Throughout the events they experienced at these important historical sites, they were symbolically accompanied by St. Zdislava, a prominent Czech saint and patron saint of the sick, the poor and families, whom they "clothed in Czech crystal". Together with the Czech and Moravian bishops, they brought her in the form of a Crystal Monstrance and a reliquary to the hands of Pope Francis as a fragile and pure symbol of love, help and faith.

 

An unforgettable and powerful spiritual moment was the visit to St. Peter's Basilica and the stop at the altar of our main patron saint, St. Wenceslas, where Father Rudolf said a prayer and sang the St. Wenceslas Chant...

 

And it is St. Wenceslas who in the coming week will once again bring Rudolf Repka, Jiri Pachinko and their families and friends to St. Peter's Cathedral, where on Wednesday, September 28, they will be part of the solemn Mass celebrated in his honor at this sacred place by the 20th Bishop of Litoměřice, His Excellency, Msgr. Mgr. Jan Baxant.

 

As a glass symbol of their second trip to the Vatican and as a tribute to our greatest patron, Rudolf Repka, Jiří Pačinek and David Sobotka decided to create the Crystal Helmet of St. Wenceslas and as an official gift to the Embassy and an expression of their respect to personally present it to the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Vatican, His Excellency Mr. Václav Kolaj, on the eve of the national holiday and the solemn Mass.

 

The gift consists of a crystal helmet, on which the original motifs of this St Wenceslas armour are depicted by sandblasting and engraving, and a glass liturgical cushion on which the helmet is placed, bearing the words of the St Wenceslas chant "St Wenceslas, Duke of the Czech Land, let us not perish, nor those to come".

 

This object was again created in northern Bohemia, in the picturesque glassmaking village of Kunratice near Cvikov, in the heart of the Crystal Valley, a region of glassmakers where the tradition of glassmaking has been passed down from generation to generation for centuries. Just like the legacy of St. Wenceslas, which in these difficult times is increasingly gaining importance and relevance for the future direction of the Czech and Moravian nation.

 

In Kunratice u Cvikova on 22 September 2022

Photo illustrative, source: iRozhlas