Index – Culture – Faith is not just an ornament on a Christmas tree

CAROL

Pannonhalma is open, but its monastic community is closed, especially at Christmas. How are the holidays with the Benedictines?

Christmas is more of a time of silence, in which case, without guests, we are in the monastery. Easter is a special feast of Christianity, in Pannonhalma we open the doors to the faithful, we receive 300 guests who can participate in spiritual programs and liturgy with us at Easter.

How quiet is December 24 between the walls?

The morning is devoted to housework, sorting and baking gingerbread. We set up a Christmas tree in the most prominent places of the archabbey: in the main entrance, in the baroque dining room, in the Basilica and in St. Martin’s Hall, where we give each other gifts in the evening. There are no decorations on the pines in the basilica and outdoors, but we do decorate those in St. Martin’s Hall.

What is put on the table and what is the festive schedule?

At midday we traditionally consume the Pannonhalma Benedictine fish soup. At 6:30 am, the party begins with Vespers, the evening worship, followed by dinner, consisting of cold dishes and cakes. We wash after dinner, and after lighting candles, the evening begins with a greeting from the Archbishop in St. Martin’s Hall, followed by the singing of old Christmas songs. The rest of the night is spent as a gift. In addition to the gift of the order to the monks, from the first Sunday of Advent, the members of the community also prepare to surprise one of their fellow policemen. Whoever gives a gift reveals himself by pulling a hat, this is “angelicism”.

What do you get who did you get?

A small but personal gift that can be objectified, but typically the one that I take out, I pay a little more attention during the Advent period, I pray for it and surely a prayer, a thought will surprise me. When we’re done with that, we go to the basilica at half past six, then the vigil begins, followed by midnight mass.

Will you be surprised with something at Christmas?

I am beyond that. My nephew, who is a doctor, has been biting my ears for a while to get me an elliptical that has found sympathetic ears. One of our alumni, who is a physical education teacher, has developed a training plan that also suits me: I have moved quite a bit in the last two years.

NO HANDLING, FLEXIBLE

I think the reason for this is that he has been archbishop for two years. Has this caused any change in attitude in Pannonhalma’s leadership?

My predecessor, Astrik Várszegi, was archbishop for 27 years, and for 27 years I held the parish office in parallel, which means deputy archbishop in free translation. There was no radical change in my choice as archbishop, as we have both thought similarly about Pannonhalma over the past decades. The most notable change was in 1989.

What happened after?

A II. Before World War II, we were a faculty committed to scientific work, with 10 elementary schools and teaching personalities such as Ányos Jedlik or Gergely Czuczor. We operate our schools with income from 30,000 hectares of land. Then, this direction was better faced with the historical challenges. In 1989, however, we reached a crossroads: we are rebuilding II. form prior to WWII or are we looking for new forms? Should we take back our schools or our nationalized abbeys to create new communities?

Which one did you choose?

In addition to the latter, as a result of which a community soon became four independent houses: the Győr, the Tihany, the Bakonybél and the already existing Pannonhalma. If I look for the secret of the thousand-year Benedictine existence in Hungary, I can say that we have always reacted to situations with flexibility and without haste. That is why I did not feel the need for a change in attitude now: we must continue on the path that we began with the regime change.

And part of it is that they have developed their own cheap legs.

After the renovation of the archabbey, we took over tourism, which was carried by the Cyclamen Tourist in Pannonhalma until the change of regime. The same happened with our seized lands. We buy a small part, a good 50 hectares, and then we revive a 1000-year tradition with wine production.

Today there are a large number of Pannonhalma products. What is your favorite?

Herbal teas, perhaps also because they are linked to your resuscitation. There was also a hospital in the monastery until 1786, our monks cured it, and the recipes were carefully preserved in the manuscripts. From Abbey Elek Reisch’s collection of recipes from 1735, abbey teas were born, including my favorite, Lauds, which is an invigorating, revitalizing, health-preserving morning prayer tea during the flu period and which I drink with frequency. In addition, I am proud of our liqueurs, lavender products, soaps and healing creams, which are also made according to an ancient Benedictine recipe. The recent product is our mineral water, which was sold in Ravazd IV. We gain from the King Béla well and our beer from our cooperation with Belgian abbeys, but the latter have a future rather than a past.

BENCES AND THE PANDEMIC

The last three quarters of the year have been about the coronavirus. How did this affect the community?

If I can draw a parallel, since the pandemic surprised many, the unexpectedly ordered census could have come as a surprise to José and María when they had to go to a distant country. The conditions were not right for the birth of their baby, but Joseph and Mary were there for each other, shepherds, angels, even kings appeared, and somehow the personality, the attention to each other, humanity compensated everything that was lacking in the material world. The Christmas message is also a response to the pandemic for me. And that is turning to each other with great love, tact and kindness, because it can make up for so many things.

What do you think of the pandemic?

I hold a worship service at Baracska Prison once a month. It was there that I realized that attitude is in people’s hands and hearts. We must recognize that we cannot change the objective circumstances, but the attitude depends on us. We need to ask ourselves what the pandemic is saying, where can we find peace in it. What I can certainly see from this is that a world more open to spirituality, to human relationships, can help you get out of trouble.

How were the Benedictines affected by the pandemic?

Most of our events were lost, but new channels were opened. The Easter mass was followed by tens of thousands on YouTube. We graduated online, parents weren’t here, but over 100,000 people saw it online. In terms of graduation, we won a family event with the pandemic. Previously it was more of a showcase, a photo-centric event where intimacy was more difficult to experience, now students can experience that too.

Has the transition to the online world gone smoothly?

Masses are streamed online, but with only two camera angles. We do not want to be on stage and make a show with it, because prayer is not a showcase, and the message comes from two camera angles, who does not believe, look at our midnight mass on the 24th.

How do teachers and students experience online education?

It is a necessary solution, we do not want to equip ourselves for this in the long term. Existence in the community is the main message of the order. I realized that the kids were waiting for them to go back to school, even though they had cut a penny earlier during the holidays. It was also interesting to see that after the children were at home, the parents gave the behavior grade and I noticed that the average got worse than they would have produced at school.

How do you see Pannonhalma from the outside?

I can’t look outside for a long time, I came here in 1973 and have practically been living here ever since. Many imaginative and creative things happen to us, there is a lot of depth in what we do. We dare to experiment, we dare to make mistakes, and we look for ways to make our mission, our ministry, and the church more credible.

Do you need to be more authentic?

In a fast-paced world like this, historic churches are faced with change, which is a difficult task because traditions cannot hinder change, but at the same time we must not break with them. Here in our small diocese, we try to take great care of the faithful who have been entrusted to us, and with our programs we try to be attractive to those who are not members of the denomination but who are in the courtyard of the moon. I think of those who go to mass on holidays, baptize their children, but at the same time they do not believe that faith, spirituality, is just an ornament on a Christmas tree.

(Cover Image: Attila Trenka / Index)