Walking around campus, you may have seen Fr. Bernard back here in Irving. He had returned recently to celebrate his Jubilee Mass. It was a beautiful Mass dedicated to Fr. Bernard’s work over the past fifty years, which has been a blessing to our community and the community in Hungary. He also celebrated the Mass for the Nuns of Kismaros, then at St. Emery, our sister school in Budapest, as well as his hometown, and at the original church he first celebrated Mass at in Stams. But Fr. Bernard was most excited about the continuation of his ministry: over 2,000 prayer cards were dispatched at each Mass combined.

However, Fr. Bernard had to leave again Wednesday, August 30, for our Mother Abbey at Zirc. Before he left, we sat down with him to learn the reason for his mission there:

The Abbey of Zirc is facing difficulties. Only a few monks remain, and the age gap among them is pronounced. The monks are also in a spiritual quandary, needing to live a more devout life according to the rules of the Order. In 1989-1990, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the reestablishment of the Abbey at Zirc, many young men were admitted into the Order who were not quite qualified and often could not complete their studies.

The Abbot General is concerned about this, and in January he appointed two counselors to give both spiritual and economic help to Zirc. These two counselors are Abbess Olgi Horvath and our own Fr. Bernard, whose appointments have been recently renewed. At the same time, the Superior of Zirc resigned and was replaced with another priest named Fr. Bernard.

So, what is Fr. Bernard’s task? He is to act as a bridge between the older and younger monks and to lead them in their everyday tasks. He will be leading the Liturgy of the Hours. Furthermore, as he has been doing in the past at the school, he seeks to encourage the graduating seniors (both high school and college) about considering a vocation of a priestly or religious life. Fr. Bernard also hopes that we can form a student exchange program with our sister school so that both schools may learn from each other and enlighten each person to find out if he has a vocation to the religious life. In these ways, Fr. Bernard hopes not only to rebuild the Cistercian community at Zirc but also lay the foundation for years to come.

Fr. Bernard will return on December 20 for Christmas and then go back to Hungary on January 11, 2018 to continue this work. He plans to come back to his home here at Our Lady of Dallas monastery on June 20, 2018 to carry on with his work in our own community. We have all been touched in one way or another by Fr. Bernard, as we celebrated during his Jubilee Mass, and we pray for him in his mission to Hungary. Good luck Fr. Bernard!