Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Monday, December 3, 2012

Dušičky

It is the memory of all deceased, which is celebrated on 2 November in the Roman Catholic Church on the important day of the liturgical year. In the Czech Republic the remembrance of our deceased is second most important day that believers and unbelievers together are celebrating. It has been celebrating since 10th century in countries with Christian tradition. People visit cemeteries and family graves and light candles on them and put fresh flowers, which symbolize the belief in eternal life, and demonstrate the belief that life does not end with death.

The festival is celebrated every year on the Green Mountain,too.This year we could visit the Church of St.John of Nepomuk with our Wirkko team.The Worship in the church began at 7 o'clock in the afternoon. The worship was led by the priest Záleský, accompanied with the musical choir. After the worship, everyone could light a candle and join the procession. The procession passed the church and headed to the cemetery, where candles were placed on graves of his or her family or his or her friends. The night parade had a very moving atmosphere when the church started to be immersed in candlelights.

Daniel Jirman

Monday, November 19, 2012

The evening prayer

Every 16th day of a month during the whole year people come to the Green Hill to the Church of St.
John Nepomuk to pray for the town, country, their lives and other important needs .
These thoughts and wishes are similar to the thoughts and wishes of the medieval ancestors.
The church is a prayer room .
Everywhere you can hear a silent prayer, silent concentration, fasten hands together, kind faces
full of tenderness and belief of better days. Many people go to honour the memory of the dead
and remember their relatives or friends themselves. We can feel peace and quiet. The church is a
dignified place for such a meditation.
The priest is prepared to hand his open mind and help people who need it. The old or the young, it
does not matter how old you are. You are here to help yourself , to help the others or just to stop and
breathe deeply without the rush of everyday worries.

The team of Wirkko magazine

Monday, October 29, 2012

A Beautiful Autumn Day on the Green Hill


It was one of the last sunny autumn days and I had the possibility to participate in the concert of the folk group Hradišťan in the Convent Church of the Assumption of Virgin Mary near the Church of St John Nepomuk.
The Kolping Art of the Czech Republic celebrated 20th anniversary of its foundation.
It was a wonderful concert and during listening religious and folk songs the audience could think about this extraordinary place.
This church is the second longest church in Moravia. Renovation to the baroque style was performed by architect Jan Santini Aichl who is the main designer of our project aim - the Church of St John of Nepomuk. The high altar comes out from Santini´s composition, too. We could admire monumental sculptures of St Adalbert, St Wenceslas, Mary of Egypt, the big picture of fourteen saint assistants with a figure of St Christopher (we could see his statue in the Old Church in Petäjävesi), the picture of the Ascencion of Virgin Mary. The sculptures were created by the pupil of Matyas Braun Rehor Theny, who had been working at the monastery almost for 30 years. Another meditative song was performed and my eyes went to the altar on the left side with a statue of St Nicholas and opposite a statue of St Margaret, below a statue of St Benedikt and on the right-side hand a statue of St Bernard.
It was a very festive Saturday afternoon and I with my family decided to visit the aim of our EU project the Church of St John of Nepomuk on the Green Hill.
I had the most important objects for our project - a few questionnaires and a camera.

There were only a few visitors who were willing to answer my questions. They went there just for a walk or they came to honour their relatives buried in local tombs.They put flowers on the tombs or decorated them with dried wreaths.
The time of All Saints Day is approaching.















Jitka Stráská, Filip Vaníček

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Meeting of young Christians and Pharaoh‘s run



On Saturday, 22nd September, there were two interesting events on the Green Hill.
 One of them was the meeting of young Christians. It took place in the church of St. John Nepomuk. People who wanted to participate were coming from the church of St. Procopius, which is in the town. Then there was a mass in the church of St. John Nepomuk. It started at 14:30. People who wanted to know something about the church could listen to the lecture of the deacon. The lecture was before the mass.
I could not listen to the lecture because I tried to take pictures of young firefighters, running up the stairs. They weren’t real firefighters just children who  competed in firefighters competitions. One of them was the game called also Pharaoh‘s run which takes place every year at the stairs to the Green Hill. Now it was held for the seventh time. My brother was there too. He finished the second. At the end people went to the monastery to have a snack. When the young Christians were leaving the church after mass, the stairs were again full of visitors.

Míša M.








Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The days in Prague

Tiistai 4.9.

Menimme koululle aamulla klo. 10.30 syömään lounasta. Lounaan jälkeen lähdimme bussilla kohti Helsinki-Vantaan lentokenttää. Perillä lentokentällä olimme puoli kolmen aikaan. Kentällä teimme vielä nopeat tsekkaukset ja turvatarkastuksen jälkeen pääsimme vielä kiertelemään kauppoja ennen lentokoneen lähtöä. Lentokone lähti kohti Prahaa kello 17.35 ja perillä olimme paikallista aikaa kello 18.45. Lentokentällä otimme laukut ja lähdimme bussilla metroasemalle, josta jatkoimme matkaa metrolla kohti hostellia. Hostellilla viivyimme vain hetken, jätimme matkatavarat huoneisiimme ja sen jälkeen suuntasimme Prahan keskustaan etsimään ruokapaikkaa. Kaikilla oli varmasti mielessään jokin kaunis ja idyllinen loistoravintola Prahan kauniissa iltamaisemassa, mutta mielikuvat eivät ehkä saaneetkaan vastinetta todellisuudelle, kun jalat veivätkin kohti McDonald'sia poikien ja budjetin määräyksestä. Vatsat täynnä roskaruokaa oli hyvä jatkaa iltaa kiertelemällä hieman Prahan keskustaa. Pienen kierroksen jälkeen olimmekin kaikki jo valmiita nukkumaan.

Tuesday 4.9.

We went to school about half past ten in the morning to eat our lunch. After lunch we took the bus to get to the Helsinki-Vantaa airport. We were at the airport at half past two. We did quick check-in and after that we went through the security check. Then we had a little time to do shopping before the departure. The airplane took off Helsinki to Prague at 5.35 pm and we were there at 6.45 am local time. At the airport we took our bags and we took the bus to get to the subway station. At the station we hopped on the subway, which took us to the hostel.  We didn´t have much time to stay there so we just left our baggage there and went to the centre to find a restaurant. I think all of us had an image of a restaurant in their minds: beautiful and idyllic five-star restaurant in a gorgeous night time Prague. And where did we really go? To McDonald´s because of the boys and the budget. When we had finished our junk food meals, we continued our night by walking around Prague. After that we all were ready to go to bed.

Keskiviikko 5.9.

Heräsimme aamulla aikaisin aamupalalle, jonka jälkeen lähdimme katsomaan paria nähtävyyttä. Kun olimme käyneet kaikki nähtävyydet läpi, oli aika lähteä shoppailemaan. Shoppailla saimme 4 tuntia, jonka aikana saimme käydä syömässä missä itse halusimme. Sen jälkeen lähdimme raitiovaunulla Petřín torniin, jossa sijaitsee kopio Eiffel-tornista. Kukaan ei kuitenkaan jaksanut kiivetä tornin huipulle kaiken sen kaupungilla kävelemisen jälkeen, paitsi tietysti meidän reippaat opettajamme. Kun he olivat päässeet turvallisesti takaisin maanpinnalle, lähdimmme käymään hostellilla, josta jatkoimme pian syömään espanjalaiseen ravintolaan, La Bocaan. Kun kaikki olivat syöneet, lähdimme hostellille nukkumaan.

Wednesday 5.9.

We woke up early in the morning to have breakfast. After that we went to see some sights. When we had seen each of them it was time for shopping. We had 4 hours and during that time we had to do our shopping and have lunch. Then we took the tram, which took us to the Petřín tower, where is located a copy of the Eiffel tower. But no one had energy to climb to the top of the tower except our brisk teachers! When they all had returned safely down to the ground, we quickly visited the hostel and then we carried on our way to Spanish restaurant, La Boca. After everybody had eaten we went to the hostel to sleep.

Torstai 6.9.

Torstaina heräsimme kahdeksaksi aamupalalle, kuten keskiviikkonakin. Aamupalan jälkeen oli vuorossa huoneiden luovutus, jonka jälkeen meillä oli vielä parisen tuntia shoppailuaikaa. Shoppailusta nälkiintyneenä menimme vielä syömään ennen junan lähtöä. Tapasimme hostellilla ja lähdimme yhdessä kävellen juna-asemalle. Juna-asemalla meillä oli vielä hetki aikaa shoppailla, kunnes junamme kohti Žďár nad Sázavouta aloitti matkansa. Junamatka kesti noin pari tuntia, jonka jälkeen saavuimme juna-asemalle jossa isäntäperheemme odottivat meitä.

Thursday 6.9.

On Thursday morning we were supposed to be in cantine, where we had our breakfast, at 8 o´clock. After breakfast it was time to give the keys off the hostel room and after that we still had some time for shopping and to eat something before getting to the train. We met at the hostel and walked together to the railway station. At the railway station we had a little time for shopping before our train to Žďár nad Sázavou left. The trip by train took a couple of hours. At the station host families were waiting for us.

-Tessa-

Sunday, September 16, 2012

The last moment

It’s Saturday, 5 o’clock in the morning. We are standing at the railway station, full of new experiences and memories. Everybody is trying not to cry, but it’s only waste of time. And we don’t have much of the time now. Just 17 minutes. When Jenny says that they should leave for the platform in 10 minutes, it starts saying goodbyes. Everybody hugs each other and nobody is ashamed of his or her tears. It’s very sad because we have spent a wonderful time together and we have enjoyed every second of this visit. We also have made lots of work on our project and we have enjoyed it. We are thinking about it at the platform and all impressions are miziny in our minds.
Ten minutes are gone and we are leaving for the platform. Our Finnish partners are getting on the train and we are standing in front of the door, crying and saying goodbye. Then the door are closing and we are waving as long as we can. The way back to the station is full of memories and tears.
I enjoyed the visit very much and I’m glad I could meet people from Finland. We have had a lot of fun and time together. I hope our Finnish partners have enjoyed their stay here as we enjoyed staying in Finland. I will never forget!


Míša M.