All is Grace! My Life

by Fr. Julius D. Lelóczky, O.Cist.

TESTIMONIALS

“Father Leloczky’s autobiography, All is Grace! My Life, follows his personal journey from his family’s bakery in Hungary, through the religious suppression of communist Hungary and the upheaval of the Hungarian Revolution, all the way up to his life at the tranquil Our Lady of Dallas Cistercian Abbey in Irving, where he currently resides. In 1950, at a time when Father Leloczky’s own religious devotion was growing, the government moved to suppress religious orders, forcing religious practice underground. The autobiography recounts the true and curious details of Father Leloczky’s clandestine vocation story—his journey to becoming an underground Cistercian novice; the shock of his post-Hungarian Revolution move from Hungary, where he had to hide his identity, to Rome, where he could wear his Cistercian habit openly; and his arrival in Texas, in 1964, where he had to adjust to his new, foreign surroundings. Underneath the clandestine meetings, the cross-world travel, and the twists and turns of his journey, Father Leloczky’s story is ultimately a tale of grace—God’s providence and goodness.” – Amy White, The Texas Catholic

“Thank you for creating such a beautiful book about Grace, your experiences, and especially pages 354-358. I was reading page {354,355} tonight when my sister called/informed me her mother-in-law is fighting a serious illness in the hospital.  For some reason (call it the Holy Spirit) I instantly knew I should send that page to my sister and her mother-in-law for some comforting/inspiring thoughts. The page talks of how after you arrived home from Covid recovery, and you talked to God about your future work and purpose.  Thank you for writing this!  It inspired me in my midlife greatly.  Reading those few pages are like listening to excellent classical music alone in the car with surround sound.” – Anonymous reader

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born and raised in Hungary, in 1953 Fr. Julius clandestinely entered the Cistercian abbey of Zirc, which had been suppressed by the communist government. After three years of formation conducted underground and in hiding, he left Hungary in 1956 to study theology in Rome. After earning his doctorate in theology in 1964, he joined fellow Hungarian refugees at Our Lady of Dallas Cistercian Abbey, which had been founded just a few years earlier. In 2011 Fr. Julius retired from the Abbey’s prep school, where he taught for 46 years, including serving as librarian for 20 years. He translated and published The Auschwitz Journal, the chronicle of Klára Kardos, a Hungarian Catholic of Jewish background, who survived the Nazi concentration camps.

OTHER CATHOLIC MEMOIRS