Legend
Three scenes in the chapter hall of the Prague monastery illustrate the legend of the Prague Crusaders with the Red Star, from which the charisma and spirituality of our Order still draw today.
The Crusaders with the Red Star in the Holy Land
During the Crusades to the Holy Land, the need arose to care for wounded knights and later also for sick pilgrims. This gave rise to the hospitaller work of the military orders of knights. Over time, this work also spread to the crusaders' homelands in Europe. This model of Christian love and knightly solidarity also formed the basis of the hospitaller Order of the Crusaders with the Red Star, established in Prague in 1237. At the height of its prosperity, during the reign of Charles IV, the Crusaders with the Red Star administered some sixty hospitals, houses and parish churches in Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Poland and Hungary. Today, the growing share of social and charitable projects in the Order's work is a return to our very roots: hospitaller service.
The Finding of the Holy Cross
Here we look at one of the key scenes of the spirituality of the Crusaders with the Red Star: the finding of the Holy Cross by St. Helena. As the name of the Order suggests, a special devotion to the Lord's crucifixion, the instruments of His Passion and the Holy Cross is inherent in the Order's spirituality. Veneration of the holy wounds is not outdated; it can be a tool for discernment. When a demon appeared to St. Martin in the form of Christ, the saint was not deceived and asked, “Where are your wounds?” Let us remember that many will come claiming to be Christ. Let us not be misled by images of Christ and the Church that seem flawless: they may be deceptions from Satan's workshop. The authentic Church bears wounds. The only place in the Gospel where Jesus is explicitly called God is when Thomas touches His wounds.
St. Agnes Welcomes the Crusaders with the Red Star
The last scene shows St. Agnes of Bohemia bringing the Crusaders with the Red Star to Prague. It draws on a legend that defends the Order's historical title as an order of knights. According to this legend, the hospitaller brotherhood, and later the Order, was founded by men returning from one of the Crusades. Baroque accounts say that on the day of their arrival in Prague, these returning crusaders were served herring and dark beer. The Epiphany herring gatherings remain a cherished tradition in the Order.