On October 26, the liturgical feast of Blessed Magdolna Bódi, a new volume entitled “In the Footsteps of Magdolna Bódi” was released. The book compiles the presentations delivered at the conference of the same title held in March at the Archiepiscopal College of Veszprém.
At that event, Archbishop György Udvardy announced the “Bódi Mária Magdolna 80” jubilee program series, commemorating both the 80th anniversary of the martyr’s death and the year of her beatification.
The volume was published under the care of the Archdiocesan Library and Archives of Veszprém.
Following a foreword by the Archbishop, it contains eight writings by seven authors, organized into two thematic sections.
The first part approaches Blessed Magdolna Bódi’s spirituality and faith from theological and devotional perspectives.
Fathers Balázs Csernai and Péter Szakács explore the source of Magdi’s love for God, while Veronika Nagy, Director of the Blessed Gizella Archdiocesan Collection, presents the sites of Magdi’s life illustrated with artistic photographs by Gábor Gaylhoffer-Kovács.
László Tibor Varga, staff member of the Archdiocesan Archives, highlights several episodes of her life from a historical point of view, showing vividly the purity and self-giving spirit that characterized her personality.
The second section offers a broader view of the social and spiritual environment of her time.
András Gianone, teacher at the Cistercian High School of Buda, presents the role of Catholic Action in the renewal of Catholic life between the two World Wars.
Adrienn Tengely, associate professor at Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, introduces the Working Girls’ Movement, in which Magdi herself served as a leader.
Gergely Krisztián Horváth, researcher at the Institute of History, examines from a sociological perspective the world of the military factory and workers’ settlement in Fűzfő, the setting in which Magdi’s witness of faith unfolded.
Concluding the volume, László Tibor Varga provides a clear and concise overview of the eighty-year history of the beatification process, spanning from 1945 to 2025.
The book’s cover depicts the Kenese cliff and Lake Balaton — a landscape that Magdi especially loved, and in which she contemplated the creative beauty of God.
According to the editors, this newly published volume, together with the studies from last year’s and this year’s conferences and the recently written biographies, aims to bring readers closer to the figure of Blessed Magdolna Bódi, so that her life may continue to radiate the example of faith, purity, and selfless love.