2nd Day in Györ.

2nd Day in Györ.

 We send you greetings once again from this beautiful city of Györ, where we are enjoying the feeling of knowing we are all children of God despite coming from so many different places and countries. God has been inviting each of us to open the doors to our hearts so that He can help them to overflow with rivers of his mercy. With this mercy we know that we are becoming capable of collaborating with Him in his project of renovating the whole World with His compassionate and merciful love.

Today we came in to contact with the culture of the Hungarians here who have been so welcoming to all of us. We have also seen some of the depths of their faith, and learned a little of their history… a story that has been marked by different invasions and hardships. 

 We visited some important parts of the city. We saw their basillica which was built in a Roman style and which has been destroyed several time through different invasions but each time rebuilt through the tenacity of the local people. 

We went to the Bishop’s palace where we learned the story of Blessed Apor Vilmos, a 20th century Bishop of whom the boarding school we are staying at is named after.

 This holy man was killed by some Russian soldiers in 1945 while protecting some innocent women, and his life has had a profound effect on the people of the city. We visited some underground places in which many Jews were given refuge from the Gestapo during the German occupation. Later these places provided further refuge by allowing all of the women of the city a chance to escape from falling into the hands of the Russian soldiers during the Soviet occupation.

 

We also celebrated the Eucharist in the basillica with the auxilary Bishop, monsignour Székely János. His homily impacted us all with his many personal stories and testimony. He explained to us how a profound faith can have a positive impact in every situation, as shown by the people here in the midst of continued persecution.

We ended the day with an amazing festival of Hangarian dancing which we all enjoyed immensely. This style of dancing was very joyful, very fast and got us all laughing and sweating! Thus we finished this eventful day quite tired, but all of us very content.