History

The Tongue of St John (Of Nepomuk)

Posted on Author Antoine P Borg
A photo of the Church of St John of Nepomuk - Czechia

I’ve written before about the Czech saint St John of Nepomuk – but I hadn’t visited the main church dedicated to him, right in the middle of Czechia.

Read my other article about him if you want to refresh your memory with the story of this saint.

In the eighteenth century, three centuries after his death, the Czechs exhumed his body in preparation for his beatification. They were stunned to see that his tongue survived intact and proclaimed this as an example of his saintliness. Since St John had been killed for not revealing confessional secrets, I can understand why his tongue is symbolically significant. I can’t understand why anyone would have thought that his tongue would have survived instead of, say, his knee cap. In fact, scientific analysis in 1973 showed that this was not his tongue but a discoloured chunk of brain matter.

A photo of the Church of St John of Nepomuk - Czechia

The remains were taken to Zelena Hora (Green Hill) and a special church was built to commemorate their Saint. What’s interesting about this church, and the surrounding cloisters, is that the whole structure was designed to have numerous mystical aspects and symbols about it.

The basic principle is the number 5 which represents:

  1. The five wounds of Christ, as related in the Bible.
  2. The five letters in the word ‘TACUI’, Latin for ‘I kept silent’
  3. The five stars that allegedly were seen above St John’s drowned body and which appear in his halo.

The number 5 is represented in the building as:

  1. The five-pointed ground-plan
  2. The five entrances to the cloisters
  3. The five altar niches within the church
  4. The five angels on the high altar.
A photo of St John's tongue as represented in his church - Czechia

The tongue itself features on the ceiling of the church. It is slightly disconcerting to look up and see a huge red tongue painted there, but I can understand why this is the case. The shape of the tongue is also used as the shape of the windows of the church.

A photo of the surrounding area by St John of Nepomuk's Church - Czechia

The church is located about an hour’s drive east of Prague in the Vysočina region. The complex is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Its location on the hill, alongside a small lake is rather scenic and can easily be the location for a light picnic in mild weather. Tours are available on the hour in different languages or you can just walk around on your own, if you prefer.

Which saintly body parts have you seen?