The emblem of the Military Order of Crusaders of the Red Star (Knights of the Cross with the Red Star). Image by: Life of Riley, Wikimedia Commons
Newly uncovered relic of St Agnes to be displayed in Prague
praguemonitor.com | Nov 18, 2011
Prague, Nov 16 (CTK) – The Knights of the Cross with the Red Star order has uncovered a new relic of St Agnes of Bohemia (1211-1282), a part of her hand’s bone, which will be displayed at a large exhibition on her life in Prague, Marek Pucalik, a co-author of the display, told reporters Wednesday.
The Knights of the Cross with the Red Star, the only religious order originating in the Czech lands, was established by Agnes of Bohemia, a princess of the House of Premyslids who opted for a life of charity and piety, in the 13th century.
Pucalik said the Clarisses, nuns of the Order of Saint Clare (whose first convent in Prague was founded by Agnes of Bohemia) had held the relic.
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Then it was moved to Vienna where it stayed until the 1990s and later it was transported to the Czech Republic, he added.
Pucalik noted that the authentic character of the relic was confirmed by the church administration and not by researchers.
The exhibition entitled “St Agnes of Bohemia – Princess and Nun” will be opened at St Agnes Convent in the Old Town of Prague next week, as a culmination of the St Agnes Year celebrating the 800th anniversary of her birth.
The exhibition will offer about 300 exhibits, including some items loaned from abroad.
The unsuccessful search for St Agnes’s bodily remains in Prague’s Hastal Church last February drew attention of the public and the media.
A relic is the remains of a saint as well as other items associated with his/her life, such as a piece of clothes or other personal belongings.
So far the only known relic of St Agnes of Bohemia has been a lower jaw preserved in the collections of the Escorial royal chateau near Madrid.
Spanish King Juan Carlos donated the last tooth from the jaw to the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star in Vienna in the 1990s. The St Vitus Chapter in Prague received a part of the bone after a request by Czech Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek.
However, the origin and genuine character of the relic is being questioned.
Pope John Paul II canonised Blessed Agnes in November 1989, a few days before the Velvet Revolution that prompted the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Catholic believers therefore connect St Agnes with the restoration of freedom and democracy in the country.
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