LEVÉLTÁR
Published by the Session: 2001.
Reflections
Julie Nyisztor
I cannot remember a time when the church was not part of my life. From my earliest recollections I remember going to Sunday School. Two of my teachers were Anna Nagy Fabian and Sarah Benko Filler. When our services were being held at the Church of All Nations on Amherst St. which was quite a long distance from home we would meet other Hungarian kids along the way and thus the journey seemed shorter. We should remember that in those days most of the Hungarians lived in an area bounded on the west by Bleury/Park Ave, on the east by St. Denis St., on the north by Rachel St. and on the south by St. Catherine St.
We attended Hungarian classes after English school on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons on St. Lawrence Blvd, in the place we called the Református Otthon/Home. At the age of about 9 Margarite Vajna Bednar and I were taught the gypsy dance by Helen Regan Lippay and Elizabeth Regan Klara. They also taught a group of us young girls the Hungarian dance. It was wartime and we performed not only for our community but also at Red Cross benefits and at other churches and community halls.
Reverend Michael Feher was very astute about keeping the congregation together. The church was the focal point of our religious and social life. We would have Tea Délutáns (Tea Afternoons) on Sundays on a fairly regular basis and the children would perform. There was folk dancing, recitations, skits and longer plays. The mothers would bring homebaked refreshments. Thus we were totally immersed in our traditions and in being Hungarian. We were taught to be proud of who and what we are. To our parents who spoke limited English and no French it was comforting to come together and share joys, sorrows and the small triumphs of their children. To Reverend Feher we owe our gratitude for his hard work in establishing the congregation and building this church. It is thanks to his efforts that we can speak, read and write Hungarian.
After World War II and the 1956 Hungarian Uprising there was an influx of immigrants from Europe. Our horizons expanded. Upon the arrival of Rev. and Mrs. Komjathy our world expanded even more. Because of him, the political and religious visitors from Hungary, the United States and elsewhere came to Montreal and more specifically to our church. We could honestly say that for a time we were the centre of the Hungarian-Canadian universe. Rev. Komjathy taught Hungarian history at McGill University and I was fortunate to audit his course.
Under Ilona Komjathy’s leadership, the choir was revitalized. We sang in church on the high holidays and also participated in other church programmes. Christmas was a special time. We went caroling, visiting parishioners and the Foyer but always starting at the home of Mrs. Kalman Bodi where a festive buffet awaited. What wonderful times they were!
Both my husband and I and our three children were christened, confirmed and married in this church. Our six grandchildren were christened here and two have confirmed. We have seen our parents taken to their final rest from here. As the years pass I find it a comfort to attend service and to sing the beloved Hungarian hymns of my ancestors.