Magyar Egyház, 1974 (53. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1974-11-01 / 11. szám

10

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

ZSUZSANNA LORANTFFY (1600-1664)

by Janos Bottyán Trans. Martha Step

I have met Zsuzsanna Lorantffy in Sárospatak for the first time. It happened when a friend of mine, another university student and I have decided to take a 2.000 kilometer cycling tour around the country to visit all the noteworthy places. Her statue in the yard of the School made me stop abruptly. It has been placed there in line with other notables of the city. Later I have come across proofs of her great creations, of her noble thoughts and of her deep faith. It was these that have etched her person indelibly on my mind. I saw the altarcloth which she had embroidered for the church in Sárospatak. The beautiful design is executed in colored silk and gold. I could not take my eyes off it. And this is not the only one she had made. Who knows how many more there are! One thing is certain, her garden of imagination must have been full of carnations, tulips, lilies, pomegranets to create the exquisite designs on these altarcloths for the delight of the onlooker. She was truly an outstanding gardener. The Gombos Garden which had surrounded her castle attested to it. Whatever plant or flower for beauty or for useful purposes could be grown under our climate, she would add to her collection there. Her pantry was full of home made jam, dried fruit; she had her own drugstore of natural medicines and many a bottle harbored the excellent scent that she had distilled from her own plants. She prepared food and medicine way above her own personal needs. She saw to it that no one went hungry on her estate. She took medication in person to those ill if she was at home and personally supervised the nursing of the sick.

Her knowledge of horticulture matched that of her gardener, a known botanist, Michael Karolyi. Zsuzsanna Lorantffy was skilled in every aspect of horticulture. She would exchange rare seeds and plants, urge experimentation and keep an eye on every phase of work in that garden. Girls from noble families would come to her court to learn the art of embroidery from the Lady of the House. While young boys were sent to the Lorantffy Court to become proficient in the art of warfare and politics, Zsuzsanna Lorantffy kept the girls busy at every aspect of proper household management from needlework to cooking.

“You must use alternately red and saffron to embroider a pomegranet. It must look like the real one. Go to the Gombos Garden and have a good look.

Make the stitches smooth and low but see to it that the very center stands out. It must have the effect of thick weaving. There are various ways of making the center. You can work with two or three threads at once going from red to saffron. In every pomegranet make the pattern by different kinds of stitching. In one row the stitches may meet in a wedge, in the next one create a round effect like the stone of an apricot. Use your imagination. You can create endless variety, just as you wish.”

Zsuzsanna Lorantffy kept the girls busy but not for her own good. Every altarcloth went as a present to one or the other of the churches. One of the most beautiful was given to the church of Nagyvarad. It was embroidered in alternate rows of twice eighteen. The first row directly on the cloth, the next with a design of white lilies, created by the special pulling of certain threads. The eighteen embroidered rows created a colorful pattern interlaced with golden thread. In the very center of the altarcloth stood verses from the bible celebrating the Lord’s Supper and a short prayer. “This is my Body. This is my Blood. Do this in remembrance of me. Christ Jesus, have mercy on us. 1635.” It is a large cloth with profuse lacing on all sides.

The history of this cloth is both sad and beautiful. To punish the son of Zsuzsanna Lorantffy, George Rakoczy II., Ruler of Transylvania, because he had gone into battle against the ruler of Poland without the knowledge and permission of the Turkish Court, the Sultan had ordered the burning of Gyulafehervar, the then capital of Transylvania; had sent an army to destroy crops, life and property all over the land and took Nagyvarad, until then part of Rakoczy’s domain. The inhabitants of the city rescued the treasures of the church. For 270 years Zsuzsanna Lorantffy’s altarcloth remained in hiding. Bela Csernak, minister of the church at Nagyvarad, then began a search to recover it. He received a reply from the church of Torda. The cloth is in their treasure chest but it is in a rather sad condition. Torda was part of the personal property of the ruler of Transylvania in 1660. Many people fled from Nagyvarad to Torda. They gave the prized altarcloth together with other church treasures into the safe keeping of the Church of Torda. When it was returned to Nagyvarad, it went through careful restoration procedures and as a result, twenty-four panels could be saved. This cloth is treated with special loving respect because it is looked upon as a present twice over: once from Zsuzsanna Lorantffy and for the second time by the grace of God. The State Arts Council has recently declared it one of the most valuable items in its keeping. The strictest precautions have been insti-