On the last day of his three-day pastoral visit to the Czech Republic, the
pope celebrated mass in the town of Stará Boleslav, north of Prague, for a
crowd of some 50,000 people. After venerating the remains of St. Václav
(Wenceslas) on the occasion of his feast day, the pope gave a sermon in
praise of the good deeds of the Czech patron saint, who he said could serve
as an example even today, particularly for those who control the fate of
society and the nation. Pope Benedict’s visit to the pilgrimage town of
Stará Boleslav was primarily directed towards young people, who he called
upon to avoid selfish interests and material satisfaction. The pontiff then
returned to Prague to meet some final dignitaries before departing for
Rome.
Pope Benedict is the third pope to visit Stará Boleslav, where Saint
Václav, the Duke of Bohemia, was murdered by order of his brother in 935.
Pope Clement VIII was the first to venerate the saint in 1588, and Pope
John XXIII marked the millennium anniversary of his death there in 1929.