March 20th is the festival day of St John Nepomuk. I saw him once when visiting the village of Škofja Loka in Slovenia.
On the way to the village we crossed a six hundred year old stone bridge across the Selška Sora and in the middle is a statue of St John Nepomuk who is supposed to be the bringer of good luck. Well the sort of luck that old St John brings I can happily do without. The man, who built the bridge, a certain bishop Leopold, fell off it shortly after completion and he drowned in the river below. Where was St John on that particular day I wondered?
Actually I found this statue a bit surprising because poor old John Nepomuk didn’t seem to have a great deal of luck himself in his lifetime as he was a Jesuit priest who was tortured and killed by King Wenceslas in 1393 and his body was thrown into the river Vltava in Prague.
Because of his aquatic final resting place he is regarded as a protector from floods but he must have been off duty in August 2003 when the city endured its worst deluge for two hundred years and forty thousand people were evacuated and the cost of repairing the damage ran into billions. Where was St John on that particular day I wondered?
This St John seems a bit of a slacker as far as his saintly duties go!
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Clearly not taking the job seriously enough!
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Stick with the rabbit’s foot, I say! It sounds like St.John should be the patron saint to pray to for the end of a drought!
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There is another statue of him in Prague and rubbing his foot is supposed to bring good luck. The statue looks rather odd, it is dull and grimy except for his polished left foot!
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Haha, are the people still praying and calling St John Nepomuk for help I wonder… I wouldn’t do that if I were them 😆
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I think I would be praying elsewhere!
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Poor St. John. He’ not getting any respect and no-one is getting any satisfaction. 😀 😀 😀
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He should do his job properly then!
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He should and I don’t feel any sympathy for him. 😀
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Hmmm, no point in asking St.John for next week’s winning Lottery numbers then?
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Probably not Hugh, he seems to be an unlucky Saint!
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I’m sure I saw him on a bridge in Bruges too – I wonder if he’s the patron saint of bridges?!
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I Googled it – yes, he is there!
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There must have been two King Wenceslases. The Good King and the Bad King. Or was Good King Wenceslas having a bad day.
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I think he had a split personality. I read about some gruesome deeds when I visited Prague!
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