Two Moravian Churches and a brief visit to Poland

Wooden Church in Bílá, Moravia © Ricky Yates

The modern-day state of the Czech Republic is made up of what was historically known as Bohemia and Moravia, together with a small part of Silesia. Bohemia forms the western part of the country with Prague at its centre, whilst Moravia forms the eastern part where the country’s second city Brno, is located. The bulk of Silesia now lies in Poland with only a very small part being contained within the borders of the Czech Republic, in the far north-eastern corner of the country.

On the afternoon of Thursday 30th September, we drove from Litomyšl, which is in East Bohemia, further eastwards into South Moravia, to the little town of Vizovice. The main claim to fame of Vizovice is that the very best variety of Slivovice (Czech plum brandy) is distilled within the town, a fact that we were told every time we ever mentioned that we were going there!

We spent from that Thursday evening, through to lunchtime on Saturday 2nd October, in a simple but pleasant ‘glorified youth hostel’, located in the beautiful wooded hills above Vizovice, attending the synod of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic. We were given the synod dates after we had booked our holiday dates so decided to incorporate our synodical attendance into our travel plans. As the discussions were all in Czech and mainly about a new Church constitution which was finally adopted early on the Friday evening, I won’t write anything more about it here in this blog post other than saying that we were very well looked after and enjoyed the fellowship.

Following the end of the synod, we left Vizovice and set off to drive through the beautiful wooded hills of the far east of Moravia. Our journey took us through numerous small towns and villages, many of which welcome walkers and cyclists in summer and skiers in winter. Our scenic journey briefly took us across the border into Slovakia before, a few km later, we returned to the Czech Republic. Soon afterwards, we passed through the village of Bílá and spotted this beautiful wooden Church. Apparently, there are only a few of these in Moravia but are more commonly found in Slovakia.

We ended the day in the somewhat industrial town of Ceský Tešín which is located in the Czech part of Silesia. In many respects, Ceský Tešín is only half a town – the other half lies across the Olše River in Poland and is called Cieszyn. As part of the settlement that followed the end of the First World War, in July 1920 the town was divided between the newly formed nation of Czechoslovakia and Poland, using the natural divide of the Olše River.

Having found a very pleasant and reasonably priced room in the Central Hotel in Ceský Tešín, we decided to take the advice of our guidebook which declared that the most interesting and historic parts of the town were on the other side of the river. So we set out on a short walk and crossed Hlavní Most, one of the two bridges across the Olše, and entered Poland, the first time I had ever set foot in the country and only the second time that Sybille had.

Unfortunately, it was just getting dark as we walked up a cobbled street into the main square of Cieszyn so I don’t have any pictures though we were able to enjoy the architecture as some buildings were floodlit. And after Sybille had withdrawn some Zloty from a Polish ATM, we enjoyed a pleasant drink and meal in a bar-restaurant on the main square before returning across the river to our bed in the Czech Republic.

Chapel dedicated to the late Brother Roger of Taize, Ceský Tešín © Ricky Yates

The next day being Sunday, we joined the congregation who worship in this rather unusual Church. It is located behind a supermarket and the building was formerly a flower shop and a shoe repair shop! Now it is the Chapel dedicated to the late Brother Roger of Taize where a small Old Catholic congregation worship, led by Dr Cezary Mizia. Cezary is Polish and was originally a Roman Catholic priest. He conducted the service, partly in Czech and partly in Polish. He preached in Czech and English for our benefit!

Interior of Chapel dedicated to the late Brother Roger of Taize, Ceský Tešín © Ricky Yates
The Olše River & Hlavní Most - Poland on the left & the Czech Republic on the right © Ricky Yates

After the service, we walked with Cezary’s wife Alice and their little baby Jeremias, back over the border into Poland where I took this photo from the castle mound looking down on Hlavní Most and the Olše River. We did this whilst Cezary was busy back in their apartment, preparing lunch for us all. Lunch was a little like French Sunday lunch with innumerable courses! However, it did have a Polish flavour as Sybille & Cezary both downed at least three shots of Polish vodka which had to accompany certain courses! Alice and I were fortunately able to avoid the vodka as we both had the excuse of needing to drive later in the day.

It was late afternoon on Sunday 3rd October before we finally bid farewell to Cezary, Alice & Jeremias and set out once again to explore more of the Czech Republic. Before doing so, I helped with feeding Jeremias his lunch as you can see below!

Me feeding Jeremias © Sybille Yates

Litomyšl

Town Hall in Litomyšl © Ricky Yates

Yet again, I have to start a blog post by apologising for not posting anything here for the past three weeks. My chief excuse is that Sybille & I have been on away on holiday for two of those weeks only returning to Prague last Tuesday (12th) in the afternoon. We’ve spent our time exploring various parts of the Czech Republic with little forays into each of the country’s neighbours – Slovakia, Poland, Austria & Germany. Over the next couple of weeks, I hope to write a series of posts about our travels & introduce readers to the delights of the Czech Republic that lie outside of Prague.

On the evening of Tuesday 28th September, we met my former colleague Rev’d Kathy Ferguson, at Prague airport and brought her to the Chaplaincy flat. Then on the Wednesday morning, I took her on a quick tour of St. Clement’s Church & the Old Catholic’s Communio Centre so she was familiar with both places as she was to spend the next two weeks as my locum priest as well as taking care of Oscar!

Sybille & I left Prague on the afternoon of Wednesday 29th September and initially drove to the small town of Litomyšl which is about 180 km east of Prague. Here we stayed overnight with Steve & Paula, an American couple who had couchsurfed with us in Prague in late July this year & who Sybille also knew through Shutterstock where both she & Steve sell their photographs. Steve had created a wonderful homemade soup as well as a pear cobbler and we feasted on both as part of our evening meal.

Smetanovo námestí in Litomyšl © Ricky Yates






The next morning, we set off to explore the architectural and other delights of Litomyšl. The historic centre is made up of a cobbled ‘square’, (effectively two isosceles triangles whose acute angles meet in the middle), which is surrounded by a series of arcaded buildings. One of the oldest, which dates from the 1640s, is known as ‘The Knight’s House’ and is an excellent preserved example of renaissance burgher housing.

The Knight's House, Litomyšl © Ricky Yates
Statue of Bedrich Smetana, Litomyšl © Ricky Yates

As well as its architecture, Litomyšl’s other claim to fame is being the birthplace of the composer Bedrich Smetana. His statue stands at the far end of the ‘square’ which in turn is named Smetanovo námestí after him.

Sgraffito in Litomyšl © Ricky Yates
Sgraffito in Litomyšl © Ricky Yates

Nearby is a high school building which is decorated with sgraffito, a form of decoration we were to see on many more buildings during our travels.

Chateau at Litomyšl © Ricky Yates

Also nearby is a 16th century chateau, to which additional baroque features have been added, again with sgraffito decoration . Since 1999 it has been part of Unesco’s World Heritage List and it is very easy to see why!

Detail of the sgraffito decoration on Litomyšl Chateau © Ricky Yates
Diving female figure by Olbram Zoubek © Ricky Yates

In the grounds of the chateau and in the nearby monastery garden are various figures, the work of the Czech sculptor Olbram Zoubek. The sculpture pictured here is one of four ladies surrounding a pool into which they are all about to dive.

A wonderful combination of friendly welcoming hosts, a delightful little town, together with pleasant sunny weather made this an excellent beginning to our October holiday in the Czech Republic.

The Eastern Archdeaconry Synod in Vienna

Christ Church, Vienna © Ricky Yates

On Thursday 16th September, only a week after our previous trip, we once more drove the length of the Prague – Brno motorway. This time we then headed further south over the border into Austria and travelled onwards to Vienna in order to attend the annual meeting of our Eastern Archdeaconry Synod.

As I’ve blogged previously, St. Clement’s Anglican Episcopal Church, Prague is part of the Church of England’s forty fourth diocese, the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe. As with the other 43 dioceses that make up the Church of England, the Diocese in Europe is divided into Archdeaconries – in our case, into seven Archdeaconries. Even the smallest of these, the Archdeaconry of Switzerland, covers the whole of one country. And Prague belongs to the largest of the seven, the Eastern Archdeaconry, which consists of everything eastwards from Poland, Czech Republic and Austria, including all of the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey and all the former Soviet Union except for the Baltic States.

Once a year, each Archdeaconry has an Archdeaconry Synod where the clergy, together with elected lay representatives, meet to discuss and report on issues facing our scattered congregations, to pray and to study, as well as to make decisions regarding the common life of our chaplaincies. Because of the distances involved, the synod meetings have to be residentiary. However, unlike in 2009 when the synod meeting took place in Izmir, Turkey, this time it was hosted by Christ Church, Vienna, meaning the car journey to get there took half a day rather than three & a half days!

The synod meeting took place in Pallottihaus, a Roman Catholic retreat house situated in the Vienna suburbs. It was an ideal venue with its own Chapel for worship, an excellent meeting room for listening to speakers and the discussion of synod business, as well as comfortable double and single rooms for overnight accommodation.

The major item for discussion was a plan, approved in principle by the Diocesan Synod earlier in the year, for the creation of four so-called ‘freestanding Archdeacons’ to provide better pastoral care and support for the clergy and Chaplaincies of our far flung diocese. The seven current Archdeacons have the almost impossible task of both being Archdeacon and being the Chaplain of a large Chaplaincy. My Archdeacon Patrick Curran is both Chaplain of Christ Church, Vienna as well as Archdeacon of the East.

The major issue regarding the scheme is, not surprisingly, one of cost. There is hope of some central funding coming from England and also the possibility of a private donor helping with accommodation. But inevitably, part of the funding will have to come from increased contributions from individual Chaplaincies. The Archdeaconry Synod gave its backing to the plan recognising the need for it and accepting the inevitable additional costs that will ensue.

On the morning of Sunday 19th September, the synod concluded with a Eucharist at Christ Church, in the centre of Vienna. The synod members joined the regular Vienna congregation and Archdeacon Patrick was the celebrant and preacher.

The Christ Church building itself is a typical product of nineteenth century British diplomacy and politics. It is situated directly opposite the British Embassy and even has a memorial on an inside wall commemorating the reign of Queen Victoria! However, like nearly all the Chaplaincies in our diocese, the Christ Church congregation has long since ceased to be solely ‘the Brits abroad’. As with St. Clement’s, Prague, there were a large variety of nationalities represented within the packed congregation including many black Africans.

After the service, refreshments and a sandwich lunch were served in the nearby parish centre, just around the corner from the Church. Unfortunately, I had to decline the alcoholic liquid refreshment on offer because of needing to drive back to Prague straightaway afterwards.

Next year, the Archdeaconry Synod will meet in Bucharest and as in 2009, Sybille and I will probably try and combine our attendance with two weeks of annual leave making the journey to Romania all the more worthwhile.

An English – Czech Wedding in Moravia

With Lenka & Phil in the courtyard of Valtice Castle © Ricky Yates

On Friday 10th September, I conducted my third wedding in just under four weeks when Phil, an Englishman, married Lenka, a Czech. However, unlike the two previous weddings which I’ve described in earlier blogposts, this wedding took place over 270 km southeast of Prague in the small Moravian town of Valtice which lies very close to the border with both Austria and Slovakia.

In order to be sure that I arrived on time for the wedding and in a well prepared state, we chose to drive to Valtice the previous afternoon. The bulk of the journey was along the Prague-Brno motorway which was originally constructed during the Communist era. The section nearer to Brno still has the original concrete road surface which is horribly uneven and extremely noisy to drive on. But other than some slight traffic delays leaving Prague, the rest of the journey was fine except for having to  drive through a couple of very heavy downpours.

We arrived in Valtice around 8pm just as it was getting dark. We managed to make phone contact with Phil the bridegroom who met us in the town square and directed us to Penzion Duo where he had kindly booked a room for Sybille and me to stay for two nights. Once we had unloaded our belongings and safely parked the car, we joined Phil and his father Tim at Avalon restaurace a cajovna for our evening meal.

After a good nights sleep, the Friday morning dawned fine and sunny. We were treated to a late breakfast at Restaurace Albero which is where all the guests had been asked to gather and to where we all returned later in the afternoon and evening for the wedding reception.

Valtice Castle © Ricky Yates

The wedding itself took place in the chapel of Valtice Castle, an amazing baroque structure that used to be the main residence of the Liechtenstein family who now reside in the Principality of the same name having fled Valtice as the Soviet army advanced eastwards in April 1945. It provided a wonderful venue for the marriage service as well the perfect location for photographs afterwards.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the whole day was the keeping of a variety of wedding customs, some of which are peculiar to Moravia. Before the happy couple were allowed to lead their guests into the wedding reception, they had to cut a loaf of bread in two with a wooden knife. Then a plate was broken and Phil and Lenka were given a dustpan and brush to sweep up all the broken pieces, to promote the idea of being able to work together in a healthy manner throughout their marriage.

Phil was then required to carry his bride over the threshold and into the reception. However, because the restaurant is on the first floor, this meant carrying her up two flights of stairs! Then once seated, a large towel was wrapped around the two of them and they were required to feed each other from one bowl of soup using one spoon, once more to encourage them to cooperate together.

The first dance with bubbles being blown © Ricky Yates

Later, when Phil and Lenka took to the dance floor for the first dance, various guests blew bubbles at them, as Sybille and I both agreed, far nicer than having rice or confetti thrown at you! This was a custom that we had already seen previously at Jan and Allison’s wedding six days earlier.

Trying to catch the bouquet! © Ricky Yates

Finally, there was the more widespread tradition of the bride throwing her bouquet over her shoulder with her unmarried female friends and relatives lined up trying to catch it and thus be the next one to get married.

This was the first time we had visited southern Moravia other than driving through it on the motorway on our way to Turkey October 2009. We very much liked what we saw and hope to return there and explore the area further, hopefully in the not too distant future.

A Czech – American Wedding

Me, Allison & Jan inside St. Clement's Church following their marriage service © Sybille Yates

Yesterday, Saturday 4th September, I conducted my second wedding of the year when Jan, a Czech, married Allison, an American. Like my Scottish – Slovak wedding of three weeks earlier, Jan & Allison’s wedding took place in St. Clement’s Church with a similar wonderful mix of nationalities in the congregation including Czech, American, Canadian, German, French and English.

Allison and Jan first met whilst postgraduate students at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. They are both undertaking research in aspects of political science and have spent the past year studying in Berlin.

I first met the happy couple just over a year ago when they attended worship at St. Clements one Sunday morning in August 2009. But it was in December last year that Allison got in contact with me, asking about the possibility of being married at St. Clement’s – wanting to know it was legally possible and what would be involved.

Since the beginning of the year, I have met with Allison and Jan on several occasions, and in between have exchanged numerous emails. More than any wedding couple I can remember, they have wanted ‘Marriage Preparation’; to work through in advance of their wedding, the issues that face any couple entering upon a marital relationship and particularly those additional ones that face a couple who enter upon a cross-cultural marriage.

We’ve also spent much time working upon the content of their marriage service. Whilst sticking to the framework of the Anglican liturgy, as I insisted they had to, between us, we successfully wove in a variety of other material that was personal to the two of them.

All of this preparatory work resulted in a wonderful marriage service with contributions in English and Czech from family members on both sides. A very well produced bilingual order of service allowed everyone present to understand what was being said even if it wasn’t in a language they could understand.

Jan & Allison singing to each other and their guests © Ricky Yates

Following the marriage service in central Prague, the wedding reception took place in the grounds of the home of Jan’s mother Lenka, in the village of Klokocna, about 30 miles / 48 kilometres east of the city. As well as speeches by both the bride and the groom, they also joined together to sing a song, to each other, and to their assembled guests. That certainly was a ‘first’ for me and I’ve been involved in a large number of weddings over the past 21 years!

There was an abundance of food which celebrated the very best of Czech cuisine all prepared by Mr Sapík from the local village restaurant and pension ‘U Kone’. All this could be washed down either by Czech beer or Moravian wine. Music, dancing and entertainment continued until midnight. Then, when festivities ended, Sybille and I just walked 100 metres down the road to ‘Penzion U Kone’ where we spent a peaceful night before driving back to central Prague and St. Clement’s Church on Sunday morning, ready for worship at 11am.

‘Penzion U Kone’ , Klokocna © Ricky Yates