1347
The Emmaus Abbey was founded on November 21, 1347, when Charles IV, back then King of Bohemia and King of the Romans signed the foundation charter in Nuremberg. Following papal permission the previous year, a new place could be established, where the Benedictines of the Slavic rite would "interpret the word of God, preach and celebrate mass in the Slavic language". In addition to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the abbey was also dedicated to St. Jerome, the translator of the Old and New Testaments from Hebrew and Greek into Latin. Other patrons were the Slavic missionaries Sts. Cyril and Methodius, who were closely associated with the beginning of the Czech state, and St. Adalbert and St. Prokopius as the founder of the Sázava Monastery, also a place of liturgy tradition and education in the Slavic language.
1419
In 1419, the Hussites took over the monastery and, it became the only Bohemian monastery to practice the Communion under both kinds, as it refers to receiving the Eucharist both in the consecrated host form, the body of Christ, and also in the form of consecrated mass wine from the chalice, the blood of Christ. Overall, the Hussite Emmaus period was a time of decline. The monastery functioned more like a college for Utraquist thinkers. The last of the Utraquist abbots, the so-called Philonomus, married the daughter of an innkeeper from Spálená street and opened his own tavern right in the monastery. He even set up a shooting range for his guests in the monastery garden.
1635
The original monastery focus continued in the post-hussite period until 1635 when it was replaced by a new mission: Benedictines from the Spanish Montserrat introduced to Bohemia by Emperor Ferdinand III. , brought the cult of Our Lady of Montserrat to Emmaus. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Spanish Benedictines rebuilt the monastery buildings preserving a number of original elements, especially the cloister and the monastery church architecture. They built two towers to the church west front facade and replaced a wide semi-hipped roof and a large gable with a three-part roof. The church of Sts. Cosmas and Damian was thoroughly rebuilt.
1666
On September 8, 1666, a copy of the statue of Our Lady of Montserrat was ceremoniously carried in a procession to Bezděz Castle. In the same year, a provostship was founded in the castle that had been acquired by the Emmaus Abbey earlier. An important Marian pilgrimage site emerged there. Records of confessions and Holy Communion registered an average of 20,500 pilgrims per year, but the actual number of visitors was of course higher. The provostship disappeared as a result of the Joseph’s reforms in 1785.
1880
In the 19th century, the abbey importance declined and its abolition was prevented by the handover to the community of the reformed Beuron Benedictines in 1880. The Beuron Benedictines found refuge in Emmaus during Bismarck's anti-clerical campaign, imprinting on Emmaus the distinctive stamp of their liturgical art. They removed the Baroque furnishings and paintings and replaced the towers onion roofs with sharp spires. Both the church and the monastery were painted in a historicist "Beuronian" style. The Emmaus Monastery remained formally part of the Beuron Congregation until 1945.
1941
The promising abbey development was interrupted by the Nazi occupation and the World War II outbreak. At the beginning of July 1941, the church was closed to public by the Germans. On July 13, 1942, worshippers who gathered for mass in front of the church were dispersed by the Schutzpolizei. On July 18, both the monastery and the church were definitively closed and the monks were expelled from the monastery. The monastery continued to serve the occupation administration as an administrative building and the seat of a Higher vocational school for medical staff.
1945
On February 14, 1945, both the monastery and the church were heavily damaged by the USAAF 8th Air Force bombing. The monastery and the church were hit by three incendiary bombs that destroyed both monastery church Baroque towers. Two-thirds of the church vault collapsed and the Gothic buildings burned down. The post-war reconstruction replaced the original church facade with František M. Černý’s reinforced concrete towers.
1950
In 1950, the monastery was forced to close down as part of Operation K and most of the monks were detained. Some members of the convent, including the abbot, managed to leave for Italy, where they restored the community in exile. The Emmaus Monastery fell under the administration of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.
1978
The Emmaus Monastery was declared a national cultural monument. In this period, its buildings housed two institutes of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, a clinic for treatment of occupational illness and a dermatology clinic.
1990
In 1990, under the Church Property Restitution Law, the Benedictines acquired the monastery buildings and in 2014, and also the forest and agricultural land in the Posázaví area. This property currently forms the economic base of the abbey. Emmaus along with Břevnov, Broumov, Rajhrad, Maribor (Slovenia) and Čokovaci (Croatia) monasteries are part of the Slavic Benedictine Congregation of St. Adalbert.
2003
During this year, the church restoration was completed, a new altar was consecrated. The first Holy Mass was held symbolically on Easter Monday, April 21, 2003. Rehabilitation and restoration of the monastery premises continue even in the present: in 2015, the church front courtyard was remodeled and in 2017, when the Emmaus Abbey commemorated 670 years since its foundation, the cloister yard restoration was completed.
2017
This year, the cloister yard restoration was completed. The courtyard’s central wooden cross was blessed in the 670th anniversary celebration of the abbey foundation.
2018
In 2018, the garden reconstruction began. After completion, it will open to public and be a pleasant oasis for Prague residents and other visitors. The Emmaus Monastery is funding the reconstruction from its own sources, without the support of subsidies and grants. If you like this project, you can support it too.
1347
The Emmaus Abbey was founded on November 21, 1347, when Charles IV, back then King of Bohemia and King of the Romans signed the foundation charter in Nuremberg. Following papal permission the previous year, a new place could be established, where the Benedictines of the Slavic rite would "interpret the word of God, preach and celebrate mass in the Slavic language". In addition to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the abbey was also dedicated to St. Jerome, the translator of the Old and New Testaments from Hebrew and Greek into Latin. Other patrons were the Slavic missionaries Sts. Cyril and Methodius, who were closely associated with the beginning of the Czech state, and St. Adalbert and St. Prokopius as the founder of the Sázava Monastery, also a place of liturgy tradition and education in the Slavic language.
1419
In 1419, the Hussites took over the monastery and, it became the only Bohemian monastery to practice the Communion under both kinds, as it refers to receiving the Eucharist both in the consecrated host form, the body of Christ, and also in the form of consecrated mass wine from the chalice, the blood of Christ. Overall, the Hussite Emmaus period was a time of decline. The monastery functioned more like a college for Utraquist thinkers. The last of the Utraquist abbots, the so-called Philonomus, married the daughter of an innkeeper from Spálená street and opened his own tavern right in the monastery. He even set up a shooting range for his guests in the monastery garden.
1635
The original monastery focus continued in the post-hussite period until 1635 when it was replaced by a new mission: Benedictines from the Spanish Montserrat introduced to Bohemia by Emperor Ferdinand III. , brought the cult of Our Lady of Montserrat to Emmaus. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Spanish Benedictines rebuilt the monastery buildings preserving a number of original elements, especially the cloister and the monastery church architecture. They built two towers to the church west front facade and replaced a wide semi-hipped roof and a large gable with a three-part roof. The church of Sts. Cosmas and Damian was thoroughly rebuilt.
1666
On September 8, 1666, a copy of the statue of Our Lady of Montserrat was ceremoniously carried in a procession to Bezděz Castle. In the same year, a provostship was founded in the castle that had been acquired by the Emmaus Abbey earlier. An important Marian pilgrimage site emerged there. Records of confessions and Holy Communion registered an average of 20,500 pilgrims per year, but the actual number of visitors was of course higher. The provostship disappeared as a result of the Joseph’s reforms in 1785.
1880
In the 19th century, the abbey importance declined and its abolition was prevented by the handover to the community of the reformed Beuron Benedictines in 1880. The Beuron Benedictines found refuge in Emmaus during Bismarck's anti-clerical campaign, imprinting on Emmaus the distinctive stamp of their liturgical art. They removed the Baroque furnishings and paintings and replaced the towers onion roofs with sharp spires. Both the church and the monastery were painted in a historicist "Beuronian" style. The Emmaus Monastery remained formally part of the Beuron Congregation until 1945.
1941
The promising abbey development was interrupted by the Nazi occupation and the World War II outbreak. At the beginning of July 1941, the church was closed to public by the Germans. On July 13, 1942, worshippers who gathered for mass in front of the church were dispersed by the Schutzpolizei. On July 18, both the monastery and the church were definitively closed and the monks were expelled from the monastery. The monastery continued to serve the occupation administration as an administrative building and the seat of a Higher vocational school for medical staff.
1945
On February 14, 1945, both the monastery and the church were heavily damaged by the USAAF 8th Air Force bombing. The monastery and the church were hit by three incendiary bombs that destroyed both monastery church Baroque towers. Two-thirds of the church vault collapsed and the Gothic buildings burned down. The post-war reconstruction replaced the original church facade with František M. Černý’s reinforced concrete towers.
1950
In 1950, the monastery was forced to close down as part of Operation K and most of the monks were detained. Some members of the convent, including the abbot, managed to leave for Italy, where they restored the community in exile. The Emmaus Monastery fell under the administration of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.
1978
The Emmaus Monastery was declared a national cultural monument. In this period, its buildings housed two institutes of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, a clinic for treatment of occupational illness and a dermatology clinic.
1990
In 1990, under the Church Property Restitution Law, the Benedictines acquired the monastery buildings and in 2014, and also the forest and agricultural land in the Posázaví area. This property currently forms the economic base of the abbey. Emmaus along with Břevnov, Broumov, Rajhrad, Maribor (Slovenia) and Čokovaci (Croatia) monasteries are part of the Slavic Benedictine Congregation of St. Adalbert.
2003
During this year, the church restoration was completed, a new altar was consecrated. The first Holy Mass was held symbolically on Easter Monday, April 21, 2003. Rehabilitation and restoration of the monastery premises continue even in the present: in 2015, the church front courtyard was remodeled and in 2017, when the Emmaus Abbey commemorated 670 years since its foundation, the cloister yard restoration was completed.
2017
This year, the cloister yard restoration was completed. The courtyard’s central wooden cross was blessed in the 670th anniversary celebration of the abbey foundation.
2018
In 2018, the garden reconstruction began. After completion, it will open to public and be a pleasant oasis for Prague residents and other visitors. The Emmaus Monastery is funding the reconstruction from its own sources, without the support of subsidies and grants. If you like this project, you can support it too.
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