Saint John of Nepomuk
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Saint John of Nepomuk |
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| Priest and Martyr | |
| Born | c.1345 Nepomuk |
| Died |
March 20, 1393 Prague |
| Beatified | May 31, 1721 |
| Canonized | March 19, 1729 by Benedict XIII |
| Feast | May 16 |
| Attributes | halo of five stars, palm, priestly dress, cross, angel indicating silence by a finger over the lips |
| Patronage | Bohemia, San Juan, Batangas, Malibay, Pasay City, Alfonso, Cavite, Moalboal, Cebu |
Saint John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) (Czech: Jan Nepomucký; German: Johannes Nepomuk; Latin: Ioannes Nepomucenus) (c. 1345 – March 20, 1393) is the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic), who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. On the basis of this account, John of Nepomuk is considered the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional, a patron against calumnies and, because of the manner of his death, a protector from floods and drowning.
Jan z Pomuku came from the small market town of Pomuk (later renamed Nepomuk) in Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic, which belonged to the nearby Cistercian abbey.
Born in the 1340s, his father was a certain Velflín (Welflin, Wölflin), his mother is unknown. The father's name is probably diminutive of the German name Wolfgang.
Jan first studied at the University of Prague, then furthered his studies in canon law at the University of Padua from 1383 to 1387. In 1393 he was made the vicar-general of Saint Giles Cathedral by Jan of Jenštejn (1348–1400), who was the Archbishop of Prague from 1378 to 1396. In the same year, on March 20, he was tortured and thrown into the river Vltava from Charles Bridge in Prague at the behest of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia.
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