St. Vitus Cathedral is filled with silent lights, each guarding its own miracle. Above the silver tomb of St. John of Nepomuk hangs a golden lamp with an extraordinary history. Legend says the original lamp possessed supernatural power – whenever someone dishonest tried to steal it, it simply vanished from sight. However, when its creator, a goldsmith, fell into dire poverty, St. John appeared to him in a dream three times with the same advice: “Take the lamp and melt it down to save your family.” Only when the goldsmith humbly obeyed did the lamp yield to him. Later, when he became wealthy again and wished to donate a new lamp to the cathedral, he found the original jewel hanging above the tomb entirely intact.

An even greater mystery is associated with the five lamps in the magnificent St. Wenceslas Chapel. Three were placed there by Emperor Charles IV himself, and two more were added by Archbishop Očko of Vlašim. For centuries, a pious sacristan named Podiven tended to their flames. Once, when his wife fell gravely ill, he was so overcome with grief that he neglected his duties. At night, tortured by the fear that the lights had gone out, he prayed in tears for forgiveness.

In the morning, however, both the sacristan and the key-bearer made an incredible discovery. All the lamps shone with a celestial brilliance. The key-bearer, who had stayed in the cathedral overnight, described what he saw: at midnight, the chapel ceiling suddenly opened, and a glowing figure woven from sunbeams descended from the starry sky. It was Emperor Charles IV himself, returning to personally refill the oil in the lamps that guarded the peace of his land. Only his own lamp remained dark that night, as a sign that he had finished his earthly work and now watches over the nation’s fate from the heavens.