William Penn Life, 2010 (45. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

2010-03-01 / 3. szám

M

ty J Tibor s Take with Tibor Check, Jr.

Tell me it is not so

OUR PEOPLE ARE FIERCELY INDEPENDENT. We love our freedom. We respect the freedom of others. We have fought wars on our own behalf and for other nations for the sake of preserving their freedom as well as our own.

Freedom, and the opportunity it gives us, is why so many Magyars immigrated to the United States. Freedom gave us the unparalleled self-determination to flourish and become an ethnic economic powerhouse. Why did we excel in the land named America? America's opportunities allowed hardworking people the chance to become successful. Our forebearers were able to save money, open businesses and factories. Their commercial enterprises grew and prospered many times over. We built churches and clubs and were very philanthropic. As American-Hungarians, we became even more independent and freedom loving.

I now would like to tell you the story of a great religious leader whom had the strength, foresight and determination to direct his congregation to a new church site which enabled it's parishioners to experience a new lease on life in the suburb of Orange, Ohio. The Rev. Ladislas Rosko was appointed spiritual leader of St. Margaret of Hungary Church in 1972. He saw that his church was in jeopardy. With it's school closed, the attached buildings in need of extensive repair and a congregation getting smaller by the week, the parish was in very dire straights. As with all great leaders, Father Rosko listened, asked questions and formulated information. About 12 miles to the east was the sporadically used Magyar shrine named Our Lady of Lourdes. (The site was the property of the Daughters of the Divine Redeemer, based in Hungary.) Father Rosko saw a possible light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Could he muster up enough support to build a new church on the shrine site and obtain the approval of the nuns to do so? The religious order turned the parcel over to St. Margaret's in 1973. The early plans for a new church were slowly materializing.

In 1989, Father Rosko recruited parishioners, friends of

Let's hear your take

Let me know how you enjoy my thoughts and views on growing up Hungarian Style. If you have any questions or comments about me or my column, please email me at: SilverKingl937@yahoo.com, or drop me a letter in care of the William Penn Association, 709 Brighton Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15233. - Tibor

The “new” St. Margaret of Hungary Church, now closed.

the congregation and other Hungarian-Americans that were not even Catholic to help build a new church. All concerned shared his dream of building a new parish center. Father Rosko used much of his own money in building the new St. Margaret of Hungary. There, brick by brick, the church began to take shape. The dedicated volunteers not only worked on the new church, but also carefully began to remove and transport the artifacts, statues, stained glass windows and much more from the old church to the new site.

When completed, the church was not only modem, but housed as many items from the old church as possible. One parishioner who grew up as a child in the old church but was an adult member in the new church, told me, that she "had had the best of both worlds at the new St. Margaret." The building was well-made, with handicap accessibility paramount in the design. The adjacent buildings were strategically situated to accommodate the huge crowds who came for summer picnics and grape harvest dances, as well as the masses held at the grotto shrine. The church building itself was carefully laid out and proportioned to hold masses at one end and to host events--such as old-fashioned Hungarian weddings, the "burying of the gypsy fiddle" and Magyar fish fries—on the other side of church building complex.

Finally, in 1992, the new church was dedicated. Father Rosko's dream was realized. The loans and mortgages were quickly paid off.

As time marched on, the church community continued to enjoy success, but like the veterans of World War II, the backbone of the congregation began to fade away.

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William Penn Life, March 2010