Folia Theologica 7. (1996)
József Török: History of the St. Paul order (A critical Study)
HISTORY OF THE ST. PAUL ORDER 189 the buildings begun at the beginning of the century. The number of followers increased, so too the number of wonders that happened here or somewhere else but announced here. These wonders were registered here in a book from 1732. Obviously Máriavölgy became the centre of the order. While at least 150 pilgrimages attracted thousands of followers to Máriavölgy, the order achieved new successes. Unifying in one province, the Croatian and Austrian monasteries separated from the Hungarian province in 1700. After ten years they unified again according to their nationalities into Croatian or Austrian Provinces. The building of the monastery in Pest was started in 1715, and four further medieval monasteries could be renewed again. These were: Márianosztra (1717), Tüskevár (1732), Diósgyőr (1737), Máriacsalád (1749). Residencies were built in eight places for smaller communities. In 1721 the Hungarian province consisted of 17 monasteries and residencies with 161 monks. This significant development resulted from the inner reformation of the previous century as well as from the elaboration of a new order regulation, published in 1726 in Rome and introduced in the Hungarian province in the following years. In the new times first the noviciate of Wondorf then Sátoraljaújhely offered introduction to the monastic life and to the special athmosphere of the Pauline Order. Their house in Nagyszombat supported the growing importance of theological studies. There have always been some Pauline theologists on the theological faculty of the university founded in 1635 by Péter Pázmány. The talented seminarists - like other orders - were sent also by the Pauline Order to Rome to continue their studies. About fifty Pauline monks studied at universities in Rome between the 16th and 18th centuries. The Josephinist, who called themselves enlightened, but who were in reality the creater of the anticlerical policy, first disturbed the inner life of the monasteries with their regulations then hindered and later on also openly hindered the acceptance of new monks. Finally they started to eliminate the whole monastic life. In 1781 Emperor Joseph II. signed the regulation that forbid the connections with foreign, Roman principals. Then they prepared the general public, according to which the monastic orders were eliminated by the Emperor in order to increase the wealth of the society and to involve the passive means of the Church in the active
