Sibling Rivalry

The British media are having a field day with the possible rivalry between the Labour Party's Miliband brothers following Ed's election as party leader.  Whatever rivalry emerges, it will fade into insignificance when compared to the rivalry between today's Saint and his brother.  That rivalry was biblical in proportions as Boleslaus killed his brother, Wenceslaus, to take his throne and stop the growth of the Christian faith in Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic).   What is most shocking is that the boys' mother assisted the murderer in his fratricide.  Prior to this the mother-son hit squad had knocked off the granny for her Christian faith.  

St Wenceslaus, as the martyred brother is now known, is the one and the same as that invoked in the Christmas carol, Good King Wenceslaus.  He was not a king, but rather the Duke of Bohemia, and he was renowned for a virtuous and holy life, and as a just and kind ruler.  He was brought up in the Christian faith by his grandmother, St Ludmilla - the one murdered by Boleslaus and the mother.   Wenceslaus sought to promote the Christian faith in his dominions and this irked Mammy, or the Dowager Duchess Drahomira, to give her her official title.  She had converted to Christianity on the day she married Wenceslaus's father, Wratislaus I (whose family had been converted to the faith by SS Cyril and Methodius), but it seems she had no intention of actually living as a Christian, as became obvious later.  She nurtured her animosity towards the faith in her younger son, and together they plotted the downfall of Wenceslaus and triumph of paganism in Bohemia.   On the 28th September 935 they carried out the deed, murdering the young Duke in the doorway of his chapel. 

Boleslaus siezed the throne and ruled until his death in 972.  History knows him as Boleslaus the Cruel, although it is said that he later came to regret killing his brother and in atonement sent a son to the priesthood, as you do, and encouraged his daughter when she wanted to enter a convent.  It was Boleslaus who established the bishopric of Prague, so perhaps the prayers of his brother brought about his change of heart. 

Posterity acclaimed his martyred brother.  Widespread devotion and numerous miracles at his tomb assured his canonisation, and today he is the patron saint of Prague, Bohemia and the Czech Republic - and we might throw sibling rivalry into the pot too.   That should come in handy next time we come to blows with the brother or sister, and perhaps remind mothers and grannies to keep their distance.

Good St Wenceslaus