“It began unexpectedly. On 6 December 1982, two men came to our house. They rang the bell and knocked on the door and I opened. They turned over the lapels of their coats, and they showed me some ID cards. They said they were from the police and it was all clear to me. They made me sit in their car and on the way we stopped at my daugher Anežka, now married as Hanulíková. In Písečná they made her get into the car and they drove us to Jeseník for interrogation. There we were interrogated, separately, for about three hours. Based on advice of friends, I was determined not to confess anything. I would not tell them anything in order not to cause unnecessary troubles to someone else. Their accusations were that in the past, during the celebration of Hitler’s birthday, we had been allegedly praying for the revival of the Nazi ideology.”
“We were already in the court building. I carried the Word of God in my briefcase. We often used to do it. For instance, when we were to make some important decision, we would open the Bible on some page and accept it as the word from God. I opened the Bible and pointed my finger to one line, which I was about to read, and there was written: ´Strive thou, Lord, with them that strive with me.´ I was so amazed how perfectly it fit the situation. It gave me more courage. Everybody had to be absolutely quiet in the court. My oldest daughter Maruška just entered the courtroom and she whispered something. The judge immediately scolded her and declared it an offence.”
“A meeting was gathered on the town square around the town hall. It was where the Holy Trinity sculpture is located. A meeting of protesters formed there. Some of us were holding crosses in our hands as a sign of faith. It was rather a silent protest.”
“They were not even allowed to whisper. There was nothing noisy. Just one of the men present whispered something. All people who were there were our supporters. As soon as the judge heard the whispering, he shouted immediately that we ought to be careful. He said it differently, but to rephrase it, he warned us to be careful, or otherwise they would turn it into a mass trial and invite the television and radio so that the whole country would know about it.”
“If it seemed that I really wouldn’t be able to find it, it could be learnt from the verdict of the District Court in Šumperk, which on September 23 of the past year sentenced Jiří Šnajdr and Jan Morký to the sentence of 10 months, or one year, respectively, for performing religious acts among the members of the sect called Decisive Pentecostal Christians, which is not authorized by the State, and without having the State permission to such activity. In reality, it was a Bible study group of enthusiastic lay people, where the Word of God was being read and religious songs were being sung. Cardinal Tomášek testified in an official letter to the court that this Pentecostal movement was not any sect, but that it was a manifestation of the life of the Church and that it formed the core of the Church. The Spirit of the Pentecost is thus alive, and not only in the spectacular events of the Pentecost miracle and in the history of the Church, but in the heart of every one of us. Everywhere, where there is something good, there is also the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is everywhere where there is he truth. The Holy Spirit is everywhere where there is love. The Holy Spirit is everywhere where there is joy. The Holy Spirit is everywhere where there is peace, friendship, beauty. It is because God once breathed his Spirit into us, too, and Jesus is calling to us as well: ´Receive the Holy Spirit. All you need to do is to open your heart to him. Amen.´”
Jiří Šnajdr was born April 23, 1933 in Doloplazy in the Olomouc region. The faith in God has guided him all his life, and it was also the reason that he was put on trial by the communist regime. In 1983 he was sentenced to 10 months of suspended sentence for disrupting the state control of churches and religious organizations merely for organizing prayer meetings in his house in Mikulovice as part of the charismatic movement. He was tried together with Jan Mokrý and it was probably the first case in the country when lay believers were sentenced for breaking this law. The news of trial was broadcast by western radio stations, such as Radio Free Europe, Voice of America or Radio Vatican. Even after this trial, Jiří Šnajdr fearlessly continued to organize the prayer meetings and he was outspoken in his disagreement with the communist regime practices. In 1988 he was one of the key organizers of a silent protest demonstration in the Upper Square in Olomouc, which was held in order to call attention to the unlawful detention of Augustin Navrátil in a psychiatric hospital. After the fall of the communist regime, Jiří Šnajdr was they key person who initiated the restoration of the pilgrimage church of the Virgin Mary the Helper (Mariahilf) in Zlaté Hory near the Polish border. He still lives in his house in Mikulovice where the used to meet with young people in the charismatic revival movement during the 1980s.
