Final celebrations marking 300 years since St. John of Nepomuk’s beatification

Weeks of events marking the 300th anniversary of the beatification of Jan Nepomucký (St. John of Nepomuk) culminated in his hometown with a Sunday mass led by Bishop Tomáš Holub and a concert by opera singer Eva Urbanová in his honour. An evening mass is also set for Monday, exactly three centuries after he was beatified on 31 May 1721.

Nepomucký, a court priest, died a martyr’s death after invoking the wrath of King Wenceslas IV. Legend has it that the king had him tortured, killed and thrown into the Vltava River because he refused to divulge the queen’s secrets, told to him in confession.

Historical evidence points to him having been killed for siding with Rome in a political dispute over who would become the next Abbot of Kladruby. He is revered as the patron saint of Bohemia and a protector from floods and drowning.