Also known as
- Jan Nepomucký
- John of Nepomuk
- John Wolflin
- Johannes von Nepomuk
- Martyr of the Confessional
Profile
While a child, he was cured by the prayers of his parents; they then consecrated him to God. Priest. Known as a great preacher who converted thousands. Vicar-general of Prague (in the modern Czech Republic). Counselor and advocate of the poor in the court of King Wenceslaus IV. He refused several bishoprics. Confessor to the queen, he taught her to bear the cross of her ill-tempered husband the king. Imprisoned for refusing to disclose the queen‘s confession to the king. When he continued to honor the seal of the confessional, he was ordered executed. Symbol of Bohemian nationalism. His image has been used in art as a symbol of the sacrament of Confession, and many bridges in Europe bear his likeness as their protector.
Born
- c.1340 at Nepomuk, Bohemia (in modern Czech Republic) as John Wolflin
- burned, then tied to a wheel and thrown off a bridge into the Moldau River (in the modern Czech Republic) to drown on 20 March 1393
- on the night of his death, seven stars hovered over the place where he drowned
- against calumnies
- against floods
- against indiscretions
- against slander
- Bohemia
- bridge builders
- bridges
- confessors
- Czech Republic
- for discretion
- for good confession
- Prague, Czech Republic, archdiocese of
- running water
- silence
Additional Information
- Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
- Catholic Encyclopedia
- Dominican Adaptations from the Catalogus Hagiographicus OP
- Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
- New Catholic Dictionary
- Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
- Roman Martyrology
- Wikipedia
MLA Citation
- “Saint John Nepomucene“. Saints.SQPN.com. 25 May 2013. Web. 26 May 2013. <>