Reactionary Miracle

In the tiny Bohemian village of Cihost, in the hills southeast of Prague, flax farmers and woodcutters last week were whispering excitedly. They were discussing the new "miracles" and the trouble which had followed them.

The first miracle, villagers told reporters, took place on Sunday, Dec. 11. During his sermon, the village priest, Father Josef Toufar, had said: "He Who is in our tabernacle and Who is among us, He will help us . . ." At that moment, the lindenwood crucifix leaned first to the left, then to the right, and then to the west. Cihost's pious peasants said the crucifix went through the same motion on Christmas day and on Sunday, Jan. 8.

As the story spread, new versions of the Cihost "miracles" cropped up. A report circulated in Prague was that a local Communist had approached Father Toufar as if to strike him. As the Communist raised his arm, the crucifix began to glow and move, and the man fell back in awe.

Soon pilgrims began to stream into Cihost. From Prague, the Czech Communist government sent commissions to investigate. Policemen turned the pilgrims away. Father Toufar and his churchwarden were arrested. The Communists closed the church two days later; villagers are allowed to enter it only for Sunday Mass.

The Communist organ Rude Pravo last week indignantly attacked the "reactionary" miracle of Cihost. The Catholic hierarchy and the rich peasants, the paper charged, were spreading false stories to divert the small peasants' attention from the blessings of cooperative farming.

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