Respect for roadside sacred monuments and their founders

Alsóbodok is rich in small roadside sacral monuments. Unfortunately, some of them have already disappeared, and we only know their location from old sources, e.g. the wooden statue of Saint John in Alvég (the so-called “Jánoska”), as well as the small wooden chapel mounted on the trunk of the “Godly pear” with the statue of the Virgin Mary next to the road to the vineyard, etc. The oldest roadside cross in the village, which still stands today, was erected in 1791 in the middle of the old village. Its founding charter was written on June 24, 1791, and it was consecrated by the Franciscan friar Juniperus Molnár. The cross was repaired in 1893, and a fragment of the original Baroque cross statue can be found in the local Zoboralja Museum. Four years later, the large cross of the cemetery was erected (we will discuss this in more detail at the cemetery, see there). The third oldest surviving monument may be the niche statue of Saint Orbán in Szőlőhegy (the so-called “Urbánka”). The original statue, thought to be from the 19th century, was stolen, but a copy of the statue in Zsér, modeled on the one in Bodoki, was returned to Bodoki. The square in front of the statue is the scene of a church ceremony on the saint’s feast day, May 25. The now defunct episcopal estate, Ágostonhalma, gave place to the so-called Majori cross, founded by the bishopric. It was erected in 1882 and can still be found today, but is in need of renovation due to its damage. The statue of Saint John the Baptist baptizing Jesus stands in front of the church, erected jointly by the Bodoki faithful in 1911. The Alvég stone cross, erected in 1927, was also a joint donation of the faithful. In 1911, the wealthy István Ács founded a Lourdes chapel next to the road leading to the Family. He and his wife, Rozália, also erected the cross next to the old Pográny road in 1913, as well as the stone statue of the Virgin of the Seven Pains (in place of an older wooden statue), which is popularly called “Máriácska” (Maria). The latter was erected on December 5, 1942, as was another, and last, statue donated by them in honor of Saint Vendel. One of the last small sacral monuments founded in the village is the new Lourdes grotto built next to the church, which was built in the nineties of the 20th century. The two monuments that depict the village’s coat of arms with the relief of Saint John the Baptist can also be included here. One was erected by Paulisz Boldizsár in front of the village office (in 1998), the other, made of wood, was initiated by Mayor Marián Paulisz (in 2018, also near the office). See also the local value of the village coat of arms. In 2016, Paulisz Boldizsár erected a memorial cross on the church hill in memory of the 1956 revolution and war of independence (a separate value in the local value repository). In this value, we do not discuss the small sacral monuments located on the Paulisz Ranch or the Esterházy János Pilgrim Center, as they are treated as separate local values.