The Eighth Tribe, 1979 (6. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1979-01-01 / 1. szám
January, 1979 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page 9 TWENTIFIFTH ANNIVERSARY Fr. Sándor Demetzky, pastor of the St. Ladislaus Roman Catholic Church in Lorain, Ohio, celebrated his twenty-fifth years of his ordination into priesthood. Fr. Demetzky was born in Cleveland, 0. After graduating from High School he entered St. Mary University in Kentucky, continued his education St. Mary Seminary in Cleveland, 0. He was ordained on December 19, 1953 in Cleveland by Bishop Edward F. Hoben. Fr. Demetzky served ten years at St. Margaret in Cleveland, 3 years at St. Bernadette in Westlake In 1966 he was assigned to his Lorain pastorate. F. Demetzky organized the now well known “Kalocsai Népcsoport.” This group performed at many Hungarian Festivals through-out Ohio and neighboring states. József Cardinal Mindszenty visited the Lorain congregation during his journey through the U. S. He acknowledged the outstanding work and accomplishments of Fr. Demetzky. And in 1975 the Bishop of Cleveland presented the “Silver Medallion Award to Fr. Demetzky. Fr. Demetzky was honored by his parishioners on December 17, 1978. The Hungarian sermon was delivered by Fr. Kálmán Miskolczi, the English sermon by Fr. Brendon McNulty. The church service was followed by a banquet held in the church Hall. The Eighth Tribe also joins all those who honored Fr. Demetzky, one of the many who is serving our Hungarian brethren. THE MAGYARS IN HISTORY by S. B. Vardy, Ph.D. Professor of History — continued — In addition to monasteries, cathedrals and schools, the Benedictines also founded libraries in Hungary. In that age before the invention of the printing press and paper-making, all hooks were hand written on parchments made of animal hide [codex, codices). These codices were rare and very expensive. Most churches and priests had to be satisfied with a single volume that contained all of the religious texts needed for the performance of their ecclesiastical duties. Such a single volume that contained selections from various works, however, could hardly satisfy the needs of monasteries, cathedral schools and bishoprics. They needed a wide variety of works to fulfill their numerous obligations. Thus, almost immediately upon their foundation, these institutions began to collect books, and within a few decades a number of these collections became respectable libraries. By the 1080’s, for example, the library of the Monastery of Pannonhalma contained eighty individual codices — which was a rather large collection for that period. Initially all Hungarian religious and educational institutions were forced to supply their liturgical and literary needs from abroad. But the importation of codices was both too slow and too expensive. As a result, Hungarian Benedictine monasteries soon began to establish their own copying centers (scriptorium), and thus by the end of the eleventh century they produced most of the codices needed for domestic consumption. Most of these Hungarian-produced codices are now lost. Those that survived, however, tell us a great deal about the skills of eleventh and twelfth-century Hungarian scribes (e.g. Codex Hahóti — c. 1180, Agenda Hartvik — 1090s, Codex Albensis — early 12th century, the Csatári Bible and Codex Pray -— both of the late 12th century). These codices are all written in Latin, but most of them also contain some Magyar linguistic fragments, which can also be found in a number of “royal diplomas.” The latter are documents that had been issued by the king to an individual or to an institution, specifying certain grants or privileges. They had been drawn up by notaries who were employed by the royal court. At the end of the twelfth century, however, when King Béla III (1172-1196) established Hungary’s first Royal Chancery, the royal diplomas were also issued through that office, although they were also signed by the king. (Sőtér: Magy. irod. tört., I, 35-50.) Annals, Chronicles (Gestas), and the Magyar Language “Funeral Oration” Although the Foundation Charter of Pannonhalma issued in 1002 124
