05. Sep 2025

Český Dub - Kláster Hradiště

Photo 1: In some villages I would see tea cups like this on the tips of the fence posts, but this one was by far the one I saw with the most cups. It is a unique form of decoration which may have an act of kind hospitality at its root to offer passerbyers a cup to get a drink of water.

Photo 2: One last glance at Česky Dub before I went over the hill. At administration office there this morning I was able to get a stamp for my pilgrim passport. I had a brief but good God-talk with the young woman who gave me the stamp. On a number of occasions getting that stamp has led to talks and encounters with people.

Photo 3: Some churches will have a pilgrim stamp box somewhere near the church so that a person can get the stamp at any time. This is helpful when there is no office or official around.

Photo 4: The rain eventually caught up to me... and it rained all through the night. This would have been one of those five camping nights I had left.

Photo 5: I stayed the night at a village called Kloster Hradiště which is just about 2 km away from the town Mnichovo Hradiště. The path went right by this castle, so I went to take a look. It had been the residence for the family of Albrecht von Wallenstein. For those who do not know that name, he had been the supreme commander of the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II's armies (Catholic forces) and a central figure in the Thirty Years' War. This devastating war resulted in a total of 2 to 4 million deaths caused by war, famine, and disease. Wallenstein might have thought he was serving God's purposes with his military endeavors. He will have much explaining to do when he stands before the Lord of the universe and sees those joined with Jesus whose blood was on his hands. It took hundreds of years for the Catholic and Lutheran Churches in Germany to come to terms with each other. Every New Year's Eve, for instance, the Catholic and Lutheran Churches in Moosburg celebrate a joint end of the year service... a great miracle when considering the pain of the past.