ENGLISH - Information

Do you plan to visit our pilgrimage site and be awaited? Pay attention to the subsequent information.

The Date of Pilgrimage: You can support the tradition and make your own pilgrimage to our church whenever you want (spring, summer or autumn seasons are more suitable). Contact the spiritual administrator if you want him to be available at the moment you come (see Contacts). Please check the Calendar of Pilgrimages and the Calendar of Events before contacting us.

The main pilgrimage is celebrated on Sunday after the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on 15th of August.

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Church Service - Holy Mass: Please, arrange your arrival with the respect to the regular parish worships so that the mass starts no later than 4 p. m. The mass is usually celebrated by a priest who accompanies a group of pilgrims. Worshipping of the Statuette of the Virgin Mary of Seven Joys normally takes place after the pilgrimage mass.

Two-manual instrument from 1901 is available for organists who accompany a group of pilgrims. Organ hymnal and operating instruction are accessible in the choir loft. Hymnals for people are prepared in the pews. You can find the lyric and melody of the traditional pilgrimage hymn in the section Prayers and Hymns.

Worship to Seven Joys of Virgin Mary: There is a possibility to worship individually or collectively. Veneration is usually connected with a visit of the Marian Garden. The texts for worship are available at the section Prayers and Hymns.

Possibility of Sightseeing: The church is usually open half an hour before the mass or worship. The time of worship is not suitable for visiting church. The groups of pilgrims can call to arrange tours of the church in advance. The foyer with a glass door, offering a comfortable view of the whole area of ​​the church, is open in case of nice weather.

The chapel called “Studánka” (in English “The Spring”) is accessible all year long. Separate pipes bring the water from springs to the chapel front, where people can take it to their containers. The Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes is open daily (approximately from 8 a. m. to 6 p. m.) from the beginning of the May till the end of the October. The Chapel of St. Jude the Apostle can be visited in the summer season on Sundays and feast days. The Marian Garden is accessible throughout the year.

Postcards are available in the church for voluntary fee.

The Book of the Pilgrims is available in the church. You can write down your impressions and messages.

Information about the history of the pilgrimage site can be found in the notice-board next to the main entrance to the church. The spiritual administrator will provide a detailed commentary (in Czech) if you ask him in advance. We prepare edition of information brochures in the future.

Čapek Brothers Museum is situated in the opposite of the church in the lower part of the square. You can find any present information in the official website of Malé Svatoňovice town.

Parking: Both cars and buses can park on the square in front of the church.

Public toilets are situated in the lower part of the square on the right of the arch passage.

For tired, thirsty and hungry pilgrims:

How to Get to the Pilgrimage Site

The municipality of Malé Svatoňovice is situated at southeast Bohemia on the hillside of highlands called Jestřebí hory. You can get to the pilgrimage site by the road no. I/14. You have to turn to the Velké Svatoňovice at the crossroads in Batňovice. If you go from Úpice, you have to turn left. If you go from opposite side, from Rtyně v Podkrkonoší, you have to turn right. Then turn right at the crossroads in Velké Svatoňovice (there is a turn indicator to Malé Svatoňovice) and go at the road no. 3014. The pilgrimage site is located approximately 2 kilometers from here.

You can also reach Malé Svatoňovice by the roads no. 30119 and no. 3014 leading from Broumov, Police nad Metují, Odolov, Strážkovice and Petrovice. Malé Svatoňovice lies on the railway from Jaroměř to Trutnov (track no. 032). The trains (fast trains included) stop here every hour. The pilgrimage site lies approximately 700 meters from the railway station. Both trains and buses schedule can be searched out here.

There is also the possibility to make a pilgrimage from any place you want (it depends on your capability :-)). There are some tourist routes leading to Malé Svatoňovice from the surrounding towns. You can check the tourist map here. The cycle route no. 4092 goes through Malé Svatoňovice, so the cycle pilgrimages are also possible.

Pilgrimage Church of the Seven Joys of the Virgin

The Pilgrimage church of the Seven Joys of the Virgin is situated close to the well-known seven-source spring. It is a baroque building founded in 1733 (consecrated on May 5, 1734). The Chapel of Saint Jude the Apostle adjoins the church at the north. The whole complex was rebuilt in the spirit of classicism in 1830 and 1831. Nowadays, the main altar of the Seven Joys of the Virgin rises in presbytery. It dates back to 1886 and it was made by the cabinetmaker Kajetán Pejskar and the sculptor Ferdinand Demetze. The statuette of Virgin Mary is laid in a glass niche at the upper part of the altar.

The Statuette of the Seven Joys of the Virgin (also called as Schwadowitz Madonna) was made in 1715 by the woodcarver Jan Karásek. It was first hanged in a wooden cabinet on a withered cherry tree. Therefore, it is sometimes called Our Lady of Cherry Tree. The statuette was transferred to the church in 1734 during its consecration. Remains of St. John of Nepomuk (Czech national saint) are put in a decorated base of the statuette. There are ten statues of angels around the glass niche. Each of them plays some musical instrument. The dove representing Holy Spirit is situated above the glass niche for the statuette.

The current appearance of presbytery dates back to 1975. The sacrificial table has three copper engravings at the front. There is pictured Virgin Mary of Seven Sorrows (in the left), the head of Christ Crowned with Thorns (in the middle) and St. Joseph holding the lily of virtue. The ambon has a copper engraving as well. St. John the Evangelist with his attribute, the eagle, is represented in there. Sculpture of crucified Jesus Christ at his cross from 1899 hangs on the side wall of presbytery opposite to the wooden pulpit. Above him, there is a statue of Virgin Mary of Seven Sorrows from 1901. There are two lateral alters at the church. The Altar of St. John of Nepomuk from 1887 is situated next to the pulpit. The Altar of St. Barbara, the patroness saint of miners, was made in 1888 and it is located at the right side of the church. The Way of the Cross is compound of 14 coloured wooden panels. It was made in 1903 by the painter Ignác Russ. You can find similar Stations of the Cross at the Marian Garden that extends at the hillside above the church. The pipe organ, situated at choir loft, dates back to 1901. It was fabricated by the company of Jan Tuček at Kutná Hora. It has two keyboards, one pedal keyboard and 17 stops which allow the organist to control ranks of pipes sound at a given time.

The murals of the Seven Joys of the Virgin were made in 1899 by Ludvík Nejedlý (except of number six which was made in 1982 by Iva Beščecová):

1st Joy - The Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary by the angel Gabriel

2nd Joy - The Visitation of Mary with her relative Elizabeth

3rd Joy - The Nativity of Jesus in Bethlehem

4th Joy - The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple

5th Joy - The Finding twelve years old Jesus in the Temple

6th Joy - Resurrected Jesus appears to his Mother (there could be also pictured Assumption of Mary)

7th Joy - The Coronation of the Virgin Mary

In the ceiling there are also murals of all four evangelists, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John. Furthermore, there is a fresco of Immaculata (Virgin Mary of Immaculate Conception) who stands between two angels having a moon under her foot and 12 stars around her head and crushing poisonous snake by her foot.


Chapel “Studánka”

The seven-source spring in Malé Svatoňovice has been known from time immemorial. Its water has very good taste and it never gets frozen in winter. Actually, it is slightly radioactive and it has a constant temperature of five degrees. The flow rate is 2 litres per 10 seconds.

The spring became very famous after certain David Dröschel had been healed in 1715 (see History section). In 1732, the princess Anna Marie Viktorie Piccolomini de Arragona, ( born Countess Kolowrat - Liebstein ) the owner of Náchod estate, let people build a baroque chapel above the spring.

The chapel is called “Studánka” (which means “The Spring”). It is situated east of the church. At the west side, the octagonal building is formed by three semicircular arched arcades with decorative wrought iron bars. The interior is made up of a small pond. Seven springs flow into the pond in the east side of the chapel. Separate pipe brings water directly from the spring to the chapel front where pilgrims can drink it and take it to their own containers. The mural on the dome pictures the dove, symbol of Holy Spirit. There are two Latin writings in the mural: "SPIRITUS DEI FEREBRATUR SUPERAQUAS" (Gen 1:2) and "QUASI PLATANUS EXALTATA SUM JUXTA AQUAM" (Sir 24:14). The back wall is covered by the mosaic of the Virgin Mary from 1907.


Chapels

Two chapels are situated above the sanctuary of Studánka very close to the church.

The Chapel of St. Jude the Apostle was built in 1904. It adjoins the sacristy at the north side. You can see wooden statue of St. Jude the Apostle from 1952.The chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes was built in 1934. A small copy of Lourdes grotto was established inside fourteen years later (by Jan Nápravník, the priest at that time). It is made of the petrified woods (araucarites) that occur at the hill of Žaltman (the highest peak of local highlands). You can see the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes and a sculpture of kneeling St. Bernadette.

The Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes is open daily (approximately from 8 a. m. to 6 p. m.) from the beginning of the May till the end of the October.The Chapel of St. Jude the Apostle can be visited on Sundays and feast days.


The Church House (the old parish office)

The interesting part of the pilgrimage site is the so called Church House (House Number 16), located above the chapel of Studánka. It is the oldest building representing popular architecture in the municipality. It dates back to 1749. The original construction, shape and materials have remained well preserved up to the present. It was repaired in 1998 - 2002.

Marian Garden

In 1891, The Association for Promotion of Pilgrimage Site in Malé Svatoňovice was established. This association contributed to the foundation of the Marian Garden, where we can find seven small chapels consecrated to the Seven Joys of the Virgin, the Way of the Cross and the Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher. In 1892, the foundation stone was consecrated and in the same year seven chapels of the Seven Joys of the Virgin Mary were built at the hillside 300 meters above the church. The whole park was built in the spirit of classicism by the architect Edmund Chaura from Červený Kostelec. The pictures of the Seven Joys of the Virgin were painted by Josef Cobl, former student of the local school. The Way of the Cross dates back to 1893. It consists of 14 coloured statues placed into the glass cabinets. By its arrangement, the Stations should remind the way of the Lord to Golgotha. At the end of the Way of the Cross, there is the Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher. It was built in 1902 - 1905 and consecrated on 8 April 1906. There is the Holy Sepulcher inside with the alabaster statue of deceased Jesus Christ from 1906 made by Antonín Sucharda. The Holy Sepulcher is decorated by petrified woods (so called the araucarites) that are typical for this locality.