“It was beautiful. Beatified Agnes was canonized in the morning in Rome, and I was back then in Osová Bítýška and we canonized Agnes in Porta Coeli in Předklášteří near Tišnov. And Josef Šinda was the Dean there and he said: 'You will have Pontifical Mass. And Knight Knitl will preach a sermon because she established the Knights of the Cross (with the Red Star), and he was Knight. It will be a Pontifical Mass.' The church was crowded. They said that perhaps from the beginning, from the founding of the Cistercian women's monastery, it had not been as crowded as it was then. So, it was a revolt as soon as I got a letter from the Dean. And it ended the following day. It was something really amazing, you know? It was… I have always felt like a free man. Because I do not want to get rid of freedom and even though it sometimes costs a person something, I think I have always decided as a free person. It was like when a flower unfolds, it was something amazing. Even the assembly in Porta Coeli, it was amazing! So, one got such a boost again, it was a gift from the Lord God. Such a boost to life, genuinely nice!"
We had a Chapter (meeting) a year ago, so we met at my place. And we agreed to ask Rome if we could elect an abbot. That it also belonged to the fullness of our lives. The other Chapter was in Rožná pod Pernštejnem, our brother Dominik Doubrava was a parish priest there. And we met there, and the election took place there. It came as a shock to me. I was one of the youngest ones, I was forty-four years old. And I got the most votes in the first round of votes. And Vít who was in charge of the election asked me if I accepted my election. I started to think about it at that moment and said: 'What does it really mean to be abbot?' I knew Vít but he did not have a monastery. I did not know anything about life in a monastery. So, I somehow… It probably took a long time, me being silent. Česlav was sitting next to me and I believed Česlav everything he said, he was a great brother. He said: 'Say yes.' Well, when Česlav said that I said: 'Yes.' And that is how it happened.”
“Two months or so have passed. And they rang the bell at the parish office. Their first words were: 'We have got so much on you that we can imprison you right now.' So, I told them: 'Well, wait a moment, I will get my toothbrush and we can go.' - 'Will you not even invite us to your office?' I said: 'In the end, the office is for the public, so come in.' They impressed me there again (saying) everything they knew about me and that they could really imprison me. 'Well, I know it. I told you straight away to wait for me before I get my toothbrush.' Well, we were talking like this, and it did not lead to anything. They left. And then the Chapter Vicar Horký called me and said: 'You know, you have to move out. I have been arguing over you for more than a year. And if I do not transfer you now, you will end up without an agreement.'”
„I would like to appeal, and I am appealing to everyone to look for, I have already talked about it, to look for the truth and to want to live well. It is said that the one who does not love does not live, those are the basic rules of life. And when one is looking for those things, they are spreading goodness and truth around them and creating a community of love. I believe that if one is doing it together with Jesus Christ, it affects the entire world. Because he sacrificed for everyone, and we are just joining him in his sacrifice. It affects the entire world. From my basic human point of view, I can see that I can influence those people I meet more. So, if I see this as a conversation, as meeting people, I would like to tell them this. Look for the truth, be good and like people around you. I always end (the conversation) by saying: And I wish you well!”
Michael Josef Pojezdný was born on 17 July in Jihlava as the second of three sons of Josef Pojezdný and Anežka Pojezdná. The parents raised their children in faith, they participated in the life of the local Premonstratensian parish where the boys had their background. When the witness was not admitted to study Theology after his secondary-school leaving exam at an eleven-year school, he made his living as a construction machinery repairer. From 1962 he studied at the Faculty of Theology, and he graduated from it in 1967 and was ordained a priest in the same year. After finishing his two-year military service, he worked in the spiritual administration of the Brno diocese. For a long time, he maintained relations with the priests of the secretly operating Premonstratensian order, of which he became a member in 1970. He was elected abbot of the Royal Canonry of Premonstratensians at Strahov at the chapter in Rožná nad Pernštejnem in 1987. In the years following the Velvet Revolution, he contributed significantly to the restoration of the Strahov monastery. For twenty years he held the position of President of the Conference of Major Religious Superiors of the Czech Republic. In 2006, he was awarded the Order of T. G. Masaryk for his outstanding services to the state in the field of the development of democracy, humanity, and human rights. He handed over the office of Abbot of Strahov to his successor in 2018.
Hrdinové 20. století odcházejí. Nesmíme zapomenout. Dokumentujeme a vyprávíme jejich příběhy. Záleží vám na odkazu minulých generací, na občanských postojích, demokracii a vzdělávání? Pomozte nám!
