Bl. Hroznata

Feastday: July 14

“Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.”

(Matthew 16:24)

Hroznata was born around 1160 of Czech in nobility, and received an excellent secular education in diplomacy, military science and economics. After his wife and young son died in a tragic accident in 1193, Hroznata founded and endowed the Norbertine monastery of Teplá. Then, he made a vow to win back the Holy Land and joined in a crusade, which failed before it even started. On his return, Hroznata went through Rome, where the Pope dispensed him from his vow, but encouraged him to found a sister monastery for Teplá. This he did, together with his widowed sister, Woyslawa, at Chotesov in 1202.

When Hroznata eventually decided to enter the Norbertine Order as a lay brother, Pope Innocent III himself clothed the Czech knight in the white habit. He was appointed administrator of the properties at Teplá by the abbot, until certain differences concerning this administration forced him to retire. Eventually the abbot admitted his mistake, and Hroznata humbly returned to his post. Hroznata’s courageous defense of the rights of Teplá earned him the enmity of certain greedy nobles. In 1217, while traveling on behalf of the abbey, Hroznata was captured. When he refused to allow the abbey to pay the huge ransom demanded, he was left to starve to death in prison. For this reason, Hroznata is considered a martyr for justice and the freedom of the Church. In 1997, Pope John Paul II declared Blessed Hroznata the patron of the Czech diocese of Pilsen.

(Saint drawings courtesy of Saint Norbert Abbey, De Pere, Wisconsin.)