Denis Farkasfalvy ‑ a Hungarian-American, Roman Catholic priest and monk of the Cistercian Order – died of Covid-19 on May 20, 2020.
He was an abbot, theologian, author and translator.
His baptismal name was Miklós; his father was a mechanical engineer. As a schoolboy he attended the school run by Cistercian priests in his home town of Székesfehérvár. After it was closed down by the communist government, in 1948 he transferred to the famous school run by Benedictines in Pannonhalma. He graduated in 1954 and became a clandestine Cistercian novice for Zirc Abbey in 1955; the monastery was officially suppressed at the time. His name in monastic life was Dionysius.
After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 he took the advice of his novice master Lóránt Sigmond (1911–1964), and abbot Vendel Endrédy and fled. His journey led him via Austria (Heiligenkreuz Abbey), to Rome, where he enrolled at the Benedictine university St. Anselm's. He received his doctorate there in 1962. He made his solemn vows (for Zirc), in 1960 in the Abbey of Lilienfeld. This Austrian abbey also hosted his priestly ordination in 1961.
Since most of the Zirc monks had fled Hungary for the USA in 1954, Fr. Denis was sent to Irving, Texas in order to teach at the Our Lady of Dallas monastery school. Since the need for math teachers was great, he studied for and received a Master's Degree at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. As a student, he served as the chaplain to the School Sisters of Namur, who in turn helped him learn English. He was made Headmaster of Cistercian Prep, which was rapidly becoming an elite prep school, in 1969 and ran it for 12 years. He also taught several courses at university level at the University of Dallas.
He was abbot from 1988 to 2012. Under his leadership, the abbey built a new and monumental church in the trademark Cistercian style, attracting international attention and many vocations. The entire abbey was renovated in the course of the project.
He died at 83, having been in ill health for several years and then contracting Covid-19.