The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1912-03-30
SHEPHERD OF THE SEA
HUNGARIAN MAN OF WEALTH
HAS EARNED TITLE.
Has Long Devoted Life, Fortune, Tai.
snts and Strength In MlnlsterIns
to Emigrants From His Own
and Other Lands.

Count way De Vaya. lord abbot Of st.
Martins in Hungary. has earned the
title Of 1.-THE Shepherd Of the Seas"
because he spends his life and wealth,
his talents and his strength. in min
lstering to poor emigrants seeking fair
or chances for life in distant lands.
A man Of lowlier birth. and one bred
amid scenes Of squalcr and suffering
might so spend his life without Gre
ating wonder that h5 should seek to
help those who are his equals and in.
Inmates.
Count de Vaya Is one Of the richest
and one Of the most influential men in
Hungary. This wealth he is using to
help the poor emigrants from his coun-
try and from other countries, and he
has forsaken the ease and comforts
that his riches would bring to sail
with them on many troubled seas and
teach them how to conduct themselves
In the new life they are to face.
"At home," he said, "the poor are
forever watched over by the parish
priest. who is their spiritual father.
He tells them how they shall conduct
their lives and listen and obey. Then
also there are the neighbors with
whom the peasant hopes to stand we'll
and to be respected. This environ
ment helps him to lead Christian
life. to be honest, Industrious and
strong to resist temptation. Then he
hears Of brighter opportunities in q
new land. and he sells all Of his little
possessions and sails away. Every
thing that has helped him in the past,
the teachings Of the priest, the good
word Of old neighbors, the traditions
OF his home, are swept away from him
and he finds himself on the sea with
nothing to do aud an absolutely va
cant mind, ready to be filled with any
thing anyone cares to pour into 1t.
"This is very trying period. All
his life he has been worker. He has
toiled all day and at night there were
the family and friends to fill his mind.
But here, upon the deep, his mind
grows vagrant. 1t has nothing to an
Choir 1t. Like the mind Of a little
child, 1t Is very receptive. If evil is
poured into it. that evil may last as
long as he lives and be the controlling
influence of his life. But If it is good,
why. then he will be a good man as
long as he lives. Now, the work that
l am trying to do with all of the gifts
that God has given me is to meet with
these poor people and to fill them with
the thoughts of our creator, with the
duty we all owe to one another, and
with the peace that comes from good
and the torment that comes from evil.
II opened the first Hungarian church
in the slums of Chicago This was in
1905. have visited all Of the differ
ent labor centers in the United States.
and have crossed the ocean 10
times. And always am seeking to
place In the shands Of the helpless the
sword Of righteousness, with which to
fight temptation. On one ship, the w.
tonia, from Fiume, preached to 1900
emigrants. I speak nine languages.
and I preached to them, so all could
understand, in Hungarian, in German
and in the Slav. A more devout PEG.
pie never saw. am glad to say that
I have seen something Of the results
Of the seeds that have sown. And IL
the work is continued. in a generation
or two it will go far toward lettering
conditions all over the world"