The Venerable Servant of God
Mother Vojtěcha Hasmandová SCB

“After all, it is our goal: becoming aware of the Supreme Good and giving it generously to others through the goodness of our hearts.” Sister Vojtěcha wrote this sentence in a letter sent from prison to her niece, sister Leona of the Order of St. Charles Borromeo, on the occasion of her taking lifetime vows in 1956. She summed up in one sentence the charisma and spirituality of her congregation – a life in contemplation of Mercy, which she lived to the fullest not only in prison, but also in all her life, especially in a peak period when she was a General Superior. On 26 November 1996, in less than nine months after her death, the Bishop of the diocese of Brno, Mons. Vojtěch Cikrle, opened her beatification and canonization process in Brno. “When I met her, I felt a closeness of a woman that wholly belonged to God”, wrote Father Bishop, recalling the meeting with her. In 2004 the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Vatican took over the Diocesan process. The Diocesan process was confirmed after two years of investigation and the Roman phase of the Canonization process was opened.

On 29 October 2013, the evaluation of theological investigations took place. On 18 November 2014, the Congregation of Cardinals and Bishops met to evaluate the cause of Mother Vojtěcha. The Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints Angelo Amato SDB presented the statements of those experts to the Holy Father Francis. On 6 December 2014, the Pope Francis confirmed the Decree on the heroicity of virtues of our sister (decree).

By public declaration of heroic virtues of the Servant of God she received the title Venerable. In other words, the Pope officially recognizes that Mother Vojtěcha Hasmandová followed the example of Jesus Christ and reached a heroic degree of virtues. Believers can thus worship her publicly. She also becomes an example to be followed.

At present, it is necessary that the Heaven confirms the statement of the Holy Father and the Church through a miracle. And the miracle is mainly a matter of our humble and trusting prayer. Who wants to join in prayer for this intention can do it here. 

“God’s presence is always seen especially clearly in the saints. Their testimony of holiness can also give us the courage to begin afresh today. By the way, the saints show us that it is possible and good to live in a relationship with God, to live this relationship in a radical way, to put it in the first place. “ (Benedict XVI., Erfurt, 24 September 2011)