Prague: Part 2 A few churches (and a synagogue)
Prague certainly has an abundance of churches. Some are no longer active in monastic or parish life, but they certainly benefited from the attention of benefactors and incredible artists over the centuries.
We attended Sunday morning Mass at Our Lady before Týn. Obviously I did not take this picture then, but it is my best one.
Another one of the changes from ten years ago that others might appreciate is that Týn Church is now open for several hours daily for tourists. On my previous trip, it was open only during Mass times and immediately after, so one Tuesday afternoon we went to Mass in order to get inside the church. Had we known this was no longer the case, we probably would have gone to Mass at a church closer to our hotel. I think we are all glad we did not.
more after the jump
The Mass was grace-filled. It was in Czech, and the priest did chant some of his parts, which Myles loves. We have a priest at the Seminary who sometimes chants his parts, and beautifully at that. This Mass also had other gorgeous music from the choir and the incredible organ. One change that was disappointing this year was the now prohibition on photographs and video in the church. I do have pictures from ten years ago, but would I love to have some record of this Mass. I did break the no-picture rule to take this one, though. Sláva.
St. Nicholas is a popular saint to be attached to a church. Prague has at least two different churches with his name, and we went to the Baroque St. Nicholas in the Lesser Town.
It's a lot of Baroque all at once.
And for Catholics, a sought after church is often Our Lady of Victory, home of the Infant of Prague.
I complied with the policy barring photography while in the church. There were a lot of people in silent prayer throughout the church, but especially in the area around the Infant. A tour group from Peru, at the prompting of a multi-lingual local Carmelite priest, broke the silence singing a Peruvian song about the Infant.
On display in the small museum area were a few of the vestments donated to the Infant of Prague, often in gratitude for prayers. There are thousands and those on exhibit frequently rotate. One of the garments behind glass were donated from Shanghai in 1894, and a product of the Tushanwan Orphanage and Workshop! For more on the workshop, follow this links on Adam's post from last year. For a not great quality image of the robe, follow this link I found online. The embroidery is even more amazing that what can be seen in the link, with beautiful birds and flowers, and edging in stylized Chinese characters from a prayer. In the gift shop I bought several postcards of the Infant wearing the Tushanwan robes.
Ten years ago, without kids, my time in Prague also included tours of Loreta and the Jewish Quarter. We forewent the Loreta, which is a beautiful monastery with an incredible collection of sacramentals. We thought the kids might not handle the silence well. We did make a quick pass through the Jewish Quarter so Myles could see the Hebrew-numbered clock and the 700-year-old Old-New Synagogue. Most of the exhibits in the Jewish Quarter are too somber for our kids, so we skipped those as well. I filled Myles in on some fascinating details we would have seen in the interpretive information at the various synagogues in the area. For one (and one of my favorites) is that the earliest known record of Czech in writing was transliterated using the Hebrew alphabet.
Another one of the changes from ten years ago that others might appreciate is that Týn Church is now open for several hours daily for tourists. On my previous trip, it was open only during Mass times and immediately after, so one Tuesday afternoon we went to Mass in order to get inside the church. Had we known this was no longer the case, we probably would have gone to Mass at a church closer to our hotel. I think we are all glad we did not.
more after the jump
The Mass was grace-filled. It was in Czech, and the priest did chant some of his parts, which Myles loves. We have a priest at the Seminary who sometimes chants his parts, and beautifully at that. This Mass also had other gorgeous music from the choir and the incredible organ. One change that was disappointing this year was the now prohibition on photographs and video in the church. I do have pictures from ten years ago, but would I love to have some record of this Mass. I did break the no-picture rule to take this one, though. Sláva.
St. Nicholas is a popular saint to be attached to a church. Prague has at least two different churches with his name, and we went to the Baroque St. Nicholas in the Lesser Town.
It's a lot of Baroque all at once.
And for Catholics, a sought after church is often Our Lady of Victory, home of the Infant of Prague.
I complied with the policy barring photography while in the church. There were a lot of people in silent prayer throughout the church, but especially in the area around the Infant. A tour group from Peru, at the prompting of a multi-lingual local Carmelite priest, broke the silence singing a Peruvian song about the Infant.
On display in the small museum area were a few of the vestments donated to the Infant of Prague, often in gratitude for prayers. There are thousands and those on exhibit frequently rotate. One of the garments behind glass were donated from Shanghai in 1894, and a product of the Tushanwan Orphanage and Workshop! For more on the workshop, follow this links on Adam's post from last year. For a not great quality image of the robe, follow this link I found online. The embroidery is even more amazing that what can be seen in the link, with beautiful birds and flowers, and edging in stylized Chinese characters from a prayer. In the gift shop I bought several postcards of the Infant wearing the Tushanwan robes.
Ten years ago, without kids, my time in Prague also included tours of Loreta and the Jewish Quarter. We forewent the Loreta, which is a beautiful monastery with an incredible collection of sacramentals. We thought the kids might not handle the silence well. We did make a quick pass through the Jewish Quarter so Myles could see the Hebrew-numbered clock and the 700-year-old Old-New Synagogue. Most of the exhibits in the Jewish Quarter are too somber for our kids, so we skipped those as well. I filled Myles in on some fascinating details we would have seen in the interpretive information at the various synagogues in the area. For one (and one of my favorites) is that the earliest known record of Czech in writing was transliterated using the Hebrew alphabet.
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