Gorazd (Pavlík)
| Saint Gorazd, Bishop of Prague | |
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Bishop Gorazd
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| New Martyr, Bishop of Prague, Metropolitan of the Czech Lands and Slovakia | |
| Born |
26 May 1879 Hrubá Vrbka, Moravia, Austria-Hungary (today Czech Republic) |
| Died | 4 September 1942 (aged 63) Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (today Czech Republic) |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodoxy |
| Canonized | 4 May 1961 by the Serbian Orthodox Church (as a New Martyr) 24 August 1987, Olomouc, by the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church |
| Feast | 22 August (OC) or 4 September (NC) |
Bishop Gorazd of Prague, given name Matěj Pavlík (26 May 1879 – 4 September 1942), was the hierarch of the revived Orthodox Church in Moravia, the Church of Czechoslovakia, after World War I. During World War II, having provided refuge for the assassins of SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich, called The Hangman of Prague, in the cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Prague, Gorazd took full responsibility for protecting the patriots after the Schutzstaffel found them in the crypt of the cathedral. This act guaranteed his execution, thus his martyrdom, during the reprisals that followed. His feast day is celebrated on 22 August (OC) or 4 September (NC).
Matěj Pavlík was born on 26 May 1879, in the Moravian village of Hrubá Vrbka in what would later be the Czech Republic. Born into the Roman Catholic society of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Matthias entered the Faculty of Theology in Olomouc after finishing his earlier education. He was subsequently ordained a priest. During his studies, he was interested in the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius and of Eastern Orthodoxy.
Establishment of Czechoslovakia in the aftermath of the First World War brought complete religious freedom. In this environment, many people left the Catholic Church. While many left the religion completely, some looked either to old Czech Protestant churches or, as Pavlík, to Eastern Orthodoxy. The Serbian Orthodox Church provided a shelter for those looking to Orthodoxy. As a leader in Moravia, the Church of Serbia agreed to consecrate Fr. Pavlík to the episcopate for his homeland. On 24 September 1921, he was consecrated bishop with the name of Gorazd.
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