| Commemorated on September 4 |
Our father among the Saints Bishop Gorazd Pavlik of Prague was the hierarch of the revived Orthodox Church in Moravia, the Church of Czechoslovakia, after World War I.
When Czechoslovakia became an independent state in 1919, about 800,000 Catholics in Czechoslovakia approached Patriarch Demetrius of Serbia asking to be received into the Orthodox Church. They were led by Fr Matthew Pavlik (b 1879). A year later Fr Matthew Pavlik (b 1879) was made Bishop of both Western and Eastern Rite churches in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia by the Patriarch of Serbia. This action revived Orthodox Church in these areas.
When he was consecrated, Fr Matthew took the name Gorazd (Gorazde), from St Gorazd (Gorazde) who was a disciple of St Methodius. St Methodius was had been bishop of Moravia and had extensive knowledge of both the Eastern and Western Rites.
Bishop Gorazd labored mightily for the restoration of Orthodoxy in Czechoslovakia. He established eleven parishes, translated the divine services into Czech, and published a Czech Prayer Book.
Bishop Gorazd’s cathedral was Ss Cyril and Methodius Cathedral in Prague. During the Second World War this Cathedral provided refuge for the assassins of the Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich, called “The Butcher of Prague.” It was clear that the Nazis were planning retaliation against the entire Orthodox Church. In order to save his faithful and churches, Saint Gorazd presented himself to the Nazis and took full responsibility for protecting the patriots after the Nazi overlords found them in the crypt of the cathedral. This act guaranteed his execution.
St Gorazd was tortured by the Nazis and finally executed by firing squad, along with other clergy and laymen, on September 4, 1942. In 1961, the Serbian Orthodox Church recognized Bishop Gorazd as a new martyr, and in 1987, he was glorified in the Cathedral of St. Gorazd in Olomouc in Moravia.
Holy Gorazde, pray for us!