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August 16: Saint Stephen Of Hungary
First King of Hungary, b. at Gran, 975; d. 15 August, 1038.
He was a son of the Hungarian chief Géza and was baptized, together with his father, by Archbishop St. Adalbert of Prague in 985, on which occasion he changed his heathen name Vaik (Vojk) into Stephen. In 995 he married Gisela, a sister of Duke Henry of Bavaria, the future Emperor St. Henry II, and in 997 succeeded to the throne of Hungary. In order to make Hungary a Christian nation and to establish himself more firmly as ruler, he sent Abbot Astricus to Rome to petition Pope Sylvester II for the royal dignity and the power to establish episcopal sees. The pope acceded to his wishes and, in addition, presented him with a royal crown with which he was crowned at Gran on 17 August, 1001 (see HUNGARY.–History). He founded a monastery in Jerusalem and hospices for pilgrims at Rome, Ravenna, and Constantinople. He was a personal friend of St. Bruno of Querfurt and corresponded with Abbot St. Odilo of Cluny.
The last years of his life were embittered by sickness and family troubles. When on 2 September, 1031, his only son, St. Emeric, lost his life on a bear hunt, his cherished hope of transferring the reins of government into the hands of a pious Christian prince were shattered. During his lifetime a quarrel arose among his various nephews concerning the right of succession, and some of them even took part in a conspiracy against his life. He was buried beside his son at Stuhlweissenburg, and both were canonized together in 1083. His feast is on 2 September, but in Hungary his chief festival is observed on 20 August, the day on which his relics were transferred to Buda. His incorrupt right hand is treasured as the most sacred relic in Hungary.
His shield has the “Cross of Lorraine” which was the symbol of the French Resistance and used on the “Magnum TV Show” in relation to service in Vietnam. Here in St. Louis, St. Stephen was merged with Our Lady of Victories after the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. With the liberalization of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis under Archbishop John May in the early 80s, the loyal pastor, Josef Somos, who came from Communist Hungary, was “run out of town” and sent to Chicago “in shame” as being unable to be “reeducated” to the new merger of Communism and Western Catholicism. May God have mercy on his soul!