The Hungarian title – meaning Life is nice in a Pauline manner! – is a kind and playful version of a Hungarian phrase, differing from it in one letter (Párosan / Pálosan szép az élet [Life is nice together / in a Pauline manner]).This phrase implies that people have more opportunities for achieving happiness in a marriage, or as a couple (“together”). At the same time, the Hungarian phrase also carries within the trust in future. The concept of our exhibition, related to the title, displays in a hidden way, in the “texture” of the narration, what it is like to be a Pauline, and a monk in general. Being a monastic priest is a complete life, not a way towards aloofness, but towards self-fulfilment – a modern way of life leading to happiness both in the everyday and the theological sense of the word.
This travelling exhibition presents the elements of Hungarian Pauline history,first of all, as a Hungarian heritage that is common and accessible to everyone. During its journey, it aims at addressing not only Catholics and believers, but everyone interested in Hungarian past and history. A component of this community building goal is the site of atonement assembled in the bus, that invites us for reconciliation with God, with ourselves and with others.
“I am a happy Pauline monk”, declared Botond Bátor in 2019, on the 25th anniversary of his ordination. This thought echoes the still quoted thought of Ákos Bolyós (1914–1994), who during Communism – in the period named “clandestine” by cardinal and primate László Paskai (1927–2015) – lived in hiding: “Be thankful not for being a Pauline, but for the opportunity of becoming one.”
The thoughts of these two monastic priests have inspired the theme of this exhibition. The exhibition consists of eight parts, eight somewhat divided items that are connected by the eight Beatitudes of the Gospel of Matthew. The different topics, each related to one of the Beatitudes, do not follow the chronology of the history of the order, instead, they highlight particular approaches.
Language of the exhibition is in Hungarian, but relatively few texts are displayed, which are also made available in English and Polish for foreign visitors via QR codes, or – in the lack of smartphones or internet connection – in guiding booklets. Via the QR codes and guiding booklets, Hungarian visitors can access further content.
Visitors are also assisted in gaining this experience via interactive opportunities. Even for those who do not speak Hungarian, it can be interesting to listen to the song by the Misztrál band, the lyrics of which contain almost only Hungarian place names from the territory of Great Hungary, where Pauline monasteries once stood (before 1526 and 1786).
The most decorated codex containing the oldest Hungarian text can be also flipped through virtually. The Festetics codex now kept in National Széchényi Library, was made in the 15th century in one of the Hungarian monasteries, in Nagyvázsony.
With the help of information technology tools, visitors can also view several portrayals of Blessed Eusebius of Esztergom, and they are also invited to sit down comfortably, and take a look at photographs depicting Pauline life before 1950 and after 1989.
In the exhibition, an important role is assigned to Częstochowa (Poland), where the foundation of the current centre of the order took place in 1382, to the Black Madonna icon treasured there and its multiple replicas kept in Hungary, as well as to the key role of the Polish province after 1786, and that played in the reestablishment of the order in Hungary in 1934.
Hungarian Pauline “artists” are each introduced with one sentence and picture on a “rotating” wall, including the author of Vitae fratrum, Gergely Gyöngyösi, Fr. Béla Ágoston Gyéressy, representative of the reestablishment of 1934 and originator of the order bulletin Fehér Barát [White Friend] who, during the clandestine period, having a degree in art history, earned merit in the exploration of the built heritage of the order.
We believe that the exhibition Life is nice in a Pauline manner! contributes to a deeper understanding and recognition of the only religious order for men founded in Hungary and of our common cultural heritage.