The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1984 (11. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1984-09-01 / 9. szám
COUNT CORBELLI’S GESTURE Enroute to Vienna under heavy guard, the wagon transporting the miraculous icon of Poes was stopped time and time again by thousands of Hungarians, who knelt along the route to pay homage. This moving demonstration of piety and devotion to the Holy Mother of God so impressed Count Corbelli that he made arrangements with the Jesuit Fathers of Kassa to meet him at Barca in Abauj County to paint a copy of the icon in his charge. When this was done, thousands of the Faithful formed a procession and hand-carried the replica back to the little church in Poes. When Count Corbelli arrived in Vienna, the icon he delivered was carried in a 36-hour-long procession by the Austrian Emperor and Apostolic King of Hungary, accompanied by fervent prayers for deliverance from the invading Turks, and, on December 1, 1697, it was finally placed above the tabernacle of the main alter in St. Stephen’s Basilica. Meanwhile, on September 11, 1697, the Hungarians won a great victory over the Turks at Zenta, in southern Hungary. This great victory, the people of Hungary claimed, was granted by God through the intercession of “The Weeping Mother of Mariapocs”! The icon delivered by Count Corbelli to Leopold I is still on display in Vienna in St. Stephen’s Basilica. This Hungarian Church, as well as the miraculous icon it housed, survived World War I and World War II! THE MARACLE AT MARIAPOCS By the early 1700’s, the village of Poes had become famous as “Mariapocs”, and the icon ordered by Count Corbelli as a substitute for the one he had taken to Vienna under Imperial Orders had become a Shrine visited by thousands of pilgrims from all walks of life. Then, on August 1 to 3, 1715, this icon, too, wept! Again, civil and ecclesiastical officials investigated and authenticated the miracle. When the news of this latest miracle at Mariapocs swept through Hungary, the little church could not accomodate the mass influx of pilgrims. A new and much larger church m which to display the miraculous icon had to be built. This work was begun in 1731, but not completed until much later. THE MONASTERY AT MARIAPOCS In 1750, a monastery of the Order of St. Basil the Great was established adjacent to the Shrine of Mariapocs on land donated by Count Ferencz Karolyi, who, on June 20, 1757, publicly declared that he had donated his property in Mariapocs for the founding of a Basilian monastery and that he and his family had made this donation out of respect and reverence for “Our Weeping Lady of Mariapocs”. Count Karolyi, of course, had experienced a miraculous cure of a serious ailment after having visited and prayed before the Shrine! THE STRANGE CASE OF THE MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH Many miracles have been recorded, investigated, authenticated, and attributed to the intercession of “The Weeping Mother of Mariapocs”, but none so strange as the time She saved the life of an innoncent man condemned to death for a murder he did not commit. Tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, but firmly believing that the miraculous icon at Mariapocs would help him to prove his innocence, he asked the Court, as his last request, that he be taken to the Shrine. His wish was granted and he was taken there in locked chains. Upon entering the Shrine, however, the locked chains parted and dropped Eighth Hungarian Tribe to the floor. This miracle was accepted by the authorities as irrefutable proof of his innoncence and he was set free. The chains were hung up in the Shrine and they are still hanging there today! The last time the miraculous icon shed tears was on December 3rd to the 19th and on December 31st, 1905. Again, the strange phenomenon was carefully investigated and authenticated by civil and ecclesiastical authorities. Not too long after this divine manifestation, World War I broke out, Hungary was dismembered, and the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia! THE BASILIAN FATHERS’ MISSIONS TO AMERICA The primary role of the Basilian Fathers headquartered in Mariapocs was to act as guardians of the Shrine. But, in the wake of the mass emigration of Hungarians to the United States during the early 1900’s, several of them were sent to take care of the spiritual needs of the Byzantine Rite Catholics among them. In 1929, the Basilian Fathers of Mariapocs began conducting a series of missions, but these were forced to return to Hungary in 1932. From 1937 to 1939, a second mission tour of the United States was conducted and it was so successful that a decision was reached to establish an American branch of the monastery of Mariapocs. However, World War II intervened and it was not until the 1950’s that a place of pilgrimage in honor of “The Weeping Mother of Mariapocs” was founded near Cleveland, Ohio. About 13 years later, Father Stephen J. Skinta had made arrangements to purchase the farm property in Matawan, New Jersey, which is now the site of the Monastery of the Basilian Fathers of mariapocs and is the American branch of the parent monastery in Mariapocs, Hungary. THE MISSION OF THE MONASTERY The purpose of the Monastery of the Basilian Fathers of Mariapocs at Matawan, New Jersey, is to provide a permanent home from which to carry out their sacred mission. This mission, according to Father Stephen J. Skinta, one of the three founders of the monastery and its second Superior, is as follows: “We will sound the bells of the Shrine of Mariapocs to call our Byzantine Rite immigrants and their descendents to remind them to renew their trust in the Weeping Mother! We will encourage them to be mindful of their long-suffering brethren behind the Iron Curtain. Our Shrine, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, will serve as a center to foster vocations to the religious life. It will be the site for the celebration of holy days, pilgrimages to Our Lady, publications of religious bulletins, and the operation of a summer camp for boys. We shall carry on such religious functions as the Father Superior General, Athanasius G. Welikyj, stated in his letter of October 3,1963: ‘From here the Fathers can go to various locations, preaching Missions, giving retreats, and assisting neighboring parish priests.’ ” The monastery welcomes visitors and schedules pilgrimages, festivals, and other events throughout the year, including daily Divine Liturgies. For more information about the monastery and its schedule of events, write or phone: Rev. Joseph J. Erdei, Father Superior Basilian Fathers of Mariapocs 360 Monastery Lane Matawan, New Jersey 07747 Tel: 201-566-8445 (to be continued) Page 11 I
