János (Anasztáz) Brenner (; 17 December 1931 – 15 December 1957) was a Hungarian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and professed member of the

Cistercian Order The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...

. Brenner studied for the priesthood during a period of

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

persecution of

religious orders A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practi ...

. Communist authorities came to suspect him of being critical of their regime; his success as a youth chaplain made him a threat. As a consequence, he was murdered by hired men who stabbed him 32 times and inflicted severe wounds to his head. He died soon after having been hurled into a ditch in the woods. The beatification took place on 1 May 2018 in

Szombathely Szombathely (; german: Steinamanger, ; see also other alternative names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by t ...

Life

János Brenner was born on 17 December 1931 in the Vas province as the second of three children. His two brothers also became

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in p ...

. He attended a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

-run grammar school in

Pécs Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the countr ...

from 1941 to 1946 after the Brenners moved there. He later attended the grammar school that the

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

Canons managed and passed his school examinations at the Cistercian school in

Zirc Zirc (german: Sirtz) is a town in Veszprém county, Hungary. It is the administrative seat of Zirc District. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Jews lived in Zirc. In 1910, 92 Jews lived in Zirc, Some of them w ...

. Brenner began his novitiate in 1950 with the Cistercians at Zirc and took the religious name "Anasztáz" (Anastasius: Greek for

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

). But a few months after, he had to interrupt his monastic formation when the

regime began to suppress all religious houses in Hungary. The

novice master In the Roman Catholic Church, a novice master or master of novices, lat. ''Magister noviciorum'', is a member of a religious institute who is responsible for the training and government of the novitiate in that institute. In religious institutes f ...

, Lawrence Sigmond, sought to protect the young men undergoing formation and thus moved them from the abbey, placing them with families in private apartments. The novices-in-secret met clandestinely for formation and fellowship. Brenner was able to attend a diocesan seminary while staying in touch with Sigmond; he studied in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and in

Győr Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia ...

. On 19 June 1955, Janos was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood in the diocesan cathedral of

by Bishop Sándor Kovács. Brenner's first assignment was to be a chaplain in St. Gotthard, a parish which had over previous centuries been in Cistercian care. After the communists made personal threats against the enthusiastic and idealistic chaplain, his bishop offered to send Brenner elsewhere, but he said, "I'm not afraid" and affirmed his desire to remain where he was. Around midnight on 15 December, 1957 (Brenner was preparing his sermon for 16 December) he was called to give

last rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. They may be administered to those awaiting execution, mortall ...

to a supposedly ill man in a neighboring town; he failed to realize that it was a trap. The 17-year-old boy who summoned him had been known to Brenner as an altar server. The young priest took anointing oils and the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

with him in his bag. He was soon ambushed in the woods and stabbed 32 times. He was found dead that morning with the Eucharist still in his hands, earning him the title "Hungarian Tarcisius" since he died in similar circumstances to

Tarcisius Tarsicius or Tarcisius was a martyr of the early Christian church who lived in the 3rd century. The little that is known about him comes from a metrical inscription by Pope Damasus I, who was pope in the second half of the 4th century. History Th ...

. Brenner was interred in the family vault in the

Salesian , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turin ...

church of Saint Quirinus on 18 December. The authorities made a failed attempt to disperse the crowd at his funeral. His ordination motto, taken from , was inscribed on the tomb: "All things work together for good to those who love God." Over the years, Catholics continued to venerate Brenner and visited his grave often. In 1989, the Chapel of the Good Pastor was built on the exact spot where the young priest had been murdered. In 1981 a

stained glass window Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

was dedicated to him in Saint Elizabeth's Church in his hometown.

Beatification

The beatification process opened under

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

on 14 February 2001; the diocesan investigations opened on 3 October 1999 and concluded only a decade later. The Vatican later validated the process on 18 September 2009, and a commission of historians approved the cause on 4 September 2015.

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

confirmed that Brenner died as a victim "in odium fidei" (in hatred of the faith). On 8 November 2017, the pontiff approved the priest's beatification. The solemn liturgy took place on 1 May 2018, in Szombathely's City Park.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brenner, János 1931 births 1957 deaths 20th-century Hungarian Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 20th-century venerated Christians Beatifications by Pope Francis Cistercians Cistercian beatified people Deaths by stabbing in Hungary Hungarian beatified people Hungarian murder victims Martyred Roman Catholic priests People from Szombathely People murdered in Hungary Venerated Catholics