Saint John Nepomucene
![[painting of Saint John]](saintj17.jpg "10kb jpg painting of Saint John Nepomucene, date unknown, artist unknown; please do not write to ask about the image")
- Also known as
-
John of Nepomuk
John Wolflin
Martyr of the Confessional
- Memorial
- 16 May
- Profile
- While a child, he was cured by the prayers of his parents; they then consecrated him to God.
Priest.
Great preacher who converted thousands.
Vicar-general of Prague.
Counselor and advocate of the poor in the court of King Wenceslaus IV.
Refused several bishoprics.
Confessor to the queen, and 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 as John Wolflin at Nepomuk, Bohemia
- Died
- burned, then tied to a wheel and thrown off a bridge into the Moldau River on 20 March 1393; on the night of his death, seven stars hovered over the placed where he drowned
- Name Meaning
- God is gracious; gift of God
- Beatified
- 31 May 1721 by Pope Innocent XIII
- Canonized
- 19 March 1729
- Patronage
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against calumnies
against indiscretions
against slander
Bohemia
bridge builders
bridges
confessors
Czechoslovakia
floods
for discretion
for good confession
running water
silence
- Additional Information
-
Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
Google Directory
New Catholic Dictionary
Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints, by Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson
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