We recalled the beginning of our best-known Marian song because today is the feast of Our Lady of the Hungarians. As is well known, before his death St. Stephen offered his crown and his country to the protection of Mary in 1038. Since the dedication of the country, we have also honored Our Lady as the Mother of the Hungarians.
During the reign of King Saint László, the veneration of the Magyars flourished again. Later, the Hungarians also fought against the Tatars and the Turks, calling out the names of Jesus and Mary. At the end of the 17th century, Lipót I repeated the offer of the country to Mária as a sign of his gratitude for the liberation from the Turks. According to the writings, the concept of Regnum Marianum (Mary's Country) was formed in this century, based on the idea of Patrona Hungariae, which expressed that, with the offering of Saint Stephen, the Virgin Mary is not only the protector, but also the owner of Hungary at all times.
XIII. In 1896, on the occasion of the Hungarian millennium, Pope Leo authorized it as a special holiday for Hungary at the request of the then Primate Archbishop of Esztergom, Cardinal Kolos Vaszary. The feast of Our Lady was originally on the second Sunday of October, then Pope St. Pius X moved it to October 8.
Many churches in our country, and the Hungarian chapel in the sub-church of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, also bear the name Our Lady of the Hungarians. This Hungarian chapel was built forty-one years ago, that is, on October 8, 1980, by St. II. It was consecrated by Pope John Paul II.
