Magyar Egyház, 1981 (60. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1981-03-01 / 3-4. szám
11. oldal Christendom in general is not disbelief but apathy at Easter time. We may have the churches filled to capacity, but the only sign of success is the answer to the questions: “What’s it to me?... what does it mean to 7}f The pious women of the first Easter Sunday looked for Christ among the dead, the angel told them that He was among the living, and the women spread the good news. Thank God, that through the care and mission of the church we don’t have to look for Christ among the dead; we know that He lives. The last words of the hymn which I quoted in the first lines of this meditation expresses this wonderful feeling thus: He lives, salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart! May God grant all of us, Hungarian Reformed Christians in America, now divided, yet one, united in spirit the privilege that we would say these words with true conviction! Louis Illés (Duquesne, Pa.) A MAN AND A WOMAN WHO LOOKED TO THE FUTURE-------------------------------By Rev. Bela Szabó and Dr. ArpadF. Banda -------------------------------Simon Horvath Paloczi was a layman who served as manager of the well known Theological Seminary at Sárospatak, Hungary. He was a very strict enforcer of all the rules and regulations at this historical center of learning of the Hungarian Reformed Church. The students, however, did not like this hard taskmaster. The students did everything possible to show him their displeasure. One evening, for example, a crowd of students gathered under his window and gave him a mock serenade. It was a noisy demonstration filled with shouts and catcalls. The noise was so great that it woke all his neighbors on the block, and they left their warm beds to come and find out the cause of the commotion so late at night. The students were sure that their demonstration was making the strongly disliked manager very angry and would serve as a good lesson to him. It was then that Simon Horvath Paloczi opened his window and looked down upon the rowdy crowd with their angry faces when suddenly, their cursing and shouting turned into a deadly silence. They saw in the balcony window a gentle, smiling man who spoke to them in a calm and pleasant manner: “It does not matter that you hate me, it does not matter that you mock and ridicule me, I still intend to bequeath all my wealth to you. ” It should be mentioned that this greatly disliked man was also very rich. He was a bachelor and lived DONATIONS TO KAROLI SEMINARY Hungarian Reformed Church, Allen Park, Mich.$2,000.— Elizabeth, Betty Rose and Eileen Galganyi, Cleveland1,000.v. Miklós Bende Sr., Illinois100.— Kálmán Elek, Cleveland50.— Ferenc Szathmáry, Cleveland50.— Irén Willener, Akron50.— Lorántffy Ladies, London, England50.— Hungarian Presbyterian Ladies, Wharton, New Jersey25.— Mrs. Helen Becker, Illinois25.Anna Sala, Akron25.Mr. and Mrs. Gábor Patonai, Akron25.Hungarian Reformed Church, New Jersey25.— Mr. and Mrs. László Fisi, Akron25.— Mr. and Mrs. Jenő Szedenits, Cleveland20.— Sándor Varga, Miami, Florida20.— Mr. and Mrs. Simon Adler, Akron20.— Mr. and Mrs. Frank Racz, Akron10.— Thanks for every donation! — God bless you all! with his only relative, a spinster sister, Maria. She was described, even by her friends, as a very homely individual. This fact, however, did not keep an endless stream of suitors away from her door. She was an intelligent woman with plenty of common sense and understood the reasons for their marriage proposals. Once when an ardent suitor on bended knees poured forth his protestations of love, Maria patiently listened to his pleas. Her attentive smiling face was captivated by the outpouring of such heart rending phrases. Finally when the young man was finished, Maria arose from her chair and went over to a part of the room where there was a trap door in the floor. She opened the trap door and underneath it was an oversized treasure chest. She then opened the door of the treasure chest and said: “Money can you see, jewelry can you hear, how dearly you are loved. ” Upon hearing this the ardent suitor with shoulders stopped and his head hanging in shame went on his way. As long as Maria and Simon lived they devoted their time and money to the upkeep and growth of the Seminary and for scholarship grants to students who studied at the institution. After their death their wills were prepared and read and their content came as a great surprise not only to the students, faculty and residents of Sárospatak, but the entire nation. All Hungarians, especially those in the Reformed Church, were surprised to learn that Simon and Maria bequeathed thousands of acres of land, their great vineyards in the Tokay region, producer of Hungary’s finest wines, and great wealth in the form of gold, silver and jewelry to the Hungarian Reformed Church’s Theological Seminary at Sárospatak. In addition, a large money bequest was made to establish an endowment whose income was to be used for the purpose of establishing Hungarian Reformed Churches and also to assist the County of Ung and surrounding counties in northeastern Hungary to sustain and preserve the small Hungarian communities of the region intermixed among various other population groups. Simon and Maria not only lived for the present, they looked to the future. Little things, man’s cruelty to man, could not deter these two from their holy aim in life; the building of a better life for others in the future. They not only talked about their Hungarian heritage and the duty and responsibility they felt toward other
