PASTOR'S MESSAGE

As we begin a new year of fellowship at the Hungarian Catholic Mission, let us reflect and give praise to God for His many blessings.  We are a vibrant Hungarian based community that will continue to reach out to our community in the greater San Francisco Bay area and our homeland in Hungary.

Over the last year, I have seen many Hungarians visit our Mission for the first time.  Word has spread about our mission throughout the San Francisco Bay area, and the country. Our Hungarian cultural events have and will continue to be a great success story.  It is wonderful to see families’ young and old sharing in our faith-based community.  I am proud of the fact that we include all Hungarians, their families, and friends to share in Christ.  The diversity of this Mission is one which we have fostered spiritually, intellectually and socially.

It may appear that the “old timers” keep getting older.  While this is true, I have also seen our younger congregation stepping up to the plate in developing community based programs.  As the New Year begins, let us give thanks to God.  We are so grateful to our Hungarian priests who travel here to share in our ministry at Woodside Priory. We pray for the souls of all your departed who have returned to the Lord, and we pray for the poor souls in Purgatory. Finally, we thank the Lord for the daily blessing we receive upon our family, friends, and ourselves.

So what do we do in 2014?  Let’s start by practicing our Catholic faith by attending our services and Sacraments on a regular basis.  Attending Mass together makes the family unit stronger.  We open our hearts to Hungarians of all faiths to be a part of our fellowship. For those members who are not Catholic, consider attending our Sunday lunch reception after Mass.  If we can host the President of Hungary in 2013, imagine what we can do in 2014. 

Finally, I want to thank everyone within our community that has kept our ministry alive.  From behind the scenes, I want to thank our Organist, our Priory kitchen-staff, and all of our great volunteers and Mission Counsel members, whose dedication and hard work deserves a heart-felt THANK YOU. May the good Lord keep us in His loving care.  Fr. Maurus

FAITH

Liturgical/Sacramental events since our last Bulletin

Our Baptisms: 

On February 23^rd we have received into God’s Family Brenden Orion Cabral, the son of Antemio Cabral and Erzsebet Racz, in the Sacrament of Baptism.  After the Mass we had a reception to honor our new member. 

On March 9^th, Laszlo Varga, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Laszlo Varga, was baptized.  After Mass, a reception was given in honor of our new member. 

Our Deceased: 

Istvan Szabados, a faithful member of our Mission Community, has returned to the Lord after battling a long illness on November 22^nd. His funeral liturgy and burial took place in the Sky Lawn Cemetery on November 27^th and the Mass of Resurrection was celebrated in the Hungarian Catholic Mission on December 8^th. The Mass was followed by a Reception for Istvan’s honor given by his family. In lieu of flowers, the family asked for donation in support of the Deva Foundation (orphanage) close to the heart of Linda Istvan’s daughter. 

Edith Pazmany Adam, a faithful member of our community for decades returned to her Creator on December 4^th. We celebrated the rosary service for Edith on December 9^th in the Spangler Mortuary.  Edith was buried at the Saint Simon Church, the following day.  Our community honored Edith’s life on December 29^th and a reception was given by her family in her honor. 

Liturgical Events 

• November 25^th .  We celebrated Thanksgiving starting with our Mass followed by our traditional Thanksgiving reception.
• December 8^th.  Our Scouts celebrated Saint Nicholas feast day (with the usual excitement and large turnout)
• December 15^th.  The Hungarian Scouts performed the traditional Christmas Pageant after Mass.  It was a huge success, with a large turnout.  The Hungarian Scouts also performed with our Protestant Brothers and Sisters.
• December 24^th.  On Christmas Eve we celebrated Mass at 8:00 PM and I was very glad to see a packed church, followed by a wonderful reception.
• December 30^th, the last Sunday of the year, we had a Mass that included singing of the Tedeum.

A Special Thank You! 

On January 26^th, Abbot Matthew Leavy visited us from the Saint Anselm Abbey Manchester. He celebrated Mass and preached in Hungarian. Born in Bronx, New York to Irish parents, Abbot Matthew learned Hungarian for the love of it. Thank you, Abbot Matthew!

Hungarian Saints of the Quarter

In our newsletter, we honor two Hungarian saints each quarter. These Hungarian saints demonstrate exemplary virtues and wonderful service to the Lord and His people, and their feast days fall within the time of that quarter. Read about the lives of these saints, and the inspirational lives that they led with the help of God’s grace.

Saint Margaret of the Arpad Dynasty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lived: 1242 - 1271
Canonized: 1943
Feast Day: January 19

Biography:

The daughter of King Bela IV and Maria Laskarina, the niece of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, and the younger sister of Saint Kinga and Blessed Yolanda.  Margaret and her family lived in exile in Croatia during the Mongol invasion of Hungary. Her parents vowed that if Hungary was liberated from the Mongols, they would dedicate their child to God. 

 Margaret entered the Dominican convent of Veszprem at the age of four. Six years later, she was transferred to the Convent of the Blessed Virgin founded by her parents, located on the "Rabbit’s Island" (Nyulak szigete) near Buda.  

Margaret Island is named in her honor, where the ruins can still be seen today. Margaret spent all her life here, dedicating herself to religion.

She took her solemn vows when she was eighteen years old. Margaret was canonized in 1943.

Saint Adalbert

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lived: 939 - 997
Canonized: 999
Feast Day: April 23

Biography:

Archbishop Adalbert was a champion of the Christians, baptizing and spreading the Gospel during a struggle between Paganism and Christianity. Due to familial tensions with his rich family and other rivals in Bohemia, Adalbert had to move sporadically for his safety. A bishop of Prague.  

Adalbert served for many years as a missionary, Géza of Hungary and his son Stephen in the city of Esztergom. He evangelized to the Poles, and was made Archbishop of Gnesen.  He also preached in Prussia. 

He was very successful in converting many pagans, much to the frustration of pagan Russians. As a result, pagans ordered his martyrdom in the year 997. Boleslaus I buried Adalbert's body at Gniezno, Poland, whence it was transported in 1039 to Prague. 

Adalbert was canonized in 999. St. Adalbert was later made the patron saint of Bohemia, Poland, Hungary and Russia.

CULTURE

Hungarian Cultural Events Sponsored by the Hungarian Catholic Mission

We were pleased to host several concerts that included renowned Hungarian musicians and artists.

A week after Hungarian President Dr. Janos Ader’s October visit, the Children’s Halloween Party was organized on November 2. There were many Hungarian families in costume who attended, and all enjoyed the games, plays, puppet theatre, and delicious food. After the party, a few families came to the Founder’s Hall to enjoy Adam Torok’s Concert. He is a well-known musician from the famous Mini Band of Hungary. It was an incredible performance.

On November 30th, we organized the Peter Gerendas’ concert. A famous guitarist, he played beautiful music for us, creating a sense of great nostalgia and remembering Hungary.

Tunde Krasznai played some of the most famous pieces of Franz Liszt on Oct. 23, during the Hungarian President’s visit. The Mission hosted her during a New Year’s Concert on January 5th. We started the concert with a Champagne Toast and Tunde put on an unforgettable concert.  It was romantic symphony from the world famous piano pieces.

The Hungarian Catholic Mission is working hard to organize new concerts for the San Francisco Bay Area Hungarians. These are our upcoming plans:

On March 1st, at 6pm we will host the Kriszta Kovacs Quintets from Hungary, who will tell melodic talents about Budapest.

On March 22nd, at 7pm the Choir of Corvinus Hungarian Institute will perform with their children. The guest of the concert will be Jeno Jando, famous pianist from Hungary, sponsored by the Hungarian Catholic Mission.

On March 29th, the Hungarian Theatre in Los Angeles will visit us to perform a Hungarian operetta.

On June 21st, the Brody Janos Concert will be held in the Priory’s big Theater. It will be the second time the very well-known singer, author, guitarist will perform for us. 

I hope a lot of people will come and enjoy these beautiful performances.

Thank you for your continual support of our Cultural Events sponsored by our Hungarian Catholic Mission.

Ildiko Zentai
President of the Hungarian Catholic Mission

CHARITY

One of my goals is to keep everyone apprised of how we are doing in raising money to help needy Hungarians.  Your contributions can make the difference.  If you have not donated before, please click the following link:  http://www.hungariancatholicmission.com/donate/donatenow.htm

As you can see in the Donation Pie Chart above, the Majority of our revenue raised went to Deva and the General Fund.  If you have not donated before, I ask that you consider one of our foundations.  For this quarterly newsletter, I would like to talk about the Hungarian Ministry Abroad.  At first glance you would think it involves provides religious ministry in Hungary or Romania.  In fact, it is the opposite.  We are trying to find young Hungarian priests who are willing to intern in the Hungarian Catholic Mission at Woodside Priory.  As your Pastor, I am 76 years old.  Although I consider myself young, I also know the realities that only the Lord knows the hour of our death.   I will continue to bring Hungarian Priests in calendar year 2014 to intern and with God’s grace, find my replacement in 3-5 years. 

Many of you may ask what does a donation to the Hungarian Ministry Abroad Program pay for?   It pays for airline tickets, and a subsistence allowance of the visiting priest.  It also pays for the advertising and marketing costs to get the word out at Hungarian Seminaries and Dioceses that our Hungarian Catholic Mission at Woodside Priory has an urgent need to fill my position.  I feel confident that through your generous donation, we will be able to meet my goal of a quality Hungarian priest who could continue God’s work in the Hungarian Catholic Mission (to replace me) in the years ahead (upcoming years.)  May the Lord continue to bless each and every one of you. 

Updates on our Council Meetings 

On November 17^th, we held out annual Community Membership meeting.

During the meeting, we listened to the reports of the Pastor, the President and Treasurer, and renewed the Mission’s Council member’s service tenure for the next three years. 

On February 23^rd, we had our Quarterly Council Meeting. In the meeting, we gave an account of the last Quarter’s spiritual, cultural and charitable activities and assessed the forthcoming Quarter’s forthcoming events.

Upcoming Events
March 29: Szoboszlay Theater’s Performance from Los Angeles 

May 10: Hungarian Heritage Foundation Festival in Belmont

Watch for the Upcoming events announcement. As in the past two years, The Hungarian Catholic Mission will be in charge of the festivities. 

May 11: Mother’s Day

We will offer Mass for all of the mothers in our community, living and deceased. After Mass, we will hold a special Mother’s Day reception prepared by the fathers of the community.

For more Information: 

Please visit our Website: www.hungariancatholicmission.com

You can now find our Spring Bulletin in English and Hungarian. Please remember to send in your yearly contribution for your Membership to the Hungarian Catholic Mission.