Magyar News, 1996. szeptember-1997. augusztus (7. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1996-09-01 / 1. szám
A cross motiv on a sabretache plate from Bezded gest that they understood that their veiy survival was at stake. They had the opportunity neither the Huns, nor the Avars had: to see that their tomorrow was literally in their hands. They must not let it go. At this time, there was also a sense of urgency in the Church. It was also a question of survival. The powerful Cluny reform for the Church touched the entire continent. Christians, also, realized that they needed to take their faith seriously. At least a significant part of Europe understood the ominous challenge. The Rule of Saint Benedict, the patron saint of Europe, began to be considered as the answer. The Cluny Abbey in Gaul (France) became all of a sudden a center, where they saw that Christianity was either to disintegrate and become a depraved and diabolic state or they had to choose what Saint Augustine called the city of God. A saintly Benedictine monk, Saint Odo undertook the reform that spread throughout Christian Europe: The Kingdom of God begins in the heart of each priest and religious. Only then can they expect that the man on the street would take his own reform of life to heart. The bishop of Rome supported the movement. It was at this critical moment that the Magyar destiny happened to cross the path of the movement of the European rebirth. The rebirth of our nation coincided with the rebirth of Christian Europe! We can only imagme what excitement it must have been for the pope in 1000A.D, lomed by the most powerful secularmonarch, the emperor, to have the holy crown placed on the head of the king of the Magyars, who up to that point meant terror to the whole of Europe, the external sign of Europe’s own self destruction now humbly at the feet of Christ accepting the sign of survival, not only for the Magyars, everyone feared, but for the dual survival of the Church and the continent of Europe. At the end of the millennium Geza must have seen into the future! At this time new states were about to be bom in both Central and Eastern Europe. Hungary sounded her intentions about statehood and conversion. This was a great moment for Church and state alike. Both pope and emperor recognized the role Hungary would have in the rebirth of the Church and the Continent. Geza had two tasks facing him: 1. To centralize his power, 2. to bring his people into the fold of the Church. Excitement was in the air and in his heart. There was an important conference called by the emperor at Easter of 973 in Quedlinburg. A Central European Summit Conference. The ambassadors from the, Denmark, the Czechs, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Poland and Hungary were summoned. It is not clear how the conference progressed but Bishop Bruno of Verden continued discussions among the Magyars to organize the statewide conversion of the land. On the side of Geza, Sarolt, his wife was a powerful figure. Both domestic and foreign sources confirmed that Geza himself did not tolerate oppositions Yet, Saint Bruno of Querfiirt, referring to Sarolt, remarked once that there was someone who could rule over the leader of the Magyars. Her father was the powerful Gyula in the East who with his family was already baptized in Constantinople by the pnests of Byzantium still in union with Rome at this time. People said that she was stunningly beautiful and had a manly character with the spirit of an “Amazon.” She rode horses and competed with men in her drinking. Hungary’s capable and determined first couple was well set to rule their strong people. Out of this marriage was Vajk bom, who, about 5, was given the Christian name Stephen. Although Sarolt was known to be attached to Byzantium, she was able to marshall support for Geza, who chose to work with Rome. He soon discovered that that there was some lively competition between Western bishops for gaining control over emerging church life in Hungary. He stayed with the directives coming from Rome. On the Eastern part of Hungary there remained some Byzantine influence still without any difficulty. Hungary had the benefit of several capable and holy men who were happy to work among our people and who eventually were canonized by the Church to be venerated as saints of the Church. Saint Wolfgang, a Swabian Benedictine came to Geza’s help. He stayed for some time with us. Saint Adalbert of Prague found refuge at the court of the Hungarian monarch. His entire family was slaughtered by rivaling relatives at home. He is considered to be the one who baptized Geza along with his brother Michael and his son Stephen. This saint moved frequently in and out of the country and brought with himself several very capable helpers, including the very faithful Radla, (Astrik), who became bishop later on. Adalbert himself was eventually martyred at the hands of some Prussians while he was on a foreign mission. Saint Gerard was another Benedictine who came to our land later and assisted Stephen through the rest of his life. The missionaries followed the model of St. Augustine of England, using interpreters in their missionary field work. They preached in simple Latin. The baptism of the first family made a powerful impression on the people and among the members of the court. Geza made his wish known that he wanted his example followed. Soon 5000 of the elite accepted baptism. Soon Emperor Otto the great died. It is interesting that in the war that broke out between the Bavarian prince and the new emperor, Geza took the side of the prince, Henry 11. Pilgrim, the overseer bishop of the missionary work in our land sided with the emperor. This brought a chilling effect between him and Geza. The pace of the missionary work slowed down dramatically. In the meantime emperor and prince made peace. Pilgrim competed with one of his prelate relatives for jurisdiction and authority. The pope accepted the credentials of his relative, Frederick. This helped to keep the Church’s work in Hungary more independent and paved the way for Stephen’s strong future leadership. Geza’s personal commitment abated. He was observed to partake in his earlier pagan rituals. When Bishop Thietmar challenged him, he replied that he was rich enough to donate to “them”, also. Radla, who was later known as bishop Astrik, became attached to his great work with the court. It was left for him later to journey to the pope to request the kingship for Stephen. It was Geza who assigned home for the Benedictine Abbot, Anastaz and his priests in Pannonhalma, where in 996 the famous religious center was founded. It also happened that Stephen and Gizella, the sister of the Emperor exchanged their marriage vows. Stephen was well prepared and supported both by human means and divine Grace to oversee the firm plantation of the Christian Faith among his people according to the strict observance of the Cluny reform. Geza accomplished an immense task of laying the difficult and critical, but well planned foundation for the royal dynasty of Hungary and the building of God’s kingdom among his peoples. András Bencsik, the editor-in-chief of the Demokrata, a national Hungarian weekly brought these pictures to our attention. The articles are presently displayed in the Hungarian National Museum, in Budapest on the occasion of our 1100th anniversary celebration. Page 5
