Debate in Boskovice

21. 2. 2013

The whole event was initiated by the vice-mayor of the town of Boskovice, Ing. Jaromíra Vítková, and it was held under her auspices. It was also she who opened the discussion, "Today's meeting belongs to the series of commemorative events related to the 1150th anniversary of the arrival of Saints Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia. The town of Boskovice joined the celebrations in September 2012. We perceive this event to be an important milestone of our history. The missionaries brought Christianity, education, culture and writing. They were invited by Prince Rostislav. These events are mentioned in the work of the native of Boskovice, Tomáš Cardinal Špidlík SJ. He claims that Slavs will connect the whole Europe. The ancient Velehrad, where he had worked for six years, is now the place of his last rest."

The vice-mayor introduced Mgr. Jiří Mihola, and mentioned his literary work and his work in Radio Proglas. She welcomed esteemed guests - councilor for the South Moravian Region, Ing. Jiří Němec, and Mgr. Oldřiška Šepelova from the division for culture and preservation of monuments, who want to persuade the region to contribute financially to the Museum of Boskovice Region.

Mgr. Jiří Mihola spoke about his relation to the region, "I graduated with a diploma thesis about your Jewish town and I have my grandmother in a nearby town of Sloup. She is the eldest citizen there." Then, thanks to his narration and pictures, everybody could, in their imagination, board the fastest express train in the world and, in less than two hours, visit the most beautiful places of pilgrimage of the whole Moravia, mainly from the period of Baroque. "In the history, pilgrimages were not only a religious event. They had, above all, a social meaning," he said and added, "In Moravia, there are mostly Marian places of pilgrimage; in Bohemia those of Saint Wenceslas."

According to his words, a place of pilgrimage emerged based on a story, which does not have to be always true. It is not possible to find that out today. The oldest are Tuřany, Křtiny, Hostýn, Velehrad. He also listed places that are altogether forgotten these days - Telč, Jihlava, Moravský Krumlov, Znojmo, Štípa u Zlína and others. In Bohemia Stará Boleslav and Svatá Hora u Příbrami are the most famous ones in that locality.

The manager of Boskovice based Orel, Ing. Jaroslav Vítek, reminded the audience of the prepared bike pilgrimage from Prague to Velehrad, which will take place within the celebrations of the 1150th anniversary of the arrival of C+M and, together with the director of the Museum of Boskovice Region, Mgr. Dagmar Hamalova, donated a new publication on Boskovice to Mgr. Jiří Mihola.

Text: Luboš Sušil
Photo: Jaroslav Parma and Luboš Sušil