43
END OF AN ERA
By LINDA M. LINONIS
youngstown
In the world, every- thing has a beginning and an end.
Our Lady of Hungary began in 1928 by a group of Hungarians on the West Side. There, generations have celebrated baptisms, cried at weddings and mourned at funeral Masses.
Now the congregation of some 167 families will gather for the final Mass at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. The church is closing. Our Lady of Hungary has merged with Sts. Peter and Paul Croatian Roman Catholic Church and St. Stephen of Hungary with the name, Holy Apostles Parish. Faith will forge a spiritual unity.
A dinner will follow Mass. Tears, laughter and memories will be a part of the day to end one chapter and begin another.
Recently, the Rev. Joseph Rudjak, pastor since 2005, and Ethel Kripchak and George Kalosky, members since birth, shared memories of the 84-year-old church.
Kalosky’s grandparents, Alex and Julia Kalosky, were among the 30 or so charter members. His parents, Alex and Rose Kalosky, now deceased, and late uncle and aunt, Joe and Bertha Nemeth, were active members.
Kripchak’s grandparents, Joseph and Julia Serensky, also charter members, and parents, Larry and Julia Santha, now deceased, also were active in the church. They were natives of Hungary. Santha, who had owned Wickliffe Cabinet Works, crafted two wooden altars at the church, including the main one. “I can remember my Dad cutting the decorative carvings,” Kripchak recalled, adding her brothers, Joseph and Steven Santha, also were involved.
Two triptics, three-aneled pictures of Hungarian saints, highlight the main altar. Wooden statues, imported from Italy, also highlight the sanctuary. They include Our Lady of Hungary, St. Anthony and Sacred Heart of Jesus. Stencils including fleur de lis of the House of Anjou, the French connection to Hungarian kings, and the St. Stephen’s apostolic cross of decorate wooden beams in the sanctuary.
Father Rudjak said the architectural style of the church, Transylvanian-Carpathian, was influenced by Hungary’s location in the Carpathian Basin and neighboring Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia.
While the church salutes its Hungarian heritage, it’s the people-to-people connection that is the essence of the congregation. “George and I grew up together ... our families have been friends for generations,” Kripchak said.
The congregation is leaving its building, but memories will go with them. “May crownings were a big event,” Kalosky recalled, adding he remembered Ethel as the May queen at one time.
Also recalled were Good Friday services at which a representation of Jesus’ body would be buried in the tomb in the front altar, where a panel would be removed.
“On Christmas Eve, if you didn’t get here by 11 p.m. you wouldn’t get a seat,” Kripchak said. Christmas pageants captivated the congregation for years. “I remember the ‘traveling star’ ... it was on a cable and the wise men and shepherds would follow it,” Kalosky said.
Incorporating Hungarian in worship reflects “pride in heritage,” Father Rudjak said. The Mass includes Hungarian hymns, reciting the Our Father in English and singing it in Hungarian, and the sign of the cross. Monsignor Dezso Torok offered Mass in Hungarian from the mid-1990s to about 2005.
Kalosky and Kripchak said memories of Sam Patton, who led religious education, remain strong. His classes were well-attended and disciplined.
Kalosky also said “there was a real feeling of working together” when Mindszenty Hall was built in 1980. Many church and community events took place there.
Gatherings almost always included food, another delicious memory.
“Cooking is from the old country,” Kripchak said. Church ladies made faunk (doughnuts) dipped in sugar, stuffed cabbage, bread and kolbasa.
Though members of Our Lady of Hungary will see one another at St. Stephen and Sts. Peter and Paul, it won’t be the same ... at least not yet.
“This is an end of an era,” Kripchak said. “You feel so warm and welcome here ... it’s the people I will miss. It will be different.”
Father Rudjak said the Shepherd’s Ministry will serve to unite the three churches. “Seven to 10 households are responsible for keeping in touch with one another,” he said. “As we go through the transition, we don’t want to lose anyone ... so this way we can stay in touch,” Father Rudjak said.
These are the steps to a new beginning as Holy Apostles Parish.