Sts.
Andrew Svorad and Benedict Skalka
"Patrons
of Abbey" (July 17)
St.
Andrew Svorad was born around the year 980. Tradition has it that he lived his
youth as a monk in a small village in what is now southern
Poland
. He with many other monks fled the Polish Crown lands of King Boleslav Chrabry
when the King banned the use of the Old Slavonic (Byzantine) Liturgy. Svorad
came to
Slovakia
and settled in the monastery of St. Hyppolytus in Zobor near
Nitra
. He was accepted by Abbot Philip, received the monastic name of Andrew, and
lived for a while in the monastery. He was given permission to establish a
hermitage in the Skalka forest on the
Vah
River
near Trencin. Here alone in the wilderness of the forest he lived a life of
prayer and penance and became known for his holiness of life.
St.
Benedict Vaganus (of the
Vah
basin), also a monk of Zobor abbey, became a hermit and retired to a cave in
the Skalka forest as Andrew’s disciple. Andrew died about 1034 and Benedict
returned his body to Zobor for burial. About three years latter Benedict
suffered martyrdom at the hands of bandits seeking the secrets of his miraculous
powers received from God for his holiness of life. His body was thrown into the
Vah
River
. Searching for Benedict for over a year monks from Zobor miraculously found his
incorrupt body in the river. Devotion
to the holy monks spread rapidly through out central Europe from
Slovakia
to the Kingdoms of Poland,
Bohemia
,
Croatia
and
Hungary
. On July 10, 1083 Pope Gregory VII proclaimed them saints of the Church. Their
bodies were carried in solemn procession to the cathedral of St. Emmeram in
Nitra
were they are entombed to this day. King Geza proclaimed Andrew a patron of
Hungary.
