Prague, Czech Republic, February 6, 2020
orthodox.sk
On October 10, the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia resolved to canonize a number of 20th-century New Martyrs.
The new saints were companions of the highly-venerated Hieromartyr St. Gorazd (Pavlik): Frs. Vladimír Petřek and Václav Čikl, as well as Ján Sonnevend, Václav Ornest, and Karel Louda and their families, who gave their lives for the glory of Christ and holy Orthodoxy during the Heydrichiáda period of severe repression by the Nazi occupiers of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia during WWII, reports the site of the Church of Slovakia.
St. Gorazd was canonized by the Serbian Church in 1961 and by the Czech-Slovak Church in 1987.
The canonization of the New Martyrs will be solemnly celebrated on Saturday, February 8 at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral in Prague.
Troparion, tone 4 (unofficial translation):
Today we all praise Christ the God-Man, Who is glorified in His witnesses, the priests Václav and Vladimir, together with the faithful members of God’s people, the martyr Ján, and a host of men and women who did not fear the tyranny of the godless, but full of the hope of immortality, gave their souls into the hands of the Lord of life with faith. By their intercessions, O merciful God, our Father, confirm the Orthodox faith in our land, and grant us all the courage to testify to Thy Kingdom with our lives!
Kontakion, tone 4 (unofficial translation):
In the grievous times of evil and darkness, thou didst bear witness to Christ, the Giver of light and life, together with the holy archpastor Bishop Gorazd, O holy New Martyrs of Christ, the pride and embellishment of the Czech people!
