Prague, May 2 (CTK) – This year’s Church Night in the Czech Republic, an event that started in 2009 engaging some 25 churches initially, will offer an intriguing accompanying programme situated in more than 1,300 participating churches on May 25.
The visitors will be able to see church towers, sacristies, chapels, cloisters and paradise gardens, enjoy commented tours, listen to music, and let themselves be inspired in silence or prayer or in encounters with others.
In the past years, the event attracted over 500,000 visitors, not only regular church-goers.
Various concerts, be they classic or modern, of organ, gospel and choral music, as well as multi-genre performances are included in the programme, which is inspired by the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia and by the 50th anniversary of the Prague Spring communist reform movement this year.
In Brno, a tram will be passing through the town and passengers will be able to meet film directors, teachers and actors and bishop of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, Juraj Doval, on it.
In Vranov near Brno, visitors may enjoy commented tours of the Lichtenstein family crypt and videomapping.
In Heralec, also south Moravia, an overview of the entire work of Baroque architect Jan Blazej Santini (1677-1723) can be seen through a 3D visualisation.
Marie Pospisilova, from the Brno diocese, said various workshops have been prepared as well. Thus a horse can be crafted in Trebic for the patron of the St Martin Church, mosaics can be created in Rajhrad and the fresco painting technique can be explored in Vranov.
The Hradec Kralove diocese, east Bohemia, has prepared a theme game named ‘Save Catherine’ dedicated to St Catherine, the patron saint worshipped by emperor Charles IV, who won on November 25, 1332, on the saint’s name day, the battle near San Felice in Italy and attributed the victory to her protection. There have been sixty churches dedicated to St Catherine in Bohemia. The town of Hradec Kralove has prepared two cycle paths with five and six stops in sacral places.
The Litomerice diocese, north Bohemia, has prepared morning programmes for schools, according to Kristyna Solnickova from its bishopric. The church in Zibridice will be open for the first time after a period of 60 years. Three hundred candles will be lit in Kamenicky Senov’s St John Baptist Church to celebrate its 300th anniversary. A unique display of Christian saints’ remains will be installed in the St Anthony the Great Church in Liberec.
The Church Night is determined also for those who stand outside the church or on its periphery, the organisers said. They took inspiration from a similar event which has a tradition in Austria.
