Servant Of God Mária Magdolna Bódi

In 1941, on the feast of Christ the King, she took a private vow of chastity, and in 1942 she joined the Marian Congregation. She was an active member of the Association of the Sacred Heart, where she spent a lot of time with the children, and the service of charity was an integral part of her everyday life. She also joined the Catholic Working Women's Association, where she soon became head of a group and, thus, had the opportunity of giving good example to the working girls. She often asked God to let her die young so that she could bring young people closer to God through her death.

In 1944 the front-line was approaching the village of her family, Litér, and the news of the violence of front-line soldiers against women became ever more worrying. Hearing all this, the Servant of God decided to remain faithful to her vows to Jesus even at the cost of her life. On 23 March 1945 two armed Soviet soldiers attacked the women standing at the entrance of the bomb-shelter. The Servant of God was one of them: she resisted and tried to run away, but even so she accepted her fate. She was worried about her companions and her mother: "Mother, run away from here. I am going to die.", said to her. The soldier shot her several times, and the Servant of God raised her arms towards Heaven and uttered her last words: "My Lord and my King! Take my life!". She was holding the rosary in her hand. The last bullet hit her heart.

The power of her life sacrifice manifested itself almost immediately: two weeks after her death her parents contracted sacramental marriage. Well aware of her pure life and the circumstances of her death, the bishop of Veszprém, József Mindszenty started a diocesan inquiry. The documents, however, did not reach Rome, and due to the historical circumstances it was forbidden to talk about the martyr working girl for decades. The process was taken up again in 1990, but the previous documents were scarcely available. In 2010, a dossier of Latin documents was found in the archives of the cathedral of Veszprém, which gave a new impetus to the process.

CCS protocol number: 2874

Diocesan inquiry
Competent forum: Archdiocese of Veszprém
Competent bishop: Archbishop József Szendi, Archbishop Gyula Márfi
Postulator:
Diocesan inquiry: 18 January 2011 –

Inquiry of the Holy See (CCS)
Decree on validity of diocesan inquiry:
Promulgation of papal decree on martyrdom: