The Nagyvradi Brothers

by Laszlo Endrody

  Once he was outside, the doctor saw how much blood he was losing and told him that he needed to go to the hospital. Dr. Van Bade then ran inside the hospital as quickly as she could and threw a sheet on the table in preparation for Luis. As soon as Luis walked inside, the doctor told him to lie on the table on his stomach. She then had some men remove his boots and she took some scissors and cut his pants and long johns off. He had a very deep cut on the back of his leg. She then took a cup of water and mixed some powder in it. She handed the cup to Johnny and told him to give it to Luis to drink. As Johnny handed Luis the cup, Johnny actually spoke. He said, “Father, drink,” and Luis drank it down.

  The two boys that Luis had rescued had been brought into the hospital too. They both had some burns on arms and face and were in need of medical attention as well. Just then, the young doctor came in and asked how he could help. Dr. Van Baden said, “Get the burn ointment and put it on the boys’ blistered skin, but apply it sparingly.” She then continued sewing up Luis’ wound. Luis had been numbed, but he still felt every stich she placed.

  As soon as she had finished stitching up his wound, she laid a clean sheet over him and turned her attention to his burns. His head and shoulder were covered in blisters and so was the right side of his face. Both of his hands were also in pretty bad shape. She applied some of the burn ointment to his burns. Two girls from the orphanage were helping her, and she had them cut up some sheets to use for bandages. She wrapped his head and shoulder with the bandages, but the right side of his face was burned pretty badly and needed more than just a single-sheet bandage. She then cut a piece of bandage and doubled it up. She put some cotton between the doubled-up sheet to make a soft patch. She then smeared burn ointment on one side of the bandage and placed it on his face. She told Johnny to hold it on Luis’ face and to not let it fall off.

  She then went over to check on the boys. They were doing just fine and their burns were minor. The young doctor had done a fine job taking care of their injuries.

  Father Miklos stopped by to check on everyone. He saw that Luis’ pants had been destroyed, so he went over to the tailor and had him start making Luis another pair. He also had him make a pair for Johnny.

  It took three long weeks before the scabs started to come off Luis’ burns. The doctor wanted him to stay inside as much as possible so that dirt and debris wouldn’t contaminate his wounds. She did give him permission to go over to the butcher’s to help him grind some meat. His right arm was so strong that he could push the grinder for a solid 30 minutes at a time. Johnny loved going over there too. He especially loved the freshly cooked wieners and cracklins.

  Luis started cooking for the children at the orphanage and the visitors. As long as he had eggs, he could make noodles and then would usually serve goulash on top. Everyone loved it. He also allowed the girls to make cookies that they took to school with them. Everyone was really happy.

  Another three weeks had gone by and the doctor cleared him to go to church. During the week he just cooked for the kids and anyone else that stopped by the orphanage. He spent a lot of his time making cookies and rolls with the girls. They loved cooking with Luis.

  Luis held a meeting with the elders in the children’s mess hall. Father Miklos reported that the church had 5,000 kronen left over after paying off all the repair work that had been completed. He said that he felt the money should go to Luis, their potential new cardinal. Luis said that he would rather they send the money to Rome to Cardinal Porras, his old boss. He was in charge of all of the orphanages and he could really use the money. So the elders agreed to send the money to Rome. Miklos talked to Luke and told him that they were sending the money to Rome. Luke told Miklos that he would donate an additional 5,000 to the cardinal. He told him that he was going to Vienna and would take the money with him and then send it on to Rome from there.

  Cardinal Porras received the money, along with a letter explaining who the money was from. Cardinal Porras then showed the letter to the pope. The pope suggested that Cardinal Porras visit Nagyvárad to find out was going on there.

  Three days later, Cardinal Porras got on the train to Vienna. There, he changed trains and went onto Debrecen. Before he left, he sent a wire to Nagyvárad letting them know that he was coming and asked if someone would meet him at the rail station in Debrecen.

  Father Luis met the cardinal at the station. They went to dinner at the local restaurant and then went on to Nagyvárad from there.

  They had a room ready for Cardinal Porras at the orphanage. On the way to Nagyvárad, Father Luis told the cardinal the whole story. He listened intently and asked many questions. He knew that Luis loved the children and that he was a good manager.

  They arrived in Nagyvárad late that evening and were up early the next morning. Luis and the doctor were both making breakfast for the children. Cardinal Porras went in and started helping them too. Father Miklos made some tea and some fresh bread. The cardinal told Miklos and the doctor that he wanted to hear from them about what had been going on. They confirmed Luis’ story and also told him how the entire town absolutely loved Luis, and that he was the best thing that had ever happened to Nagyvárad. Miklos told the cardinal that ever since Luis had arrived the attendance at church had more than tripled. They also told him about the last bishop they had that raped a 13-year-old girl. The doctor also told him that the last bishop stole money from the orphanage and that she had to use her own money to feed the children. They also told him how Luke told that bishop that he was never to return to Nagyvárad again, or else he would be hanged.

  The elders stopped by to meet the cardinal and they offered up nothing but praise for Luis. Luke also stopped in to meet the cardinal and they had a very friendly conversation. Luke brought another 10,000 kronen with him for the cardinal to take back to Saltsburg with him. There was no way that Cardinal Porras would ever think to demote Luis. Luke mentioned that Nagyvárad had an archbishop 60 years ago and they would like Luis to be their new archbishop. Porras promised Luke that he would talk to the pope about Luis and everything else he had been told. Porras said, “In the meantime, Luis will remain the bishop of Nagyvárad. It is obvious that the people love Bishop Luis and he in turn loves them.”

  The cardinal was really pleased with the Nagyváradis and their generosity to the church. That night, he went with Luis to the Nagyváradi’s big house to have dinner with them. While he was there he blessed them all. He felt like his trip to Nagyvárad was more of a vacation than an assignment.

  Luis took the cardinal all over Nagyvárad in his buggy, showing him everything there was to see. Porras was very pleased with Luis. They passed by and waved at some people having a picnic on the lawn at the Protestant Church. A few moments later they saw four boys running out of a field towards them with a wild hog fast on their heels. Luis had his rifle in the back of the buggy and he started driving towards the boys. The horses started to act up and the smallest of the four boys fell down. Luis handed the reins to the cardinal and grabbed his rifle and jumped down from the buggy. As he jumped down, he landed on a rock and dislocated his foot. He fell onto his knees and then forward onto his stomach. While he was on his stomach, he took careful aim and shot the sow. It looked like the hog had just been hit by a barn door. It started squealing and then fell down. It tried to get up but it couldn’t stay on its feet. Finally, it just laid there.

  Luis tried to stand up but his foot was in such bad shape that he couldn’t put even the slightest amount of pressure on it. The people that were on the lawn having the picnic ran over to see what had happened. A couple of men then ran over to Luis to help him up. Béla, the Protestant minister, told Luis that he had just saved those boys’ lives. He told Luis, “Those boys were probably trying to catch some of that sow’s pigs. She would have surly killed them.”

  Luis then asked the cardinal if he would go into town and tell the doctor and the butcher to come out. Luis wanted the sow for the orph
anage. The cardinal left Luis with Béla and rode into town to fetch the doctor and the butcher. While he was gone, the minister and a couple of the men helped Luis inside the minister’s house. His wife had just finished cooking a big goose and all the fixings, and she filled Luis up a plate.

  About an hour later, the butcher and doctor arrived. The butcher wasted no time butchering the sow. With the help of two of the men, the doctor reset Luis’ foot. A short while later, the butcher had the sow on his wagon ready to take back to his shop.

  Luis asked if one of the men would fetch the farmer who owned the land the sow had been shot on. The farmer came to the house a short while later. Luis asked him how much he wanted for the sow. He told him that he wanted to him pay for it and also asked his permission to hunt any more that were on his land. The farmer was overjoyed. He felt like he had just been given a bunch of money for nothing. He told Luis he was welcome to hunt on his land any time he wanted and thanked him for the money.

  Father Miklos took the cardinal back to the railroad station. The cardinal was very impressed with Luis and enjoyed his time in Nagyvárad.

  Luis’ foot swelled double its original size, so he just stayed in the kitchen at the orphanage and did little odds and ends until his foot healed. It took three weeks before he was able to put his boot back on his foot. He swore that he would never wear sandals again, even if the pope wore them.

  Four weeks later Luis received a letter from Rome. The letter was addressed to Bishop Luis of Nagyvárad and was from the pope himself.

  It read, “Dear Bishop Luis, thank you for your generosity, especially at a time when we have problems in France. They want to split away from us and are withholding all funds that should be coming to us. You have probably heard, and it is obvious to us, that you don’t agree with the French cardinal and you, a fellow Frenchman, send us your moneys and promote funds for us with the Nagyvárad family. They have been very generous to say the least. I do know all about you from Cardinal Porras. He thinks you are the best bishop that we have. Keep up the good work and God bless. The other thing I wish to mention to you is that we had four Hungarian sisters in France and they have been told to go home. Two of them are teachers and the other two are nurses. I would like to send these four sisters to Nagyvárad. Hopefully you can find a home for them and hopefully they can help you with your children. They should be arriving on the third of next month in Debrecen where you can pick them up and take them to their next assignment. Again, I want to thank you and the Nagyvárad family. Please give my blessing to them. Very affectionately, your brother, Pope John VIII. God bless you Luis.”

  Luis went to Kisvárda to talk to the Nagyvárad family. They were very impressed and honored with the recognition the pope had given them.

  The Nagyváradis offered their large carriage to Luis so that he could pick up the four sisters at the rail station. John got busy preparing a house in Nagyvárad for the sisters. Everyone was looking forward to sisters’ arrival. The two nurses would help out at the hospital and the two teachers would teach at the school. Not only would their assistance be greatly appreciated, it was also greatly needed.

  The people of Nagyvárad and the surrounding communities had never felt so untied and cared for. The Nagyváradi family, along with Bishop Luis and the rest of his staff truly cared about the people and the people truly cared about them.

  The End