Our Lady of Hungary turns 90
A lot has changed since a time when there were about 7,500 Hungarian families living in Welland, but a church built to accommodate the faith of those who came to the area is still going strong.
Built in 1928, Our Lady of Hungary Church on Hellems Avenue is celebrating its 90-year anniversary with a service and dinner on Nov. 11.
At the age of 97, parishioner Alex Gabany reflected back to when he was seven and a recent immigrant to Canada with his parents and three siblings. Entering the church for the first time is something he will always remember, as it didn’t look anything like he’d seen.
“We just admired everything that was here,” he said.
Today there are a hundred families who regularly attend mass at the church, many relatives of long-standing families who have been going there for decades.
But new faces still appear once in a while, too.
“We do have a lot of newcomers to the church,” said Lillian Vukanics.
With the loss of industry that hit Welland over the past few decades, the church population has slowly dwindled, much different than when there was “standing room only” during services at Christmas in the 1950s, recalled Helen Gerenscer.
“Around then, the church was packed. It was the only Hungarian gathering place,” she said.
Ethel Csanyi, 83, remembers moving to Canada with her family when she was 10 and one of the first orders of business was finding a church to call home.
“That’s what our faith meant to us then,” she said.
At the turn of the 20th century, Hungarians came to Canada with the goal of finding a better life. Many settled in Niagara. Construction of the Welland Canal and growing industry played key roles in their decisions to call the area their new home.
Missionary work began in 1926 when Father Lipot Mosonyi, a Franciscan priest, arrived to organize a Hungarian Roman Catholic parish. Replaced the next year by Father Stephen Nyiri, it was when construction of the church began.
In 1928 Father Jerome Hedli was brought in as pastor and oversaw completion of the project. The rectory was built the same year and it served as a monastery for six Franciscans who were sent to Niagara to serve in Catholic communities.
On Nov. 18, 1928, the church was blessed and consecrated by Archbishop McNeil of Toronto and given its current name.
In the early 1930s, many events and groups were formed, including a Hungarian Youth Society, Rosary Society for women and a Holy Name Society for men, as well as a drama club, Sunday school and Hungarian language school.
Today, there are two masses held at Our Lady of Hungary on Sundays — one in English, the other in Hungarian.