Magyar News, 1992. szeptember-1993. augusztus (3. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1992-11-01 / 3. szám

ST. EMERY CELEBRATES (continued from page 1) themselves and shaking their heads saying: “Build a church now, with the lack of material funds... in the heart of a depres­sion? It can’t but fail!” Work on the church progressed rapidly, and on July 31st, 1932, His Excellency, Most Rev. Maurice M. McAuliffe, Auxil­iary Bishop of Hartford, blessed and laid the cornerstone. With the words of Father Biro ringing in their ears: “Pray for the success of our endeavor and work on it, and God will be with us,” the parishioners eagerly prepared for the dedication. The Church stood ready in all its simple splendor, on the Feast of Saint Emery. So that on the Feast of the Parish Patron itself, His Excellency the Bishop blessed the completed church and rectory. Many a thankful heart there was that day, as for the first time they stood in their own church to give glory and thanks to God. Father Biro whose heart and soul was behind every move, the architect for the gem he created; The E. & F. Construction Co., who was destined in the future to build three more of Saint Emery’s buildings, for its completion on schedule. Finally, those many, many workers to whom Saint Emery’s building meant work and food for their families during the dire times of the depression. Last but not least to give thanks were the parishioners, who could look with shining tear-filled eyes on the then young­est Hungarian Parish in America, and say “it’s ours, we build it!” It is worthy to note here that the Church and Rectory cost $95,274.15. The three marble altars imported from Italy, cost $4,500. The organ and the pews and wooden confessionals came to the sum of about $4,800. The church still lacked many things in the line of furnishings but slowly, due to the energetic cooperation of the 80-100 families that made up the parish at that time, these were taken care of. The people, the sacrifice of time, money and energy that went into and helped make Saint Emery’s what it is, cannot all be written down here, but we are sure they are enclosed in the Eternal Books of Heaven. The parish was burdened with an $84,000 debt, as we can glean from the books, which was given twenty years to be paid off in. So with the same firmness of purpose and intent that so characterizes the Hungarian people, they set about erasing the debt. Everything went so well that to everyone’s surprise and joy , on Labor Day 1946, amid solemn religious and civic celebrations the Mortgage paper was burned. NEW PLANS... CONVENT AND SCHOOL Father Biro in his wisdom gave the pa­rishioners a little rest, but the parish could not wait, and grew rapidly, so much that now there were four well filled Masses. With each passing year more and more children came to religious instruction. Fi­nally in 1951 the time had come to settle the Sisters in Fairfield permanently and build a small school building. Our Sisters, The Daughters of Divine Charity, have been working in the parish since its very begin­nings. The good Sisters had been traveling back and forth from Saint Stephen’s to Saint Emery’s over the years to teach reli­gious school, summer school, to care for the sodality, and decorate the altars. Now, Saint Emery’s was to receive its own Sis­ters, in a renovated house prepared for them on Halley Avenue. At the same time, a two classroom catechistical school was planned, which was designed by one of our parishio­ners, an architect, Mr. Stephen Butzko, and constructed by theE. & F. Construction Co. The school building and convent were blessed by His Excellency, Most Rev. Henry J. O’Brien, Bishop of Hartford, in conjunc­tion with Confirmation on Nov. 11,1951. His Excellency took the occasion to remark that every small parish in the diocese that can’t afford to erect a parochial school should use the example of SL Emery’s and establish such Catechistical school build­ings. The School and Convent cost the parishioners some $82,000 leaving a debt of some $50,000, which due once again to the hard work and cooperation of the pa­rishioners was paid off in the short space of two and a half years. Hardly had Father Biro finished this great work when the Good Lord, deigned to take him away from SaintEmery’s on Janu­ary 17, 1952. With tear-filled eyes and sad hearts the people filled the church on that wintry day, as Bishop celebrated the final Requiem, to bid farewell to their founder, and spiritual father of twenty years. Today in front of the church stands a life-size bronze statue of St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio, made in Italy, by Prof. Romanelli, dedicated to the memory of Father Biro. Not only did he raise a generation here, but his voice went far beyond the bounds of Fairfield, by means of the “Hungarian Catholic Sunday” of which he was editor. None will ever forget him! A few days after the funeral Rev. Hippolyt Deesy, O.F.M. was named his successor. The other pastors that have served the parish were Fr. Dennis Szocs, O.F.M., Fr. George Mészáros, O.F.M., and to date there are Frs. Robert Nemeth, O.F.M., Emeric Szlezak, O.F.M. and Bro. László Galambos, O.F.M. The Sisters in the Convent are Srs. M. Marlene, F.D.C., Lucille, F.D.C., Genevieve, F.D.C. and Alexandrine,F.D.C. We will continue with the later years in following issues. ROOFING SHINGLES LEADERS JOHN BOGNÁR ROOFING & SIDING 73 Melrose Avenue Bridgeport, CT 06605 (203) 579-4316 Free Estimates« Full Insurance GUTTERS SIDINGS MESSAGE FROM THE WEST COAST TO THE EAST COAST It is always a good feeling to receive a remark of appreciation, a donation, or a letter showing that the Magyar News ful­fills a function in the Hungarian commu­nity. Especially when the appreciation comes from the other end of the country, from as far as the west coast. I want to share with you this letter I received just recently. "Dicsértessék a Jézus Krisztus! Dear Sir: A relative recently sent me a copy of your monthly paper. So I have enclosed a check for $50.00, $25.00 of which is for you to send me the paper, to either of the above address (you can use whichever one you wish). Since I am from Fairfield and was assistant at St. Emery s for many years. During the time of Forradalom and after I was the founder of the Hungarian Soccer Team. However, I have been in California now for 26 years. I am now pastor of St. Anne Byzantine Catholic Church in San Luis Obispo. There are however quite a few Hungarians here on the Central Coast of California. I have a few families of Hungar­ian background -e.g. Bereczky, Petrik, Kobek, Juhasz, Bárány, Ladacsi, Király, etc. Though we use English in our Liturgies (Masses), on holidays, e.g. Christmas and Easier, we use some Hungarian, and Old Slavonic also on request. The other $25.00 is for the Mary Katona Scholarship Fund. Mary and I grew up together and I and my family knew her and her family very well. So maybe this small donation will help. Some of your members may still remem­ber me from way back then (some 36 years ago). Enjoyed the paper very much, brought back memories. With every good wish and prayers. Sincerely, Igazi Szeretettel Fr. Edmund M. Idrányi (Fc/t. Idrányi Ödön, Imre)" SCHOLARSHIP The Pannónia American Hungarian Club is offering scholarships to area students entering into higher educa­tion, and of Hungarian background. Mrs. Sarika Balogh said that the forms are available at any of the Hungarian churches. The applications have to reach the address printed on the forms by December 1. The chosen recipients will receive the scholarship on Decem­ber 20th, Sunday, at the Hungarian Chi ldren ’ s Christmas Party at 3:00 p.m. at the Calvin Hall in Fairfield. For further information call Mrs. Balogh at 366-5782. Page 3

Next

/
  • Layout
  • Zoom
  • Rotation
Thumbnails
Contents