Premonstratensian Monastery - Nova Rise, Czech Republic - Abbeys, Convents and Monasteries on Waymarking.com

The Abbey of Nová Ríše in Moravia was founded by the military leader Markvard of Hrádek and his wife Vojslava as a monastery of sisters subordinate to the Abbey of Zábrdovice (nowadays one of Brno quarters) in 1211. The church was dedicated originally to Our Lady. The provosts of Nová Ríše were taken from among the priests of the founding abbey. Thanks to corporate endeavor of all those spiritual people the monastery soon became the light of faith spreading to the surroundings and in spite of ill fortune it has continued their mission with the help of God till today.

The streamers of mercy emanating from this sacred place were interrupted by the ravages of the Hussite wars (1419-1431), when the monastery was burned to the ground several times. St. Anne Statue, which dates back to the second half of the 14th century, is the only thing which commemorates the medieval era.

Even though the imminent military threat had passed, difficult conditions in the religious and politically divided country brought a negative impact upon the monastery. Several attempts had been made to revive the monastery of sisters but in 1596 the Order superiors came to a decision that the prioress Anna Cernická of Kacov had to leave for Chotešov in Bohemia and after that the community of sisters died out.

That did not entail the end of monastery, though. In 1598 the first two Zábrdovice Premonstratensians took the Order´s vows for Nová Ríše Abbey. The provost Adam Skotnický (1605-1631) improved the monastery spiritually and also economically despite the hostile attacks of Protestant inhabitants and prepared its conversion into the monastery of brethren. His successor Vavrinec Plocar installed seven Premonstratensians from Zábrdovice in 1641. A sign of positive monastery development was the fact that the Pope Inocenc X granted the pontifical right in 1654.

In 1733 the monastery was promoted to the abbey. Its cultural development, which continued during the time of the abbot Jan Nepomuk Pelikán who had a grammar school established in the monastery buildings, was slowed down by the destructive fire in 1813 which destroyed the newly-built section of prelate building. Yet the monastery fulfilled its spiritual vocation between the second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries.

A new series of unfortunate events and disasters hit the monastery in 1942, when SS units invaded the abbey in May after the assassination of the protector of the German Reich Heydrich and converted the premises into the centre of Hitlerjugend organization. The Premonstratensians were transported to Kounic Hall of Residence in Brno, then to Osvetim where they were killed in gas chambers with the exception of three novices. Shortly after WW2 the newly re-built monastery became a thorn in communist regime side. In February 1950 the monks were arrested, put on a show trial, and given a prison sentence of many years or sent to labor camps. The monastery buildings served as a military storage for forty years. The ruined buildings were given back to the Order in 1991.

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Full name of the abbey/monastery/convent: Premonstratensian Monastery Nova Rise Address: Nova Rise, Czech Republic Religious affiliation: roman catolic Date founded/constructed: 1211 Web Site: [Web Link] Status of Use: Acitvely Used

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