“We were there“ or “the 2014 Memory of Nations Awards“
The members of the Charles University Choir had the honour to sing at the awards ceremony of the 2014 Memory of Nations Awards event, broadcasted live by the Czech Television on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the “Velvet Revolution“ on the ČT2 channel in prime time (from 8:00 p.m.).
VUS accepted the invitation to participate in the “Concert for the Heroes.” Along with the Slovak singer Jana Kirschner and the former Slovak pop star Marián Varga, they performed the song entitled “The Lily of the Field“ (“Ľalia poľná“), written by Marián Varga and recorded in the seventies with singer Pavol Hammel.
The song was performed as a tribute to the award-winning Anton Srholec (*1929) who, because of his Catholic faith and his desire to become a priest, attempted to flee the country in 1951, then spent ten years in the Jáchymov and Příbram labour camps. He was released on amnesty and due to the brief more relaxed political period at the end of the 1960s he was able to study theology in Rome. He was consecrated as a priest by Pope Paul VI in 1970. Then he returned home. In 1985 the state withdrew its consent allowing Anton to celebrate religious services. In November 1989, Anton Srholec spoke at several demonstrations and he became fully engaged in ecclesial and social life. “I am very pleased that I stayed with my country and my people. In humility a person contributes towards making things better, and not so desperately hopeless.“
