Blessed János Brenner, underground Cistercian

Brenner was an underground Cistercian murdered during the persecution of the Catholic Church in Hungary in 1957.  His success with the parish youth was seen as a danger to communist propaganda. The above picture speaks of his radiance and popularity. His murderers were never called to justice. Brenner was beatified on May 1, 2018, and his tomb is now in the Szombathely cathedral.

He was murdered during a plot that lured him out of his rectory in the middle of the night by a boy who claimed that his uncle was dying. Brenner was to bring him Holy Communion. A group of men was waiting in the woods and killed him. The exhibit below shows Brenner's bloodied surplice and his cassock torn by knives; Brenner's corpse was left at the roadside. He is called "the Hungarian Tarcisius," a reference to the third-century martyr who died to protect the Eucharist.

Brenner was a postulant at Zirc Abbey and received instruction there with other novices and juniors. In the photo below, he is shown at the right. He professed his vows in secret, was in constant contact with his superiors, and considered himself an underground Cistercian. He shared this fate with quite a few monks whose vows were recognized by the Vatican after 1989.

János was one of three brothers; they were all ordained priests. His younger brother, Josef, shown below, was ordained just months before János was murdered. He would have liked to become a Cistercian, too, but by then the political suppression had made it impossible. He served the Diocese of Szombathely, but was never made pastor because of his refusal to collaborate with communists. After the regime was ousted, he became Vicar General of his diocese. He has encouraged veneration for his brother for over sixty years. Today he is 89 years old, and going strong.