The Passion of God - history

Epiphany in Vestec

The Passion of God or the Passion Monument was usually a column with a box for the Passion picture. On Maundy Thursday, the villagers prayed at it for a good harvest and good weather. Thus, the muka together with the chapels were places for pilgrims to stop. Every year, the faithful from the Pottery parish, including those from Vestec, went on foot on a several-day pilgrimage to Svatá Hora near Příbram. The procession, led by a priest, consisted of several dozen pilgrims, bridesmaids and a preacher who led the procession. Such processions were always announced in advance, overnight accommodation arranged (often sleeping in a barn), and provisions for the journey were usually from local sources. The tradition of pilgrimages has not disappeared. It lives on, but in a somewhat different form, and the present pilgrims mostly shorten their journey by means of transport. The only thing that has become somewhat dilapidated and almost forgotten is the Passion of God.

And do we even know where to look for these smaller stone works? Let's take a little tour around Vestec. First stop. Just a torso - a pile of stones at a busy crossroads on Šátalka. The Christian symbol of suffering probably took its toll here in a road accident. The next small stop is at house No.1 on Vestecka Street. A chapel is said to have stood near it. There's nothing here to remind us of it, but I believe we'll hear about it again. Only a short distance separates us from another stone monument - the bell tower (1831). We don't know who gave the impetus to build it, but we do know who rang it. Almost the last stop is at the end of the village - at Vestecký Pond, where the stone torso, without the crucifix, was again in an uninviting corner, waiting for its renaissance.

We can only guess at the last memory. Near the crossroads between Hrnčíř and Zdiměřice it was called "Na Znamení". For what reason is unknown.

 

Blanka Pašková, chronicler

Additional note from the OU. You can find the repaired God's torment nowadays a short distance from the pond, next to the cycle path towards Hrnčíř.