fulfill her femininity in a generous and selfless service that, in her case, encompasses the entire nation, from the royal family to the most humble and marginalized. In her, consecrated virginity, setting her heart free, set her on fire even more with charity to God and to all men (cf. Perfectae caritatis, 12, cited by the Familiaris consortium, 16), bearing witness “that the kingdom of God and His justice is the precious pearl that should be preferred to any other value, even if it is great; indeed, it must be sought as the only definitive value »(Familiaris consortium, 16). Founder of the Order of the Crucifers of the Red Star, still existing, and of the first monastery of the Poor Clares in Bohemian land, Inés also demonstrates the validity of religious institutes, in which brothers and sisters, «following the example of the primitive Church, in which the multitude of those who believed had one heart and one soul alone (cf. Acts 4:32), lead a life in common, persevering in prayer and in the communion of the same Spirit ”(cf. Acts 2.42; Perfectae caritatis, 15). As the true daughter of Saint Francis, Ines knew how to "use temporary goods in such a way that she was able to adhere to the eternal" (Prayer of the 17th Sunday in ordinary time), satiating the hunger of the poor, healing the sick, assisting the elders, stimulating the downcast and thus becoming a bearer of peace, reconciliation, comfort and new hope.

Now, dear brother, is this generous and selfless service not needed in our day as well? Even where there are no hungry in the material sense, how many feel lonely and abandoned, sad and desperate, without the warmth of a sincere affection and without the light of an ideal that does not deceive. Don't they need to find an Agnes in their lives who brings them peace and joy, smiles and hope?

The secret of Saint Agnes was her mission with the divine Spouse, prayer. Prayer that she had learned, when she was still little, from Saint Hedwig; a prayer that became a rest for her soul and an inexhaustible source of the immense strength that he demonstrated in the many trials of his life. What an example for priests and religious, for educators, for families. You are not a Christian without Christ, but you cannot have Christ if you do not seek him in constant and assiduous prayer. "He who abides in me and I in him, the same one bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing" (Jn 15,5).

Saint Agnes, having chosen the Gospel, also lived the Beatitudes. The beatitudes of the poor, of the afflicted, of the humble, of those who hunger and thirst for justice; the beatitudes of the merciful, of the peaceful, of the persecuted (cf. Mt 5,3-10). Her life and especially her last years were not easy. But she, being pure of heart, managed to see God after all human vicissitudes and remained strong and confident, knowing that "God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him" (Rom 8:28).

Agnes was not a marginal episode in your history, but rather represents one of the last and most beautiful flowers of the premyslid dynasty, who entered history with Saint Wenceslas and his Saint Ludmila grandmother, baptized by Saint Methodius. . It is about the roots of your national culture, it is about your spiritual identity. Jealously guard this inheritance, transmit it intact to your children! And may blessed Agnes assist you from heaven as she has assisted so many generations before you during the troubled history of your homeland.

Since, on the other hand, it is a question of a woman apostle of Franciscanism in your land, it is pleasing to me, dear and venerable brother, to use the words of the Poor Little Man of Assisi: have mercy on you. Return his gaze to you and give you peace. " From my heart I send to you, to the most excellent Brothers in the Episcopate, to the priests and seminarians, to the men and women religious and to all the faithful of Czechoslovakia, my particular Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, February 2, 1982, the fourth year of my pontificate.

On the occasion of the seventh centenary of the death of the then Blessed Agnes of Bohemia or Prague, later canonized by John Paul II on November 12, 1989, the Pope addressed to Cardinal Frantisek Tomásek, Archbishop of Prague, the above letter, the translation of which into Spanish we take from L'Osservatore Romano, ed. esp., March 28, 1982.

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