The forgotten "miracle story of Peremarton" Apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Peremarton

Today, unfortunately, it is not at all known that the XIX. At the end of the 19th century, there were also apparitions of Mary in Veszprém County, which were disseminated in religious dross as a “Miracle story of Peremarton” in its day. Yet in 1894, peoples flocked from the countryside to the forest of Peremarton to see the miracle.

If we look into the news reports, we can see that not only in the "Dark Ages", but also today, the Virgin Mary apparitions are constantly reported. There are many places of worship in the Carpathian Basin, which became a popular destination for pilgrims after the appearance of the Holy Mother. The last time she appeared several times during August and September 2002 was in The Sub-Carpathia (Nizsnye Bolotnye, Ukraine) to a Hungarian and a Ruthenian girls, and between 1995 and 2005 she showed and sent messages to a blind woman of Gypsy descent, Rózsika Marián, in Transylvania, Szőkefalva (Seuca, Romania). At first the apparition passed off only in a narrower circle, and then about 5000 people attended the public apparition on 17 July 2001, according to the former news reports, as the dates were announced in advance by the Virgin Mary.

The first apparition in Peremarton happened on May 15, 1894, around three o'clock. On the outskirts of the village, four children from Öskü talked near an ancient oak tree. They grazed oxen, talking in silence when they heard the wind blowing from the tree. They were scared when they stared there. One of the boys first noticed the silhouette of the Virgin Mary in a white dress with a blue ribbon around her waist and a glowing in golden crown on her head and next to her were two angels. (Of the four kids, by the way, he was the only Lutheran. He was Mihály Hornyák and the other boy called Mihály Gáspár was Catholic.) He said terrified, "Look what's there!" Then they started running with another boy who also saw her.

At the next apparition she also appeared to these two children 15 steps southwest of the wonder tree, at which time two angels shone beside her. For the third time, at Peter-Paul Day, the little son of the Lutheran Michael Hornyák saw the apparition. They were just mowing with their father when the child said, "Oh, my father, put the scythe down, the beautiful woman is standing there, you will cut off her leg." Even then, she had a crown on her head, smiling and holding out her hand to the child. His father saw nothing, but because his son had begged so much, he went to work in the vineyard. A fourth time she was seen by a shepherd who was on purpose depasturing there to see if he would see the Virgin Mary too. North of the miracle tree a columnar-like figure approached a shepherd. He also noticed the apparition at the oak tree, a great brightness hovering there, which frightened him so much that he hurried back to his flock. As soon as he returned, he saw that his sheep were all on their knees, turning toward the tree floating in the brightness. As the shepherd got closer to the beauty, it disappeared.

The news of this soon spread across the country and people just flooded the area. The fame spoke of a total of eleven visions, according to reports, on one occasion even the child Jesus was seen. The figure of Mary appeared most often, but a rosary and a cross were also seen floating on the “miracle tree”.

The fifth sight, 30 steps north of the wonder tree, showed the beautiful whiteness in full shape, tied with a blue ribbon, a yellow crown on her head, and a wreath on her arm. Half an hour later a figure with rosary came in yellow and went to the side of a tree and came a small child-shaped figure that had settled six steps away in front of the population, and above it came a small round yellow figure, and they were all in rosary form, and then there was three yellow crosses are visible. The sixth sight was a blue cross.

The seventh sight was above the miracle tree twenty-four feet high the Virgin Mary in white, a blue ribbon around her waist, a star-colored rosary in her hand, a crown on her head, two angels beside her, and there was a great incense smell.

The eighth sight was a yellow crucifix with our Lord Christ on it. The ninth sight to the wonder tree from the southwest was sun-sized whiteness on the wonder tree in beautiful white.

The tenth sight was just like the ninth. The most beautiful sight, however, was the last, eleventh vision, when many stars were seen above the wonder tree. The Virgin Mary appeared with a crown on her head and two angels on her side in great brightness for two minutes, crying with her outstretched hand at the sky, asking her faithful people for the sacred blessing. Meanwhile, three prayerful women sang the “Song of the Lord's Angel.”

The Veszprém county press first reported on the case on July 21, 1894, in the newspaper Veszprém entitled "Medieval Vision". From the author’s lines, who writes under the pseudonym “Magyar”, a sharp outburst can be read against “bigoted habit of mind” and “crazy fanaticism” in the name of illumination. It is clear from his writing that indeed the miraculous account of the shepherd of Öskü spread widely when, according to the shepherd, "the whole flock fell to their knees before the apparition, and arose only when the impressive sight disappeared." The “saga” began to spread, and crowds from the distant lands soon began to make pilgrimages to the “miracle tree”. And the tree, “beside which the holy mother is said to have appeared, is full of hanged wreaths, icons, and parti-colored ribbons; the righteous pilgrims shall fall before its with righteous reverence, to give themselves a heavenly pleasure in earthly life, and salvation to eternal life ” wrote the author of the article.

The editor noted that the district chief judge had already instructed the administrative medium to prevent further pilgrimage. György Füzy, a Catholic teacher from Öskü, referenced this to itself and responded in the Veszprém Independent Newspaper on 28 July. We learn from this that “the not-so-polite intervention of the authority” was marked by the “people kicked out, stamped by the gendarmerie, and the crucifixes burned”. Even on September 15 and 22, the Veszprém Independent Newspaper reported that “hundreds and hundreds of people” were lurking around the tree all day, and that no one would end the “blow-up” or “scandal”. Finally, on December 8, the newspaper rejoices in a short news that the pilgrimage has automatically ended without any intervention. We think it's because "either the tinsel-Mary or the pilgrims were satisfied with the cold." We don't know about any more news. Thus ended the miracle of Peremarton, which, contrary to the proverb, did not last for three days, but has now been completely forgotten.

[Written by László Budai: translated by Jolán Csizmadia]