Methodius Dominic Trčka was born in Moravia (Czech Republic) in 1886. He professed his vows as a Redemptorist in 1904 and was ordained a priest in 1910. After working for several years as a preacher of parish missions for Latin Catholics, his desire to work for and among Byzantine Catholics was approved by his superiors. He learned Ukrainian and Old Church Slavonic, then he served among Greek Catholics of Galizia and East Slovakia. In 1950, when the Czech government suppressed all religious communities, Father Methodius was arrested, tortured and condemned to twelve years imprisonment. He died on March 23, 1959, after contracting pneumonia while in solitary confinement for having sung a Christmas carol. He was beatified in 2001.
