MONASTERY OF CROATIAN GLAGOLITIC MONKS IN PRAGUE REOPENED

PRAGUE, April 19 (Hina) - The church of the Virgin Mary in the Benedictine monastery Emaus, one of Prague's most beautiful religious monuments built in 1347 for Croatian Glagolitic monks, reopens on Monday after more than sixty years, having survived confiscation by the Nazi regime, destruction in the WWII Anglo- American bombing and misuse in the communist regime. #L# For the first time since 1941, a holy mass, to be followed by a concert featuring the works of Bach, Vivaldi and Telemann, will be held in the church on Easter Monday, the Czech Bishops' Conference stated. The famous Czech king Charles IV had the huge monastery built for Croatian Glagolitic monks in the city's Vysegrad quarter. According to some sources, as many as 80 Benedictine monks using Glagolitic service, probably from the island of Pasman, were invited to come to live in the monastery in 1348. The church, at the time of its consecration in 1372 a masterpiece of the late Gothic style, is part of the Emaus monastery, which was an important cultural centre at the time of its founder, the Czech king and German emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg (1316-1378), who was raised at the French court. The monastery and the church were returned to the Benedictine order after the 1989 "Velvet Revolution", which was the start of a new period in their history, marked by thorough reconstruction which lasted several years. (hina) rml