Conked by a Cudgel

„So God steals candy?“

„The Mariana Islands people can make twelve spears out of a human skeleton, the larger the body, the better and bigger are the spears. It is this reason, inevitably, that these savages feel a great desire to kill a man of high stature. However, I do not wish to lose my life and shed blood for their spears, but only for the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!“ – Augustin Strobach, May 21, 1683

This production is based on letters of Augustin Strobach, a Jesuit missionary and a Jihlava native who left for the Mariana Islands never to return. During his mission, he baptized more than four hundred savages, married a hundred couples, taught the locals to grow corn, and was eventually beaten to death with a club in a bloody rebellion. What was the meaning of Augustine’s “martyrdom”? In what way did his Czech footprint impact the history of a culture on the other side of the world? Is it possible to spread truth and love on ships that also carry rats, plague, and taxation?

warning: cigarettes