The Eternal Message of Good King Wenceslas

The Message of Good King Wenceslas

One of my favorite Christmas Carols is called Good King Wenceslas. It was an English carol that appeared in my country when Australia was a British colony. Very popular carol in Australia. I always loved the story within the carol, which was written in 1853 by John Mason Neale, an Englishman. But the melody is much older – it’s a 13th-century tune called ‘Tempus adest floridum’ meaning in praise of the spring.

The carol was written for the Feast of St Stephen, better known as Boxing Day. And it celebrates a tradition of charity giving on the day after Christmas day. The name came from giving gifts (boxes) to servants and the poor. Everyone in Australia knows about the Boxing Day holiday, but few know what the Boxing stands for.

Most people know the story of the King trudging through the snow, with his pageboy following in his footsteps, to bring food and drink to a struggling man who may have been homeless. But very few know the history of the real person who is the King in the song. So here it is.

Young Wenceslas

His father died while he was young. The people of Bohemia, in the modern Czech Republic, decided they’d like Wenceslas to be their ruler, as the Duke of Bohemia. His mother ruled as regent until young Wenceslas reached the age of 18.

And when he came of age he banished his mother. To try and avoid disputes, the country was split in two and half given to Wenceslas’ younger brother, Boleslaus.

The assassination of Wenceslas

But Boleslaus wasn’t happy with the set up and he plotted with three noblemen who stabbed Wenceslas, before Boleslaus himself ran him through with a lance. The date was 28 September in the year 935. When Wenceslas was later canonised, this day was made his Saint’s Day.

After Wenceslas’ death

Wenceslas was regarded as a martyr and saint almost immediately after his death. But he wasn’t promoted from Duke of Bohemia to King of Bohemia until Holy Roman Emperor Otto I gave him the title a few years after his death.

Not only in Bohemia, but also in England, people began to venerate St Wenceslas. His remains are in St Vitus’ Cathedral in Prague and his Saint’s Day is a public holiday in the Czech Republic.

You can listen to the carol sung beautifully by the choir below, by clicking on the link or on the picture. You can also follow the words printed on the screen as the carol is sung. My favorite verse is the last one, with the ending a fundamental truth of the Christian faith.

To play the carol and sing along with it, click here. Then scroll down until you see and start the video.

What are the lyrics to ‘Good King Wenceslas’?

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even;
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight,
Gath’ring winter fuel.

‘Hither, page, and stand by me,
If thou know’st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?’
‘Sire, he lives a good league hence,
Underneath the mountain,
Right against the forest fence,
By Saint Agnes’ fountain.’

‘Bring me flesh and bring me wine,
Bring me pine logs hither,
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear them thither.’
Page and monarch forth they went,
Forth they went together,
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
And the bitter weather.

‘Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger;
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.’
‘Mark my footsteps, good my page,
Tread thou in them boldly:
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.’

In his master’s steps he trod,
Where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
May God bless you in the new year of 2026.
The Gray Nomad.

For those of you in Australia, where Christmas falls in mid-summer,
it will be 17 F degrees in Albuquerque this coming Sunday morning, which is -8 C degrees.