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.. that should be "Hanczova".

Ung

Alsogagy

It is close to the northern boarder of Hungary...so contact with Rusyns is very likely...if not certain...

Alsogagy is found in Abauj-Torna County. On the Peredja map it is classified as a Magyar Greek Catholic village. It is next to Irota, which is a Rusyn Greek Catholic village, at least in c.1906.

X.B.! B.B.!

Ungcsertezs

Alsogagy
G�r�g katolikus templom

Alsogagy Greek Catholic Church [borsod-kozoktatas.hu]

Someday I would love to visit the parish of my grandfather...unfortunatly will not be able to receive the Eucharist

Wow, thanks again! I googled (maps) Hanczova, then more specifically, searched businesses (churches) near there. "Churches loc: Hańczowa, Gorlicki, Lesser Poland, Poland"

I got a great picture of a small wooden church. If this is the correct town and the correct church, it would be the parish my grandfather first served.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lonelyplanetexchange/2186920979/

Thanks again!

Dave

Christ is Risen!

I was the pastor when St. John Hungarian parish relocated from inner city Cleveland to Solon, Ohio. I have Hungarian "Greek Catholic" heritage as well as Rutheian. One of my relatives by marriage was Fr. Grigassy who years ago was at the Hungarian parish in Bridgeport Conneceticut. His wife was my grandmother's sister who were both daughters of Fr. Vladimir Mihalich. My grandmother was married to a Hungarian from Hungary. Although my grandmother was actually Rusin she was in so many ways,(even the language of her homee in Wilkinsburg, Pa.) Hungarian.

Deacon El was very correct in his post regarding the history of St. John's. During my time in Solon (1983-1993) I was amazed to discover on an almost weekly basis someone in that area of Ohio who came from St. John's in the old neighborhood but who preceeded St. John's to the Solon area by about 25 years. I met these people constantly and all over the area. A few reconnected with us when we came out to Solon but most simply told me that they had already raised a family in this area and so much time had passed that they could not reconnect with St. John's. There is a sizeable diaspora of Hungarians in the Solon and eastern Ohio region many of whom have roots at St. John's or in the Buckeye road area.

During my time, and still to the present St. John's tried to reach a balance of preserving the Hungarian heritage while at the same time trying to be evangelical. The parish grew rapidly during those years attracting much positive media attention and young families. The area-wide Byzantine "Single-Together" ministry was centered out of St. John's (because I was the spiritual moderator.)This too helped to bring new life to the parish which was actually left for dead at one point on Buckeye Road. In fact at the time the eparchy thought that St. John's would simply combine with St. Joseph parish which was also relocating from inner city Cleveland to Brecksville. But these Hungarians had a different idea and a magnificent spirit. They knew that their parish was one of the few Hungarian parishes in the Eparchy and they also knew that they were the oldest parish in our Eparchy. In fact we made a commemorative video for our 100th anniversary which won a prestigiouis Telly Award. The video is a half hour presentaion of the history of St. John's and can probably still be obtained from the parish.

St. John's built the Mariapoch Shrine in the 1950's with the idea that it would be centrally located between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. I believe the Shrine is vital and therefore should be invested in and renovated into something very properly eastern and up to modern standards. This shrine, because it is dedicated to the Mother of God, has special significance today:

In the 17th century there was an attack on Central Europe by Muslims. This significant battle was won by the Austro-Hungarians and the victory was attributed to the intercession of the miraculous weeping icon of Mariapoch. This is how the icon ended up in St. Stehpen's Cathedral. The Prince took the icon from its original village church after the victory. This battle, which spared Europe from being overrun by Islam occurred on 9/11!!

I believe that given this history and our recent 9/11 history that we have in this Shrine something special and vital today. I believe this shrine should be promoted for a special intercessory prayer to the Theotokos who I believe is going to be THE answer for the Christian-Muslim question today.

--Fr. Thomas J. Loya, STB., MA

Ung,
Christ is Risen!
My mother was Greek Catholic. Whole family Greek Catholic.
Not sure of the details of that village. She was a young child when she left.
Based on what you found, it is possible she went to the next village for Liturgy. That is interesting.
Deacon El

Ung, or anyone else who might know; I am wondering about the village of Nyirmada, was this considered a Greek Catholic village ?

I don't know - sorry. To add to the confusion, between boundary shifts and changes in governments, it is not unusual for such villages to have several names (the same applies to people).

Fr. Serge

I don't see it on the Perejda map. Is it near Satu Mare (Szatmar Nemeti)?

Ung

From all that I know about the parish of Holy Trinity in New Britain, CT, it was never labelled as an Hungarian parish. The cornerstone of the first church building, finished in 1909 says, "Holy Trinity Hungaro-Russian Greek Catholic Church." There may have been some Magyarized Rusyns, but I tend to think that the inscription was based more because they came from what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. One gentlemen at the church remembers his mother being able to speak Hungarian as well as Rusyn and she was from just outside of Uzhorod. If you ask most of the people there now, they'll say that they are Slovak.

...and they love the "Slovak" liturgy (i.e. Church Slavonic)

Ung

A common label for the early Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants was Uhro-Rusyn.

The cornerstone is translating Uhro-Rusyn into Hungaro-Russian.

Thanks Tim, I tend to agree there, but even in the accounts of the time of the troubles and split of Holy Trinity parish, the local newspaper accounts talk about the fight that broke out in church between the "Hungarian cantor" and the "Galician cantor" who were both trying to sing at the D/L that Sunday.

Ditto...although they became Latin here in the states due to lack of options. One side of my Dad's relatives came from Piricse- close to Mariapocs- and the other from Nyiracsad, which is closer to the Romanian border. Both towns have a largish Greek Catholic population.