Emmaus Monastery

The Emmaus Monastery ( Emauzy ), also Emaus, is a Benedictine abbey in the Czech capital Prague.

Establishment, name, history

Monastery Em ( m) was similar to the monastery of St. Mary founded the snow before the creation of the New Town of Prague on a spur of the upper terrace to the old way to the Vyšehrad.

First, the still preserved old Romanesque parish church of the rafters community Podskalí served St. Cosmas and Damian as a monastery church, the parish was transferred to the church of St. Nicholas. Charles IV founded on the grounds of Vyšehrad Chapter pin with the approval of Pope Clement VI. ( Bull of May 9, 1346 ) on November 21, 1347, a slave monastery, to maintain the order here the Old Slavonic liturgy. The following year, in 1348 the church and convent were handed over by Archbishop Ernest of Pardubice to Benedictine monks from Croatia. At the Vyšehrad church according to tradition, both the holy Methodius and St. Procopius had already celebrated Slavic services. According to the monks, the monastery church was named St. Mary's Church of the Slavs ( the Monastery and Panny Marie Na Slovanech ).

The consecration of the monastery church of the Virgin Mary and the Slavic patron took place on March 29, 1372, Easter Monday, in the presence of Emperor Charles IV and numerous high nobleman and clergyman. Since that day the text was proclaimed from the Gospel of Luke, the meeting of Christ with the disciples on the road to Emmaus depicts (Luke 24, 13-35 ), the monastery received the especially among the Germans spread second name Em (m) auskloster ( Klášter v Emauzích ).

This monastery was founded was an important point in the political program of Charles IV in the 14th and 15th century, the monastery developed into an outstanding educational center, where numerous translations and illuminated manuscripts were created, including the Registrum Slavorum from the period around 1395. This is the Glagolitic part of the Gospels of Reims, the French kings until 1782 were sworn.

As one of the few monasteries in Prague, it was not destroyed by the Hussites, but was occupied from 1419 to 1589 of Utraquists and hosted from 1446 the only Utraquistenkloster ( Calixtines ) of the city. 1593 received the Benedictine Em (m) back from. After the Czech monks had been transferred to St. Nicholas in Prague's Old Town, called Ferdinand III. Benedictine monastery in 1636 the Spanish Montserrater reform → Nuestra Señora de Montserrat to Em ( m). After the collection, the Emmaus monastery was rebuilt and increased by a bullet. As a result, the monastery flourished spiritually and culturally scratch.

A second boom was Em (m) from 1880 under Abbot Benedikt Sauter by the Kulturkampf expelled from the Abbey Beuron Benedictines, which, composed by Emperor Franz Joseph I and Cardinal Friedrich was handed over to Black Mountain, the monastery ( pastoral care, science, art and Gregorian chant ). They restored abbey and church. Intellectuals and artists were frequent guests of the abbey, including the composer Antonín Dvořák. Sauter's successor Alban chess ladder fought decisively against the Los -von- Rom movement. After the expulsion of the German monks in 1919 Abbot Alban 1920, from Abtsamt back and was later - politically naive - followers of National Socialism († June 26, 1937 ). His successor, Abbot Vykoukal Ernst died on September 9, 1942 as victims of National Socialism in the Dachau concentration camp.

The Abbey Emaus was dissolved in 1941 by the Nazis and was damaged during the Allied air raid in February 1945. That same year, Emmaus was rebuilt as a monastery and a member of the Slavic Benedictine Congregation, of which it is today. On April 27, 1950, the seizure and suppression of the abbey by the Communists took place. The Benedictine monks fled to Italy, first to Foligno, then to Nursia. 1990 Em (m) was returned from the Benedictine Order. Today again a small community living in the monastery. Since 2010, directs Father Edmund Wagenhofer as Prior administrator of the monastery.

Art

The monastery church with three equal ships, and each with its own choir conclusion reminds the lack of separation between the choir and nave and the striking austerity rather to preachers churches and is therefore in stark contrast to the buildings of the Parler Gothic. Of particular art historical importance, dating back to about 1360 Fresco wall painting is in the cloister.

The Beuronese Benedictines 1888-1885 the church and the monastery umgestaltetet style Beuronese art school. At the design of the monastery had with the three leading Beuronese Monk Artist: Desiderius Lenz, Gabriel Wüger and Lukas Steiner. These artists were also involved in the painting of the nuns Abbey of St. Gabriel ( Prague)

During a restoration, the church 1967, by architect František M. Černý modern bicuspid front as a compromise between the previous high Gothic gables and two destroyed in air raids baroque west towers.

Journals from the Emauskloster

• St. Benediktusstimmen
• St. Boniface
• St. Vojtěch
• Pax