Page:Czecho-Slovak Student Life, Volume 18.djvu/153

O YOU recall that ancient place of pilgrimage called Skalka in Nitra, Slovakia, where Dr. Charles Kmetko, the bishop of Nitra, blessed a new church on July 13, 1924 and dedicated it to Sts. Andrew and Benedict? There is an interesting history connected with this sacred spot, commemorating the two holy guardians of Slovakia.

The full names of these two men are St. Andrew Svorad and St. Benedict or rather Beňadik. The exact dates of their birth are unknown, although it is well ascertained that St. Andrew Svorad was born in the tenth century in the town of Opatowiec, Poland. The names of his parents were Mark and Agnes, who earned their livelihood by farming. They named their son Svorad and gave him a good religious training.

When he grew to be a young man, he retired to a spot in the Bezkydy hills of Poland and there outside the town of Cechow in the diocese of Krakow founded for himself a hermitage, where for many years he led a life of strict self-denial, prayer, and meditation. Towards the end of the tenth century Svorad departed from his hermitage of Cechow and came to Nitra, where he joined the Benedictine Abbey of St. Hypolitus. In Religion he received the name of Andrew.

In the monastery, Andrew led a very exemplary life. Here he continued in his practices of self-denial and the cultivation of virtues. With the permission of the saintly abbot Philip, he left the monastery and found for himself a cave on the mountain Sabor and there led a strict life. Soon afterwards he was joined by another monk of the monastery of St. Hypolitus, Benedict.

Benedict, a disciple and companion of St. Andrew Svorad, was also born in the tenth century on the Povazie of Slovakia. Having received a thorough Christian education from his parents, he was sent to the abbey school of St. Hypolitus, where he later joined the Benedictine community.

However, their stay at the hermitage on the Sabor was made difficult by the frequent visits of other monks and the faithful of the surrounding district. They, therefore, left Sabor and built new hermitages on a desolate mountain, Skalka, on the east bank of the river Vah near the city of Trenčín. Their hermitages were set in eaves on the cliffs of the Skalka overlooking the Vah. Here St. Andrew Svorad led even a stricter life than before. At an appointed time he and Benedict came together to recite the Divine Office. After a day of hard labor, Andrew would retire for a short rest, sleeping on a block of oak and a hard bed set off tightly by a fence of thorns and briars. God rewarded his faithful servant with the gift of miracles and the gift of consolation. In his hermitage St. Benedict also practiced similar mortifications and led a holy life. The inhabitants in the vicinity of Skalka soon learned of the two holy men, and came to them for counsel and spiritual aid. Indeed