GET FAMILAR WITH THE HUNGARIAN SAINTS PARISH

THE HUNGARIAN SAINTS PARISH

History of the construction of the church

After the cancellation of the World Expo, which was going to be organised in 1996, the Chief Diocese of Esztergom Budapest decided to construct the building that would have functioned as the Pavilion of the Vatican during the Expo and would have only been reconstructed into a church at a later stage. The plot was granted for the construction of the building for free by the World Expo Programme Office as representative of the Hungarian State. László Paskai, Cardinal Primate Archbishop laid the foundation stone of the church 1on 29 May 1995 and consecrated it in the framework of a ceremony on 17 August 1996.
The church and the building complex of the parish were designed by Ferenc Török Ybl and   Kossuth Prize Winner architect and , Balázs Mihály Ybl Prize Winner  architect . The general constructor was Maco-Technik Kft from Pilisvörösvár. The construction was supervised by Dr. Tibor Benedetti. The financial resources were provided by the Chief Diocese and came from foreign as well as domestic benefactors in addition to the symbolic grant of the Vatican.
AThe church has become the parish church of those who live in Felsőlágymányos and due to its location, it also wishes to function as the spiritual centre of university students. The country wanted to raise a worthy monument to the memory of the saints and the blessed of the Hungarian Church on the occasion of the country’s Millennial Anniversary. This building is the place of piety and prayer. It sets Hungarian saints as examples. We may send our enthusiastic prayers and songs to them giving hope and faith to today’s as well as all future generations.
We are very grateful for all who have supported the construction of the church with either financial resources or their own work.
As of 1 January 2001 László Paskai, Cardinal Primate Archbishop lifted the rank of the church to that of a parish church and changed the name of the parish to “Hungarian Saints Parish”.
 

The crypt

There are burial places for urns and family vaults in the crypt. In a place next to the mortuary and on the memorial plates hung on the walls of the entrance memento lines may be written about those who died abroad or an unknown place.
Burial places for urns may be bought during office hours on Mondays and Thursdays.
 
 

The cross of the sanctuary

AThe stele that represents the mystery of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is made from gold, wood and stone, three different materials that are yet one. The real golden background symbolises the smoothness and untouchability of the skies, the perfection and eternity of God. The wood of the corpus is a material that is full of wounds and is alive even when it is dead: the fate of the pear tree that died at the age of seventy in the same year when the church was consecrated is thereby fulfilled. The Mediterranean block of stone in which millions of years old fossils are hidden symbolises life in this world, the Golgotha and the human community that accepts and elevates the cross high in the skies. The cross is the creation of László Somogyi-Soma, sculptor and painter, and Mihály Balázs and Katalin Somogyi-Soma, architects.
It was blessed in the framework of a ceremony by Antal Spányi, Assistant Bishop on 17 September 1999.

Millennial monument in the church yard

The monument consisting of one large and two smaller rocks symbolises the tomb from which Christ arose into heaven. One of the small rocks symbolises the arrival of Christianity into Hungary 1,000 years ago. The crowning of our first king, Saint Stephen I. is depicted on the other smaller rock. He dedicated the Hungarian state to Christianity by accepting and wearing the crown that he received from the Pope, whereby he marked out the path for the Hungarian State for a thousand years. This is what the quotation from the Admonitions of Saint Stephen I. that can be read on the other rock refers to:
"Be strong so that your good fortune should not lift you too high or else your bad fortune should not beat you down!" (Chapter X. of the Admonitions)
The monument is the creation of István Marosits, Munkácsy Prize Winner sculptor.
 
 

The Saint Thaddeus Chapel, which also belongs to our parish, is located on the corner of Kruspér and Budafoki Streets. This used to be the only place where masses could be held in the parish. It has operated as an independent priesthood since 1957 and as a parish since 1982. It belongs to the Hungarian Saints Parish as a place where masses are held since 1 January 2001.