P. Gorazd Cetkovský, O.Carm.
During this year's July pilgrimages, we repeatedly remembered: it has been exactly one hundred years since July 1908, when the late Baroque "residence" (as the building is referred to in old drawings) at the pilgrimage church of Our Lady in Kostelní Vydří truly became a "monastery," that is, when a community of religious Carmelite monks began to live and serve pilgrims in it. On the pages of our magazine, I would like to commemorate this anniversary through two texts.
The first of these comes from P. Prokop Valeny, the prior of Vydří and parish priest from 1931 to 1950, who accomplished much for the order during his time in Vydří and for its future. From his description of the monastery, the order, and Vydří, I select the lines where he attempts to capture the beauty of this place and seeks to win the hearts of those to whom he addresses.
The Pilgrimage Site of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Kostelní Vydří
Every person radiates a certain atmosphere and has either a good or bad influence on others. We can either benefit or harm the people we associate with. It depends on whether we have a good heart or a bad one! Temples of the Lord can only have a good influence on people, as they are almost like greenhouses of God's truths and the most noble principles. This is especially true for pilgrimage churches, which are visited more frequently than ordinary churches. The origin of a pilgrimage church does not matter at all, whether a real miracle occurred at such a site, or if it is only a pious legend or a fulfilled vow. For this reason, the Marian site in Vydří holds great significance for the entire Dačice region, even though it is only a smaller pilgrimage church. (...)
The Vydří church is cheerful, painted in bright colors, with a courtyard surrounded by mighty linden trees, where divine peace reigns and a view opens up to the quiet countryside all around.
On one side, the courtyard of the church is closed off by the monastery building, on the western side stands the local school and the old cloisters, which have been transformed into two halls and a small kitchenette, which are used in the summer by Catholic students as a camp. They fondly remember their stay in Vydří, even though they come from various corners of our homeland and have seen both richer and more interesting regions. Perhaps it is the joyful divine peace that reigns in Vydří that makes a person happy!
(...) The Carmelites were called to Kostelní Vydří by the Bishop of Brno, Huyn, in 1908, and their first effort was to elevate the significance of this pilgrimage site. The first prior, P. Telesfor Hardt, earned great merit for this since he advocated for a thorough renovation of the church with a considerable expense, and primarily with the contribution of the then patron, Baron Bedřich Dalberg. The church was tastefully painted, both with pictures and decorations; new benches, statues, and a Stations of the Cross – as a memorial to the fallen soldiers in the war of 1914-1918 – and other liturgical items were acquired. Consequently, the number of pilgrims increased, with as many as 50 processions counted within a year.
In the monastery, there were 13 members in 1915, including 6 priests. Until 1919, there were always at least four priests and two brothers here, while in the later years, there were mostly only two priests. This is still the case today.
Anyone who visits the Carmelite monastery in Vydří outside the busy pilgrimage days and lets the tranquility that prevails there, as well as the perspective of the quiet surrounding countryside, resonate within their soul will feel closer to God!
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The second text is taken from the exhibition we prepared on the occasion of this year's anniversary, which will capture individual historical events and personalities from the entire century-long history across 14 panels located in the cloister of the Vydří pilgrimage site. The paragraph we publish here in the magazine concludes the whole exhibition. In this case, too, these lines are not a dry statement, but seek to win and inspire the reader. To encourage on the path to what is the ultimate goal of pilgrimage for each of us and the most beautiful place: to God's kingdom.
It is certainly foolish and impossible to try to enumerate all that the monastery in Kostelní Vydří and the local pilgrimage site can give – and what it truly gives – to those who come here. In addition to communal worship, pilgrimages, meetings, it is a place where internal events take place: the conversion of the heart, forgiveness, and reconciliation, glimpses of a new path, inspirations. Besides prayer, you can experience encounters with others, buy a book, or read the information we have summarized in this exhibition. We, the Carmelites, are grateful and happy that we can live and serve at this place for a hundred years already. And we would like this place to be dear and valuable to as wide a range of other people as possible. Therefore, we wish for this place and for each of the visiting pilgrims the ancient Latin blessing: Vivat, crescat, floreat! May it live, may it grow, may it flourish!
