Calvin Synod Herald, 1986 (86. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)

1986-02-01 / 1. szám

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD

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REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA

The Debrecen Kántus ff

I n December I visited Hungary in my capacity as Chairman of the Tour of the Debrecen Kantus in North America. In Budapest, I had the opportunity to discuss our plans with the representatives of the General Synod of the Reformed Church of Hungary who expressed their joy and deepest admiration for the preparatory work on the part of the host organizations. I then traveled to Debrecen, which is the seat of the Kantus, to take care of practical matters in reference to the most ambitious undertaking in the history of the Kantus.

Since 1 arrived ahead of the appointed time, I had the opportunity to take a walk through the park that connects the Great Church, which is one of the 14 Reformed Churches of the city with a seating capacity of 4000, and the adjoining college which is one of the noblest educational institutions of the country.

For me it was an emotional experience — memory took me by the hand and began to talk to me. My father was prepared for the Christian Ministry in this school and was ordained in the Great Church into the Christian Ministry. Decades later, my oldest brother followed our father’s footsteps and attended the same college as a seminar student, so did my second brother who became kantor and a village teacher as well as my third brother who became a lawyer. As 1 entered the ancient courtyard, I encountered the wooden steps worn down by countless generations of hustling bustling students sent to Debrecen from thousands of villages from the other side of the Tisza river, which represents the geographic background of the Kollegium, and the staircases and walls of the oratorium-chapel, a veritable exhibit of pictures and busts of former students some of whom became leaders of the nation and who through achievements in their respective fields of religion, science, and literature have entered the Hall of Fame of the institution. In silence and reverence, I could not but relive the almost 500 years of history of the Kollegium totally rooted into the history of the nation.

After the Christianization of the Hungarian people in about 1000 A.D., the two historical events that most effected the life of the nation were the Turkish conquest followed by the occupation of the country for 150 years by the Turks, and the renewal of the Christian faith commonly known as the Reformation, which immediately followed the tragic defeat by the Turks in 1526 when kings and leaders of the nation were left on the battlefield and the very existence of the nation was threatened to be destroyed. When all hope for the future seemed to be crushed, a religious revival appeared on the western horizon and soon conquered the hearts of the people. Besides the power of preaching and comforting, the Reformation brought about a number of schools for the propagation of faith and the spreading of knowledge. Thus arose the “Kollegiums” of Sárospatak in 1531, Debrecen in 1538 and Papa in about the same year.

Ministers and professors studying in the centers of the Reformation: Wittenberg, Geneva, Utrecht, Cracow, etc. modelled the education system of the Kollegium on those experiences and in a similar spirit and managed to establish a European level of education. In due course, the Debrecen Kollegium developed a nationwide network of 40 secondary and 120 primary schools — the so-called “particulars” — and it was partly due to this that the College earned the title of “the school of the nation”. The Reformed Colleges of Sárospatak and Papa had similar networks. It was the Kollegium that supplied the “particulars” with teachers and books that were printed in the newly created printing establishment of the Kollegium since 1561. And the “particulars” sent their more talented students on to Debrecen for further studies, regardless of their economic status. The Church and the

Kollegium had an extensive system of scholarship, reflecting the people-oriented spirit of the Reformation — the Kollegium was in no way the school of the rich.

The Kollegium from the beginning carried out a two-fold calling: it primarily had to train ministers and teachers to spread the Word of God in the spirit of the Reformation, and secondly it had to preserve the best traditions of Hungarian culture inspiring the selfconsciousness and political independence of the nation. This twofold-calling is also expressed in the motto of the Kollegium: ORANDO ET LABORANDO (through prayer and work): Praying to God and working for the good of the nation.

Of course, fulfilling such a call was not too easy, and the Kollegium had to experience certain periods of adversity, even decline. At the end of the 17th century, the Turks were at last driven out of the country only to have the Habsburgs gain overall control of Hungary, leading to the rapid decline of Transylvania as well as Debrecen, which then led to the War of Independence in 1704-1711. The uprising for religious freedom and national independence, in which students and professors of the Kollegium actively participated, was crushed, and it was difficult for the school to avoid the following repression.

Nevertheless, the Kollegium had the spiritual resources for renewal. It is not accidental that the central symbol in the coat-ofarms was later to become that of the Reformed Church of Hungary, too.

Generation after generation, the Kollegium had brought up ministers, teachers, and statesmen to be guardians and spokesmen of the people of a troubled nation. It has also provided the nation with poets and writers, such as: Csokonai, Kölcsey, who wrote our national anthem that is unique among its European companions, being a remorseful and devout prayer to God, in the tradition of the Psalms of David, rather than a march expressing national pride; Arany, who was the bard of the nation after another defeated War of Independence; Petőfi, most known poet to all American of Hungarian origin, Ady, the prophetic “whip of God”, and the list could be continued at length. In one way or another, these poets, and of course the nameless village ministers and teachers had testified to this two-fold calling of which the Kollegium is both instrumental and symbolic.

The Kollegium was also host to many historic events. To mention only one, during the 1848-49 War of Independence, when Debrecen became the capital of the country for a short period of time, the Chapel of the Kollegium (Oratorium) housed the national assembly. It was from the pulpit of the Chapel that Kossuth inspired the nation to self-determination, and it was here where the Hungarian parliament declared independence from the House of Habsburg in the spring of 1849. It is with such a background that the nearly 250-year old Kantus is working. It was organized by an eager reformer of the Kollegium, namely the young professor of languages and mathematics, György Marothi in 1739. Prior to that, the Kollegium had a funeral quartett, which he extended to be a mixed choir of 30 members.

Marothi wanted to introduce polyphonic psalm singing into Hungarian churches following the example of Swiss models. He planned to establish a whole Collegium Musicum, but his early death terminated his plans. Polyphonic singing of Psalms did not take root in Hungarian churches, but the first Hungarian organized choir did come into being, and Marothi’s Kantus has been working ever since without interruption.

The Kantus has preserved its century-old organization, reflecting the spirit of the old student republic. Popular vote selects the leaders including those in charge of the scores, rehearsal rooms