Mária Magdolna Bódi (1921-1945) – Hungarian worker girl and martyr

The following text is based on the book “Testimony with Lilies and Blood – The Life and Martyrdom of a Factory Worker Girl” (original title: “Tanúságtétel liliommal, vérrel – egy gyári munkáslány élete és vértanúsága”) by the priest József Temesi, who was her confessor and spiritual director. (English translation here, quotes in the article my own translation from the Hungarian original).

The name Magdolna (Magdalene) is nicknamed alternatively “Magdi”, “Magdus” and “Magda” in Hungarian. In this article, I’m going to use “Magdi”, which is used throughout the book.

She was born on August 8, 1921 in Szigliget, Hungary to a relatively poor and not very religious family. Her parents were farm servants, who worked for different employers and moved around different villages on the western coast of Lake Balaton during Magdi’s childhood. Magdi had two brothers: Gyula and János (John). The marriage of their parents was irregular, and her father was uneducated in religious matters.

Magdi distinguished herself in her childhood by her deep piety. She said many prayers every night. She offered many prayers for the conversion of her father, too.

Magdi loved her father in spite of his drunkenness and bad manners. Sometimes she put herself between him and her mother when he was trying to abuse her while drunk.

She practiced a lot of self-denial: she made a vow not to be fashionable in hairstyle and never went bathing in the Balaton, even though the large Hungarian lake was only a few kilometres from her home. Every Sunday, she walked multiple kilometres to the church for Mass.

Her mother remarked about her childhood: “She could be very stubborn when it came to doing good”.

She was a very good student in school. She helped other children memorize the contents of the religion class.

Magdi wanted to enter a religious order, but her being an illegitimate child due to the not settled marriage of her parents made her entry difficult at the time. She made a vow of virginity regardless, wanting to dedicate her entire life to Jesus, even if she couldn’t become a nun. She wanted be an apostle in the world and did a lot of research on the art of reaching young people.

During the 1930s, Hungarian Catholicism was flourishing. There were a lot of Catholic organizations. Magdi worked tirelessly in her apostolate among young people. She was a member of the “Dolgozó Lányok Egyesülete” (“Association of Working Girls”, DL), and of the “Szívgárda” (“Heart Guard”).

When she turned 18, she started working in the chemical industry factory “Nitrokémiai Rt.” in Fűzfőgyártelep. The company manufactured pyrotechnics, among other products. The factory had high social standards for its time, but Magdi’s was concerned about the morals of the workers.

Magdi received communion every working day at 5:30 in the morning at the local church. She always came on time, riding her bicycle for more than three kilometres. Looking at her devotion, the priest thought that he was serving a saint.

The factory workers sometimes poked fun at her religiosity, but she never got angry, but replied in a joyful manner. She sold copies of the Catholic newspaper Szív (Heart) with the slogan “Here is my Heart!”. Over time, she gained the respect of the factory workers. When she was present, nobody used cuss words. Sometimes she took over the night shift from young mothers so that they can care for their babies.

In 1943, she applied to become a nurse on the front lines. She wanted to save souls on the battlefield, not just treat injuries. However, her application was rejected, because she was such a valuable worker for her company.

On a retreat in 1943, she secretly asked God to die a beautiful death at a young age.

Around Christmas of 1944, the factory halted its production. From that point on Magdi began to focus on her religious work, caring for sick and poor people, and the spiritual care of the DL girls. Many of them were frightened as reports of rapes came in, but Magdi reassured them: “Don’t be afraid, the good God is with us. They can kill our bodies, but not our souls. Be therefore careful to keep your souls always pure!”

In the first half of March 1945, she had a conversation with Father Temesi that reveals her attitude. The priest vividly remembered their last encounter and recounted the conversation almost word for word.

– Father, what will happen to us when the war is over? – asked Magdi.
– Magdi, we haven’t reached the end yet. But I can tell you that even if you were to die, I could accept it with the utmost peace of mind. I would even be at ease if a bomb tore you apart so that not a particle of your body could be found. I would be completely at ease regarding your soul…
But if you must die, it would be good if you could die a martyr’s death and thus crown your life.
– Father! I believe I shall succeed in this – she said, smiling, cheerfully, as if she were speaking of something completely natural.
– Yes, this is all the more likely to succeed, for it is not difficult for girls to be martyred if they die in defence of the sublime virtue of holy chastity.
– We will defend our purity. I have spoken with the girls. We will have weapons. We’d rather die to the last man than surrender.
– If you did this, you would remain pure and be heroes, but not martyrs. However, so that you may have a clear idea of martyrdom in the light of our holy faith, I ask you to listen carefully to the following:
At the emphatic appeal, Magdi’s always intelligent, radiant face changed to one of strained attention. As if she were seeing, hearing and experiencing an event that was about to happen.
– The Christian man must flee from death until he is faced with a choice: between sin and death. But if he has to choose, he chooses death without a second thought. That is a martyr.
The circumstances leading to death must not be hastened or brought about! It is true that there were martyrs who voluntarily threw themselves on the stake when they were already condemned to death. But they did so in the certain knowledge of death and at the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
St. Ignatius of Antioch did indeed hasten the circumstances of his death. But he didn’t provoke a man to kill him, but an animal, which had the task of tearing him apart anyway.
But, I repeat, the danger of death must not be sought or hastened, even out of a desire for martyrdom.
The easiest way of martyrdom is to fall in defence of the treasure of sacred purity. And to keep the promise of fidelity to God, according to one’s vow, is more than the martyrdom of a pure maiden who was not bound by a vow.
The person who has a vow has the Lord first and foremost in view. It is for Him that he dies rather than for purity.
Magdi, that’s why you should always carry a pocket knife or a pair of scissors to defend yourself. But use it only when the attacker’s intentions are known beyond doubt. When you are sure that your attacker is not trying to rob you or assault you, but to rob you of your purity. Only then should you defend yourself. But in that case you must defend yourself!
The attacker must be rendered incapable of attacking via self-defence. You can only achieve this by inflicting extreme pain. That’s why I thought that you should use the sharp tool you’re carrying to punch your attacker in the eye!
For if you only oppose him, he will only more violently wish to strip you of your purity.

However, if you stab him in the eye, the pain will cause the enemy’s body to stop flaring up. He will kill Magdi for thwarting his criminal plan.
– In this case, however, all that Magdi does is to defend her purity and die in her faithfulness to God, and so she is martyred.
She is given a choice between sin and death and chooses death.
– Magdi! Do you dare to do that?
– I dare. The good God will give me strength!
– Magdi! If the good God will allow it to be so, and you, as a martyr, will come straight to the beatific vision of God, promise me now that you will ask God for many graces for me and for those, whose souls are entrusted to me.
It is difficult to describe in words the expression on her face in response to this request. Perhaps I could say that a sense of responsibility was reflected in her eyes. As if she were already with the good God. She did not refuse the request, she did not protest, not to ask her for such a thing, since everything was still completely uncertain. Modestly, humbly, with her eyes downcast, she said, quietly but firmly:
– Father, I promise…
– Thank you very much. But don’t forget this promise!
– I won’t forget.
– Let me now mention the charming question that a terminally ill child asked the priest who was giving him his first communion, under such circumstances:
– Reverend, when I am dead and see the good God, do I have to bend the knee first, or can I jump right into His arms?

Magdi smiled and involuntarily replied:
– There is no need to bend the knee there. We can immediately hug the Lord Jesus.

– Lassen Sie mich nun die charmante Frage erwähnen, die ein todkrankes Kind dem Priester stellte, der ihm unter diesen Umständen die Erstkommunion spendete:
– Hochwürden, wenn ich tot bin und den lieben Gott sehe, muss ich dann erst das Knie beugen, oder kann ich Ihm gleich in die Arme springen?
Magdi lächelte und antwortete unwillkürlich:
– Es ist nicht nötig, dort das Knie zu beugen. Wir können den Herrn Jesus sofort umarmen.

p. 106-109

On March 23, 1945, a Soviet soldier entered the bunker she was in, and gestured her to go further in. She started going, while grabbing a rosary in her left pocket, and a small pair of scissors in her right pocket. Her mother, who was inside the bunker as well, became alarmed and tried to get Magdi to remove her hands from her pocket, but without success. After a short time, Magdi left the bunker through the same entrance, with an upset expression on her face, telling another girl: “Annuska, flee, because you will be next. I am going to die now… Mother, go away, I am going to die now.” The witness accounts differ somewhat, but it appears that Magdi tried to hit the soldier inside the bunker in the eye with her pair of scissors, but missed. After she came out of the bunker, the soldier shot at her about eight times. Her last words were: „Uram, Királyom! Végy magadhoz!” (“My Lord, my King! Take me to Thyself!”)

She was buried in the cemetery of Litér. On her tombstone is this biblical quote engraved: “Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

After her death, her parents got married. They lived from then on in peace with each other, the father working on his own piece of land.

Magdi’s beatification process started after the war ended, in a time during which the country was not fully Communist yet. It was assumed that the documents were sent to Rome but got lost. People venerated her in secret during the years of Communism and in 1990, the beatification process was started again. The documents resurfaced in the diocesan archive in 2010. The proponents of her beatification emphasize that there is a lack of ordinary workers among the saints of the Church.

Bust of Mária Magdolna Bódi in Litér, Hungary. Photo by Solymári, CC-BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia.

Quotes

“I just want to do as much good as I can, to lead as many souls as I can to the good God… I want to accomplish something great, to make my life absolutely perfect, to make sure that it pleases the good God…” (p. 101)

“Altar decorating is like a bride waiting for her groom. It’s natural that she makes herself pretty. It’s her way of expressing that her heart belongs to him, that she’s thinking of her betrothed. This is how we should express with the altar decoration how dear the Lord Jesus is to us and with how much love we await him on our altar in the Holy Mass.” (p. 39)

“I love my name very much, if it had been up to me I could not have chosen a better name. It reminds me of Mary, the Holy Virgin. And the name Magdalene is a constant reminder of my vocation. For my vocation is to win for the Lord erring souls, Mary Magdalenes.” (p. 53)

“Everything which someone undertakes for Christ and for souls is easy.” (p. 63)

“How can one fear death?! For only then can we see our Lord face to face… Death is a happy moment. How can one fear it?!” (p. 100)

Szigliget on the west coast of Lake Balaton in 2021. Source: zczillinger on Flickr here, CC-BY-ND 2.0.

The stained-glass windows are from the Catholic church of Litér. Source: Solymári, CC-BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia here and here.

Prayer for her beatification

“Christ our King! By her vow of chastity, Magdi has sworn eternal fidelity to You.
Out of Your loving care, the gates of the factory were opened to her instead of the convent door.
As willingly as she would have been a lily in the wreath of Thy God-loving betrothed, so willingly did she go to radiate love of God and man to the workers, who have forgotten thee, but who still deserved a better lot.
‘My Lord, my King! Take me to Thyself!’ – thou heard her last plea when she shed her blood for you.
Grant us, O Lord, that we may honour Magdi in the company of the saints, always for Thy greater glory.
Amen.” (source)