St.Wenceslaus Parish

Church History:

    The first group of Czech settlers came to the Wahoo in August of 1874.  These settlers, who were of the Catholic faith, had to travel 15 to 20 miles in order to attend mass.  Finally in 1877, Reverend F. Sulak arrived from Chicago to hold masses for the local Catholic congregation.  The original St. Wenceslaus church sat on the corner of 1st and Sycamore streets, built in 1878.  It was 50x30 feet, and only cost $1500 dollars to build.  Once outgrown, the location of the church was moved to 2nd and Linden streets, where a new 26x70 church was built for $3600.  In 1919 though, the church was again outgrown and an even bigger project was set to take off.  The cornerstone of the current St. Wenceslaus church was blessed on October 11, 1921.  Since then, the church has been renovated several times, but the original structure still stands.  

 

    Saint Wenceslaus was the Duke of Bohemia from the year 921 to his death in 935.  His father died when he was 13 and upon that was raised by his grandmother, Saint Ludmilla.  In 935, Wenceslaus' younger brother Boleslav invited him to the feast of Cosmas and Damian. There Boleslav had three of his friends murder Wenceslaus on his way to church, succeeding him as Duke. During his reign Wenceslaus was noted for his piety; he worked vigorously to strengthen Christianity in Bohemia.  By the beginning of the 11th century, he was already recognized as the patron saint of Bohemia. Václav is the Czech form of his name.  His feast day is September 28th.

 

Priests of Saint Wenceslaus Parish:                                

                                                                     

Father Townsend           Father Gilde                              St.Wenceslaus Church