Prague: The National Pilgrimage to St Wenceslas in Stara Boleslav opens on Thursday 27 Sep at 6.00 pm with a vigil in the crypt of the Wenceslas' basilica and a concert (8.00 pm). The saint's relics will then be greeted as the Wenceslas' skull will be transferred from his tomb in the Prague cathedral to the place of his martyrdom.

On the solemnity, Friday 28 Sep, the Mass presided over by Cardinal Miloslav Vlk of Prague and celebrated by all Czech and Moravian bishops begins in the Marianske Square at 10.00 am. In the afternoon, concerts and theatre plays are scheduled and the evening firework will close the celebrations.

In Prague, the evening of the solemnity is marked by a "spiritual meeting" in the upper part of the Wenceslas' Square, at the saint's statue; the event begins at 5.00 pm. Several Masses will then celebrate the saint's day Sep 28 in the cathedral of Ss Vitus, Wenceslas and Adalbert; the divine service at 9.30 am will be presided by Auxiliary Bishop of Prague Vaclav Maly.

St Wenceslas (in Czech Václav, originally Veceslav, Vaceslav; the meaning of the name is the same with that of his brother Boleslav: "more famous") was a Bohemian duke in the 10th century, son of Vratislav I, Duke of Bohemia, and Drahomira, daughter of a pagan tribal chief.

Born probably in 907, he was educated in the Old-Slavonic language by his grandmother St Ludmila, who also gave him the Christian principles of being a real man and a righteous ruler. He also gained knowledge of the Latin tradition and was able – according to an old-Slavonic legend – "read the Holy Scriptures in Latin, Greek as well as Slavonic."

After the death of Vratislav, Drahomira, acting as regent, opposed Christianity; however, in 924 or 925 Wenceslas assumed government for himself and had Drahomira exiled. He promoted the spread of Christianity throughout Bohemia.

Being a duke of a small country between two great nations, Wenceslas sought alliance with the Holy Roman Empire: Great Moravian princedom in the east collapsed in raids of Magyar tribes, Byzantium was too far to help, and Slav tribes in the north and east were still pagan. On the other hand, German priests were already operating in the country and Wenceslas himself kept company with King Henry the Fowler – the alliance was also expressed by building of a new church, devoted to St Vitus, whose relic Henry had donated.

Because of this relationship, the pagan nobility of Bohemia saw Wenceslas and his faith as a threat not only to their pagan tradition, but also to their very sovereignty. In September 935, a group of nobles allied with Wenceslas' younger brother, Boleslav, in a plot to kill the duke. Boleslav, having invited his brother to celebrate the feast of Ss Cosmas and Damian in his seat of Stara Boleslav, murdered him on his way to church for morning worship, and thus succeeded him as the Prince of Bohemia. Three years later Boleslav, having repented of his deed, ordered Wenceslas' relics to be transferred to the church of St Vitus in Prague.

Wenceslas is the patron saint of the Czech people and the Czech Republic. His feast day is 28 September. Since 2000, it is a public holiday in the Czech Republic, celebrated as the Czech Statehood Day.

Wenceslas' virtues, care of the poor, and charity are well known outside the Czech Republic as well – through the popular Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslas" that tells a legend of his visit and endowing of a poor man "on the feast of Stephen".