Diary

I visited it early in the morning. The grey clouds made it an intimate  encounter, as if with Jesus still within Mary`s womb. The stairs to the city of Příbram below were still pretty dark, yet there was no need to feel worried. The chapel itself seemed guarded as the most precise secret but the wide open court presented the secret to the world in the same moment. There were random passers by, a few people waited for a mass, I met a woman on the stairs coming from the city.  VIEW ARTICLE

This visit took place many years ago, it was a completely new region for me. I remember that I was surprised by the unpretending beauty of nature and  the desolation of buildings in the region stripped from the past and struggling to make up for some future. Yet, there must have been centuries when pilgrims from all around the mountainous region gathered around the tiny clay statue of Our Lady, bringing their own sorrows to her compassion. And the resurrected grammar school nearby casts the first beam of light returning to this beautiful place.  VIEW ARTICLE

So close to German borders... This must have been a vivid center of religious life in the past, that is a little bit lost in the atheistic Northern Bohemia nowadays, as so many other churches and chapels. We were touched by the story of the young weaver, Magdalena Kade, seriously ill since nineteen, whose state further deteriorated after 10 years of suffering. Blisters appeared all over her body and doctors decided the illness was no longer curable. In the middle of the night, Virgin Mary appeared to her and said in her native German dialect: "Mein Kind, von jetzt an heilt’s." She was completely healed and even started working the next morning.  READ ARTICLE

We stopped here on our way to the Bohemian Switzerland national park . Three out of the first four Czech minor basilicas are here, in the originally partly German regions, religious and lively 100 years ago, atheistic and a bit desolated nowadays. Actually, Česká Lípa is a living parish, but the former monastery is a museum and the church was closed when we stopped by.  READ ARTICLE

My very first visit? I wish I remembered more, I think I was a child... And then again in my important years, influenced by the music of Hradistan. And then again with my family, and with a group visiting all Cistercian monasteries in Moravia. There must be some invisible bond - this monastery was not dissolved by the Austrian emperor Joseph II only because our monastery in Zdar offered itself instead. READ ARTICLE

I was really young at my first visit, still at the grammar school, we slept here with a friend at a seminar organised on HR and Staffing in Large Companies. If only I knew I would end up in the HCM company, I really disliked the topics back then. But it gave me the first insight into this beautiful Benedictine monastery. And a few years later, we played the Passover theater adoption right in the basilica, impressed by the personality of the then prior, later abbot Prokop Siostrzonek. Many further visits later: a glance from the tram or car window, a silent morning mass in the middle of the week. READ ARTICLE

I've always only walked around. Time for a proper visit:-) This is one of the oldest places in Prague, one of the first monasteries here. Place of royal burials, place of baroque beauty. King Přemysl Otakar II founded it when he got hold of St James's relic. READ ARTICLE

I have the most beautiful memories of this place, probably because I was here twice, always with my most loved ones. The first time with my wife when we celebrated 10 years of our marriage, the second time a year later with the whole family and our niece and nephew. We used both visits to hike around in the beautiful nature, the second time we even slept in the pilgrim hostel. The views were moving and the opportunity to pray, attend mass and go for confession to one of the local Jesuit fathers completed the experience. READ ARTICLE

I've been here many times. Our abbot Vejmluva in Zdar originaly came from a family of the local brewmaster. Our friends got married here. And I walked, drove, rode a bus or tram past the abbey almost daily in certain times of my life. Yet, I've learned many incredibly interesting details only after a couple of serious visits in the past few years. The history of the queen Eliška Rejčka, of Johann Gregor Mendel, of the beer brewing tradition, of the local hospital, of the education and choirmaster career of the famous Moravian composer Leos Janacek, of the vineyards, or of the miraculous painting of Virgin Mary is still inspiring and alive. READ ARTICLE

I've paid many visits over the years and spent a week in the hotel within the monastery premises with my colleagues and later on with my family. This is a luxury spot in the very heart of Prague with incomparable views and a wealth of important cultural institutions as well as tourist attractions. Lots of the current monks come from Jihlava, a city near mine, and my friends knew many of them, including their abbot. I didn't and always felt a bit distant. But I understand that liturgy and choir prayers form the core of their lives. READ ARTICLE

I only fully understood that moment many, many years later. The moment when we were standing there on the hill under the very cloudy sky with the views all over the Haná plain, the rain was about to start any moment. Holy Father, right on the verge between his years of force and years of illness, meditating about the Our Father prayer. I visited it again, on sunny days, but nothing somehow compares to that grey cloudy afternoon. READ ARTICLE

We spent a beautiful night in the Dominican monastery next to the basilica with my mum, wife and our still very small kids. We were shown the grave of St Zdislava in the evening and woke up into a beautiful sunny morning. There was an exposition of paintings by Míla Doleželová, we were stunned by beautiful large eyes and vivid colours. READ ARTICLE

I stopped here for a short time on my business trip to Katowice. However, my far more important visits took place when I was lying in the hospital and watched the daily broadcasts of the mass at 8:00 AM. I believe that this is one of the important roles of basilicas - they should not stay enclosed in themselves, in their past glory, but continue spreading the gospel to the world. READ ARTICLE

Many times that I stopped here on my visits to Prague, first aged ten or so. The most precious memories are connected with a visit when my friend Barbara was awarded British Prime Minister's Points of Light award in the local school building. And then again, with my wife, when staying in a hotel nearby, we prayed for our kids and admired the graves of the most important Czechs on the local cemetery. READ ARTICLE

This is my home, the place close to my heart. We celebrate our Sunday and weekday masses here, we have baptised our kids in the well chapel, we pray to the Virgin Mary for our health and families. Saint Zdislava's family members are buried here, she entered heaven in the same year when the monastery was founded. 750 years of the prayers of Cistercian monks are within these walls. READ ARTICLE

I arrived on Tuesday morning, it was supposed to be open since 11 AM and they were a bit late. Yet, there were many people trying to open the door already before that. I was surprised, my assumption was there are not too many church visitors in Prague. And the people who entered after the basilica opened, sat down and prayed. There was someone playing the organ. READ ARTICLE

I stopped on the way in the evening, it was a typical grey autumn evening and the darkness started to fall down but the church was still a major dominant of the town.

The second time, I stopped on my way to Munich, I expected a sunny day but the fogs fell down all around the Danube river plain and I did not get any better exterior photos. But the interior made up for it this time, the parishioners were starting to decorate it for Christmas and kids were rehearsing a Christmas play all around the altar. I admired beautifully renovated mural frescoes and the clean lines of the architecture. READ ARTICLE

I visited it twice, ten years apart. The first time, I stepped in exactly in the middle of a mass in a small chapel used as an entrance and hosting the icon of our lady. The second time, I came in early morning and planned to arrive on time for the mass in the same place. I had the impression of visiting the true spiritual heart of the city. READ ARTICLE

I visited it twice in the span of ten years. The place hasn't changed, it was exactly as I remembered it, a silent spot a little bit outside of the touristy city center full of history. Both times, I spent several minutes strolling around, praying and taking photos. READ ARTICLE

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