Hungarian Heritage Review, 1990 (19. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1990-08-01 / 8. szám
Hungarian-American Profiles Carrying on the teaching tradition of an ancient monastic order in Hungary: FATHER BERNARD MARTON AND THE CISTERCIAN PREPARATORY SCHOOL OF IRVING, TEXAS [EDITOR’S NOTE: The Order of Cistercian Fathers was established in the 12th century, and has been engaged in education since the Middle Ages. The Order, in Hungary, enjoyed a prestigious reputation and, the five high schools the monks staffed, were among the best in the country. With the suppression of the Order and the confiscation of its property, the then Superior of all Cistercians in Hungary, Abbot Wendelin Endredy, sought to provide a possible home for those who might eventually emigrate, so he sent some of his monks to the United States. They settled in Wisconsin in a monastery established by some Dutch monks. Over several years, more seminarians left Hungary, either legally or illegally, and made their way to this monastery. When their dream of establishing and teaching in a high school such as the ones they had in Hungary went unrealized, a number of highly trained teachers and professors sought a place where their talent and background could be put to good use. Such a place was found in Irving, Texas, when the then Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth was planning to estalish a Catholic institution of higher learning called the University of Dallas. With help from the Hungarian Cistercians, that school was founded in the fall of 1956. That year also marked the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and, as a result, more young Cistercian teachers found their way to Irving. With the knowledge that there would be reinforcements arriving from Hungary, the then superior, Abbot Anselm Nagy, authorized the establishment and foundation of the Cistercian Preparatory School. Today, the School is regarded as the prime academic institution in the southwest. Interrelated with the School, and also founded by Hungarian Cistercians, is the Cistercian Abbey Our Lady of Dallas.] The annals of Hungarian-American contributions to the cultural, scientific and general development of our country are long and honorable. And, although it no longer comes as a surprise, one of the matters of great interest is the fact that there are communities of Hungarian background scattered throughout every corner of our vast land. And sometimes in what one would think of an “unlikely” places. THE CISTERCIAN PREPARATORY SCHOOL Back in September, 1962, in Irving, Texas, the Cistercian Preparatory School (CPS) opened its doors to fifty students in grades four and five. This was the realization of a dream of then superior Abbot Anselm Nagy. Among the young members of the order present at the opening of the school was Fr. Bernard Marton, who is now its Headmaster. The student body of CPS now numbers three hundred eight, in grades five through twelve. And its alumni, a group of four hundred young men, have gone on to study in some of the most prestigious colleges and universities of the country—Yale, Amherst, Boston College, Johns Hopkins University, Stanford and others. Séveral have returned to their alma mater to serve as teachers, and all serve their communities with distinction. ORIGINS In Hungary, the Cistercian Order staffed five high schools which, at the time, were among the finest in the country. When the Order was suppressed and its property confiscated, the then superior of all the Cistercians in Hungary, Abbot Wendelin Endredy, sent some of his younger monks to the —continued next page 18 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW AUGUST 1990
