Word of the Day: Györ

GYÖR. Marian shrine in Hungary, west of Budapest. Its main object of devotion is a picture of the praying Madonna looking at her sleeping Child. In 1649, when Oliver Cromwell went to Ireland, the Bishop of Clonfert, in the diocese of Tuam, was arrested and exiled to the island of Innisboffin. He took with him a picture that had hung in the cathedral. In 1652 he escaped and finally reached Hungary, where he was cordially received. In the city of Györ he was made auxiliary bishop for the Hungarian diocese. After his death he willed the Irish Madonna to his Hungarian friends, who felt that her presence among them had resulted in a series of military victories over the Turks and had saved them in other national disasters. In 1697, the hundreds praying at the cathedral Mass noticed that their Irish Madonna was shedding tears that were falling onto the head of the sleeping christ. The miracle lasted three hours. The picture was removed from its frame and from the wall space in an attempt to discover a natural cause, but the phenomenon continued and was attested to by many witnesses. Devotion to Our Lady of Györ has continued over the centuries. Cardinal Mindszenty (1892-1975) was photographed as he prayed publicly before the cherished Irish Madonna, asking for God's blessings on his own persecuted people.