Saint Zdislava of Lemberk (1220? Křižanov – 1252 Lemberk) was a Czech noblewoman and founder of monasteries and hospitals. She was beatified in 1907 and canonized as a saint in 1995 by Pope St. John Paul II.

Zdislava, a precociously pious child,^[1] was extremely pious from her infancy,^[5] giving money away to charity at a young age. When she was seven years old, she ran away from her home into the forest to pursue a life of prayer, penance, and a solitary life as a hermit. Her family found her, though, and forced her to return home.

Zdislava's husband was a man of violent temper^[5] and treated her brutally, but by her patience and gentleness she secured in the end considerable freedom of action in her practices of devotion, her austerities and her many works of charity.

(from Wikipedia)

  Lemberk Castle

Zdislava was apparently a strong and energetic woman. Her name is associated with the Dominican monasteries in Turnov and Jablonné v Podještědí, as well as with the hospital there, which, despite her high position, she personally visited and took care of the sick.

 Basilica in Jablonné v Podještědí constructed in the end of 17th Cent. were are kept the remains of St. Zdislava

The skull was in a pseudo-Baroque glass case from 1908, the remains of St. Zdislava are located here, whose grave is located in the crypt under the altar.

On 12th May 2026 just in the time the priest was ready to began the Holy Mass an unknown perpetrator broke the glass on the side altar of St. Zdislava and stole her skull. The priest saw a man dressed in black running away.

The theft of the skull of Saint Zdislava  is strange. The valuables remained in place,the perpetrator, who is still being sought by the police, only took relics attributed to the saint from the altar, whose value is incalculable, while he was not interested in the gilded crown, from which he could gain something.

He broke two panes of glass. One covers the entire altar and the other the skull itself. He pulled out the skull and ran away.The basilica is secured by an alarm, but it is turned off during a service.

The Roman Catholic Church celebrates the memory of Saint Zdislava on May 30. She is often depicted as a giver of alms to the poor or a nurse to the sick.

In Dalimil's Chronicle it is said that she raised the dead and restored sight to the blind. And she is said to be able to do this even 800 years after her birth. The underground crypt in the basilica, where her bones rest, is littered with messages from people who were healed thanks to prayers to her. And they were often unbelievers.

 portrait os St.Zdislava based on the reconstruction of her skull

               Thanks for reading

                                                    Margaret

Source: wikipedia and several Czech webs