A miracle has come true: the Anna-rét chapel, built with donations from the faithful, was handed over at Normafa

Almost 80 years ago, the first foundation stone of the building was laid on the meadow, after 80 years of long, hopeful and busy waiting, the chapel was built, which so many people dreamed about.

The atonement chapel in Anna-rét at Normafa has been completed. On Friday, Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, blessed the mass place, which was built with donations from the faithful, is barely 30 square meters, but has openable sides and is therefore also suitable for holding outdoor ceremonies.

Miklós Soltész, State Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office responsible for Church and Ethnic Relations, in his greeting

he called the small chapel, which looks down from the roof of Budapest and shines on the nation's capital, the most significant church built in recent years.

He recalled that in the past ten years, more than two hundred new churches were built all over the Carpathian basin, including in Páty, Piliscsaba, but also in the Highlands and Transylvania.
The state secretary said that church construction is also important because the Catholic faith is of great importance for the survival of the nation.

The beauty of the chapel that has just been handed over exceeds all expectations and proclaims atonement in the times of much unrest in the world - emphasized the state secretary, adding that this is why the government provided support for the construction of the chapel.

Miklós Soltész asked the faithful to

"don't look at the size of the chapel, but at the miracle that just happened".

Zoltán Pokorni, XII. the Fidesz mayor of the district reminded:

almost 80 years ago, the first foundation stone of the building was laid on the meadow, after 80 years of long, hopeful and busy waiting, the chapel was built, which so many dreamed of.

The mayor of Hegyvidék said that a few years ago, together with Cardinal Péter Erdő, they launched a design competition for the realization of the chapel, after which "a jury of renowned members" selected the winner from among 60 architectural applications. The work of the company building the chapel was supervised by the representative of the archdiocese and the mountain municipality. The bell, the sound of which can already be heard by listeners of the noon news program of Radio Kossuth, is a donation of the foundation for the Atonement Chapel of the Queen of the World, he said.

From this day on, this area again bears the name Szent Anna-rét

announced the mayor.

Originally, they wanted to build the chapel within the framework of the Normafa program, and although the difficult economic situation caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war caused many financial obstacles to the investment, the chapel was still built with the help of private donations.

According to the district manager's presentation, a total of more than HUF 90 million was offered from around five hundred account numbers, of which Zoltán Pokorni singled out the donation of the Debrecen-Bánki Reformed parish, but - as he said -

the biggest donor was a doctor couple who offered HUF 30 million.

In his homily, Péter Erdő talked about the symbolic power of the chapel, "if we pray in it and around it with a sincere heart, we can trust in God's forgiving and protective love".

The cardinal recalled: the apparitions of Fatima gave the movement of atonement a special impetus more than a hundred years ago.

During the Second World War, many people realized that "the secret of evil is at work in murderous wars" and that the prayer of atonement for sins has a special significance for the peace and salvation of individuals and communities.

Many people thought that a chapel of atonement should be built on St. Anne's Meadow, and that the intercession of the Virgin Mary should be asked there to end the wars.
He added: since the area is not the property of the church, extensive cooperation was necessary so that the chapel could be built, albeit on a modest scale, but with artistic demands.

"Let's not give in to the temptation of laziness!" - he asked, referring to the earlier plans for a much larger building - the chapel was built, "as and when and as it was possible"!

"The dramatic difficulties of our present fate, the war that is destroying Europe and the war that is raging in the Holy Land, turn our eyes to God, we ask for his mercy for our people and for all of humanity," Péter Erdő concluded his homily.

The chapel was built according to the plans of Péter Márkus and Kristóf Koczka, the building can accommodate a maximum of 20 people when closed, 50-100 people can be held by opening the west side, and larger groups of pilgrims, up to a thousand people, can hold mass around it.

The small forest chapel built in the 19th century on Szent Anna-rét was razed to the ground after a workers' rally in 1952. After the regime change, in 1992, András Salamin and his family built a very small chapel on the meadow.

In the first half of the 20th century, it was planned to build a church on Szent Anna-rét as a place for the atoning prayer for peace, and in the 1940s, a chapel in Anna-rét was also included in the visions of Sister Natália (Mária Kovacsics).

The construction of the chapel began in 1944, but the arrival of Soviet troops and then the communist takeover made construction impossible.

The Esztergom-Budapest Archdiocese and the XII. district issued a tender in 2018. Originally planned to be built with government support, the chapel was finally built with donations from the faithful in the economic crisis that arose after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

MTI

Cover photo: Participants in the consecration of the Anna-rét Atonement Chapel at Normafa on Szent Anna-rét on December 8, 2023. MTI/Zoltán Balogh