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Redemptorists
The Redemptorists represent a religious community: priests and brothers live and work together. The name of the religious community is derived from the Latin word ‘Redemptor’, i.e. Redeemer. The mission of the Redemptorists is closely connected with Jesus Christ and his redemption. The full name of the community is ‘Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris (C. Ss. R.), i.e. Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.
History and the present
The Congregation of the Redemptorists was founded by St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787). He was a solicitor in Napoli. As he was thirty, he was ordained to the priesthood, and decided to totally assist those people who had no possibility to know the Gospel, namely people living on the margins of society: workmen in docks, people in the countryside and in the mountains in the surroundings of Napoli. After realising their immense spiritual poverty, together with his friends he set up a community of priests in 1732 which should look after the poor. The new community was acknowledged by Pope Benedict XIV as Congregation of the Redemptorists. St Alphonsus is a great personality in the field of moral theology to date; he always stressed God’s love to human being, the role of consciousness and God’s mercy. Following his example, the Redemptorists seek to be good and tireless confessors. The first generation of the Redemptorists helped the abandoned poor living in the Italian countryside in form of parish missions. The parish missions represent a spiritual renewal of parishioners and of the whole parish as a community of Christians, and usually last nine days nowadays.
After the death of the Redemptorists’ founder, the Congregation gradually spread in diverse parts of the world. St Clement Maria Hofbauer (1751-1820), a Czech Redemptorist, succeeded in the expansion of the Congregation from Italy to central Europe. The Redemptorists worked in Poland, Switzerland, France, Germany and Austria during his lifetime. They came to the USA shortly after Hofbauer’s death, and helped emigrants of diverse origins. St John Neumann (1811-1860), another Czech Redemptorist, was the pioneer of the Congragation in the USA; he was later appointed as Bishop of Philadelphia, and founded Catholic education in the USA. The Redemptorists came to Bohemia in 1853. After years of looking for suitable places, they started to administer places of pilgrimage: Svatá Hora (The Holy Mountain) in 1861 and the Mountain of Mother of God in 1883. Prague Province was established in 1901 after secession from Vienna Province. The first half of the 20th century represents a period of extraordinary Redemptorist expansion in Bohemia: the Redemptorists took charge of other places of pilgrimage in Stará Boleslav, Frýdek, Svatý Kámen and Filipov; they settled in cities of Plzeň, Brno and České Budějovice too where they provided diverse groups of society with pastoral care. In addition, they had their own system of education and of formation: a minor seminary in Libějovice, a novitiate, and a theological institute in Obořiště). In these places real luminaries concentrated who excelled in fields exceeding the religious ones even.
In the 1920s the Redemptorist expansion towards the East started. After the foundation of the Polish Province, the Czech Redemptorists came to Slovakia in order to take care of Catholics of both the Roman and Greek rites. A very courageous step represented the departure of a few confreres to eastern Slovakia and to Ukraine. Moreover, they accepted the Greek rite. Blessed Dominic Methodius Trčka (1886-1959), another Czech Redemptorist, did a lot in this area. He became the first Vice-Provincial of the newly founded Province of the Greek rite in Michalovce after the Second World War. However, the second half of the 20th century became a period of martyrdom, sacrifice and of prohibition for the Redemptorists too. This fact resulted in certain stagnation. But even in the communist time they did influence the life of the Church in Bohemia: some of them taught in the Seminary in Litoměřice; a lot of them carried out pastoral work in the diocese of Litoměřice after 1968. Fr Karel Bříza (1926-2001) is a luminary in the field of Church folk music: he is the author of the famous ordinary, and a zealous promoter of Church folk singing. After the collapse of communist regime in 1989, the Redemptorists were weakened due to forty years of the totality. Nevertheless, they succeeded in revival of the religious community life in four houses: at the Holy Mountain, at the Mountain of Mother of God, in Frýdek and in Tasovice. The youth gradually joins the Congregation nowadays.
The present activities of the Redemptorists in Bohemia and Moravia
The Redemptorists represent a religious community: priests and brothers live and work together. The name of the religious community is derived from the Latin word ‘Redemptor’, i.e. Redeemer. The mission of the Redemptorists is closely connected with Jesus Christ and his redemption. The full name of the community is ‘Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris (C. Ss. R.), i.e. Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.
History and the present
The Congregation of the Redemptorists was founded by St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787). He was a solicitor in Napoli. As he was thirty, he was ordained to the priesthood, and decided to totally assist those people who had no possibility to know the Gospel, namely people living on the margins of society: workmen in docks, people in the countryside and in the mountains in the surroundings of Napoli. After realising their immense spiritual poverty, together with his friends he set up a community of priests in 1732 which should look after the poor. The new community was acknowledged by Pope Benedict XIV as Congregation of the Redemptorists. St Alphonsus is a great personality in the field of moral theology to date; he always stressed God’s love to human being, the role of consciousness and God’s mercy. Following his example, the Redemptorists seek to be good and tireless confessors. The first generation of the Redemptorists helped the abandoned poor living in the Italian countryside in form of parish missions. The parish missions represent a spiritual renewal of parishioners and of the whole parish as a community of Christians, and usually last nine days nowadays.
After the death of the Redemptorists’ founder, the Congregation gradually spread in diverse parts of the world. St Clement Maria Hofbauer (1751-1820), a Czech Redemptorist, succeeded in the expansion of the Congregation from Italy to central Europe. The Redemptorists worked in Poland, Switzerland, France, Germany and Austria during his lifetime. They came to the USA shortly after Hofbauer’s death, and helped emigrants of diverse origins. St John Neumann (1811-1860), another Czech Redemptorist, was the pioneer of the Congragation in the USA; he was later appointed as Bishop of Philadelphia, and founded Catholic education in the USA. The Redemptorists came to Bohemia in 1853. After years of looking for suitable places, they started to administer places of pilgrimage: Svatá Hora (The Holy Mountain) in 1861 and the Mountain of Mother of God in 1883. Prague Province was established in 1901 after secession from Vienna Province. The first half of the 20th century represents a period of extraordinary Redemptorist expansion in Bohemia: the Redemptorists took charge of other places of pilgrimage in Stará Boleslav, Frýdek, Svatý Kámen and Filipov; they settled in cities of Plzeň, Brno and České Budějovice too where they provided diverse groups of society with pastoral care. In addition, they had their own system of education and of formation: a minor seminary in Libějovice, a novitiate, and a theological institute in Obořiště). In these places real luminaries concentrated who excelled in fields exceeding the religious ones even.
In the 1920s the Redemptorist expansion towards the East started. After the foundation of the Polish Province, the Czech Redemptorists came to Slovakia in order to take care of Catholics of both the Roman and Greek rites. A very courageous step represented the departure of a few confreres to eastern Slovakia and to Ukraine. Moreover, they accepted the Greek rite. Blessed Dominic Methodius Trčka (1886-1959), another Czech Redemptorist, did a lot in this area. He became the first Vice-Provincial of the newly founded Province of the Greek rite in Michalovce after the Second World War. However, the second half of the 20th century became a period of martyrdom, sacrifice and of prohibition for the Redemptorists too. This fact resulted in certain stagnation. But even in the communist time they did influence the life of the Church in Bohemia: some of them taught in the Seminary in Litoměřice; a lot of them carried out pastoral work in the diocese of Litoměřice after 1968. Fr Karel Bříza (1926-2001) is a luminary in the field of Church folk music: he is the author of the famous ordinary, and a zealous promoter of Church folk singing. After the collapse of communist regime in 1989, the Redemptorists were weakened due to forty years of the totality. Nevertheless, they succeeded in revival of the religious community life in four houses: at the Holy Mountain, at the Mountain of Mother of God, in Frýdek and in Tasovice. The youth gradually joins the Congregation nowadays.
The present activities of the Redemptorists in Bohemia and Moravia
- parish missions
- renewal of spiritual life in parishes
- administration of places of pilgrimage
- confessions
- retreats
- pastoral care of prisoners
- pastoral care of the Vietnamese community living in the Czech Republic
- publication
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Kontakt: Klášter redemptoristů, Hora Matky Boží, Kopeček 1, 561 69 Králíky
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