Magyar News, 1993. szeptember-1994. augusztus (4. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1994-06-01 / 10. szám
MULTOS ANNOS—MANY HAPPY YEARS A half of a century of life, occupation, a commitment—gives the occasion to pause for reflection, take inventory, and finally to celebrate this marked point in time. Such a celebrated moment has arrived in the priestly life of Fr. Emeric Szlezák, OFM, who on June 26,1994 will con-celebrate his Golden Jubilee Mass at St. Emery Church, Fairfield; and following the Mass, he will be feted at Santi’s Manor, Milford with a banquet that will gather family, parishioners and dear friends. This vibrant personality has contributed his life to the service of others through the two parishes that he has been assigned to— St. Stephen of Hungary, New York City, and St. Emery Church, Fairfield. As he will reminisce through the past 50 years of Priesthood, he will rejoice in the fact that he has touched so many lives; that he has been mysteriously called through the love of Our Redeemer to be a Priest of Christ—a person that will reach out to help lift the burdens of others, anoint the sick, Baptize little lives into the mystery of new life, forgive sins, feed the soul the Eucharist through the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass, and prayerfully return each precious soul back to a loving God, whom Jesus told us to call Our Father. Fr. Emeric is also a wonderful gardener, and is responsible for much of the planting of flowers on St. Emery’s Church grounds. May each of his planted blooms remind us of the care he has extended to others over the 50 years, to guide and direct the spiritual growth of many souls into the splendor of the promise of the Risen Christ to live forever! “MULTOS ANNOS” Fr. Emeric—may Jesus our High Priest and the affection of his most Holy Mother bless you on this special day—and may your Franciscan heart continue to gently uplift, heal, comfort all who touch your priestly life. FROM NEW YORK TO FAIRFIELD Inasmuch as I have performed my priestly services in New York City for a period of forty-one years, and the town of Fairfield for eight years, I am occasionally asked to compare my experiences in these two fields of priestly work. I hesitate to do so because comparisons are difficult to make, however I will try anyhow. The parish of St. Stephen was established as a national Hungarian parish in the Archdiocese of New York in 1902 and St. Emery in Fairfield began as an extension of St. Stephen, Bridgeport, thirty years later. My father Kalman, and his two brothers Benedict and Joseph came to the United States in 1902 in response to advertisement of work available in the States. Although there is no record, the presumption is that they were also members of the fledgling parish of St. Stephen when it was situated in downtown New York. My father returned to Hungary in 1905 and married my mother Elizabeth Beck in May 9, 1909. Joseph stayed in the United States, married and died in 1912. Benedict with his wife and two sons returned to Hungary about 1912 and was wounded mortally in World War II. In another article I had mentioned that I came to the United States with my father in 1923. After eight years of grammar school I entered the Franciscan Seminary High School and Junior College and in 1938 the Novitiate of Holy Name Province which lasted twelve months. Finally I was ordained a Franciscan priest at Mount St. Sepulchre Washington, D.C. by the Apostolic Delegate to the United States, Amleto Cicognani, on June 11, 1944. At this time there was a need for a Hungarian speaking priest for the parish in New York, even before I finished my fourth year of Theology. I found out that the parish had no territorial lines, except the five boroughs of New York and the outlying districts. Not having a car, visits to hospitals, sick at homes, had to be by bus or subway until 1950, when I was able to obtain a family car. At first it was easy enough to find parking places in the city, but as high-rise apartments began to increase, curb space became hardly available, and worse when alternate parking was started. This also meant that less and less people could come to Mass from the outlying districts, and often had to double-park with the danger of obtaining summons. Christmas and Easter still had wall-to-wall people, filling the aisles right up to the pulpit. There were also long lines waiting for confession on Sunday morning just before Mass which made us somewhat nervous not knowing how many more people would come so that we could start Mass on time. Although there always were several English-speaking friars, normally there were only two of us Hungarians. The other Hungarian friars did not stay very long in New York; the most was nine years, others several months or few years and they were sent elsewhere in the Province. I was fortunate to obtain the services of friars form the Custody of St. Capistran while I was in New York. These friars brought with them in their sermons a little flavor of their home-country which the people enjoyed, while we struggled just to teach Catechism and the life and teachings of Christ in Hungarian. As more and more Hungarians began to move into the suburbs which made it difficult for them to come to New York, we began a Hungarian Radio Broadcast in 1954 called the Voice of Faith. Broadcasting was not new to the parish for there was an English broadcast, a novena to St. Jude since 1941. In these broadcasts all of us took our turn in giving sermons in English, followed by Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament. The threethirty Wednesday half hour was given to us by a writer, Terry Long, who contributed also to an Irish Newspaper. When he died in Ireland, the announcements for the following Sunday were given by the actor, Don Ameche. After him I fell into the picture both as announcer and at times as engineer. The job of the engineer was to set up the microphones and make contact by telephone with the radio station and work the dials. The parish of St. Stephen can also be called a miniature service Church. By that I mean it was open from 6:30 a.m. to 9 at night, and the friars had to be available at all times for confession or parlor calls. There was no such thing as office hours, for people could come in from outlying districts at any hour of the day. Knowing that the friars were always available, the police would call on us and take us to emergency calls and to administer the last rights. To counteract the possible stress that might results from all this activity, I began a roof garden in our Rectory. I had two dwarf apple trees, one peach tree, one sweet and one sour cherry tree. I had seventy tomato plants growing in five gallon pails, plus blueberries, and grapes. However the summers were so hot on the roof that eventually the trees died in the heat, but the tomatoes prospered. St. Stephens was not only a spiritual center for Hungarians, but also a social and cultural center as well. This meant Hungarian dances, plays, bazaars, outings for young and old. Eventually Hungarian languages classes were started for the offspring of the displaced persons and Refugees, as well as Hungarian boy scouts and girl scouts. Much more could be said about life in New York. As for life in St. Emery in Fairfield, what can be said other than what the good parishioners here already know. I would like to end this brief message by quoting my sister who remarked that the Province of the Most Holy Name did me a favor by taking me out of New York. The Hungarian parishioners in New York were very good to me and I am grateful to them. Idid the best for them, butofficialdom considered it important for me to move on to new experiences, new friends, new acquaintances. Some may jokingly say that I have given my flesh to New York and my bones to Fairfield as I approach my Golden Jubilee in the Priesthood. May the Lord bless all who read these lines. Rev. Emeric Szlezák, O.E.M. Page 7 I Fr. Robert Nemeth, OFM
