The end of the jubilee year of the Greek-Catholic Church in Hungary was celebrated on 3 December, on the centenary of the third lachrymation of the icon of Máriapócs. The basilica was declared a national sanctuary to mark the occasion. Archbishop Juliush Janusz, apostolic nuncio, and members of the Hungarian Bishops’ Conference, among others, participated in the liturgy. Benedict XVI had nominated Cardinal Péter Erdo as his personal legate for the celebration. Ignace Moussa Daoud, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, patriarch emeritus of Antioch of the Syrians, sent his greetings to Bishop Szilárd Keresztes, Greek-Catholic bishop of Hajdúdorog, in a letter promising his participation in prayer. In his homily the Hungarian primate Péter Erdo emphasized the importance of the icon of Máriapócs, “symbol of liberation and comfort for the whole country. After its first lachrymation in 1696, it was transferred to the cathedral of St. Stephen in Vienna, and became a symbol of the victory over the Turks, while the chapel of the icon in Vienna became a national sanctuary. But the Blessed Virgin Mary has not abandoned Máriapócs, or Hungary. The copy of the icon wept tears again, on the last occasion from 3 to 19 December 1905”. The icon was embellished with a gold crown blessed by the Pope in Rome a few weeks ago. In the coming days it will visit the most important communities of the Greek-Catholic Church in Hungary.
