When Andrej felt that he was nearing the end of his life, he sent for Abbot Filip and ordered those present not to touch his clothes until the abbot arrived. He later told Mauro the following things: When they undressed the dead body and went to wash it, they found a chain on it, which dug deep into the body. Maurus questioned half of this chain from Abbot Philip and kept it reverently on the Pannonian Mountain. When the public worship of the saint began, he gave it to Prince Gejz, who begged for it.
Svorad died around 1030. The remains are stored in the Nitra Cathedral of St. Emerald. The largest part of the relics is in Pálffy's reliquary from 1674.
Sv. Beňadik was a pupil of St. Andreja-Svorada. After the death of his teacher, he decided to live in the same place. For three years, according to his example, he led a very strict life. Here robbers attacked him, tied him up and threw him into the river Váh. People searched for his body for a long time, but to no avail. However, they noticed that the eagle sat on the banks of the Vah all year round, as if watching something. And they did find a body that was intact after a year, as if Beňadik had only recently died. His body was also buried in the Cathedral of St. Emeram in Nitra. The place of his throwing into Váh is expressed by a two-towered church in Mala Skalka dedicated to both hermits.
The oldest depiction of St. The assembly comes from Bishop Mauro, which he had carved on the column head of the newly built cathedral in Pécs (11th century). The oldest depiction of St. Beňadika is probably a hermaid (reliquary of the head) from the 14th century, today housed in the Budapest Museum.
In 1083, under Pope St. Gregory VII., On the initiative of King St. Ladislav were canonized among five Hungarian saints: St. King Stephen, his son Imrich and Bishop Gerard. Their common holiday is July 17 and they are the main patrons of the Nitra diocese and St. Svorad has been the patron saint of the town of Nitra since 1739. Sv. Svorada-Andrej and his disciple Beňadik are worshiped not only by Benedictines, but also by Kamalduli and Paulines.
Poles report to them, because Svorad's Polish origin is generally assumed. In Svorad and Beňadik, the Hungarians see ancient guests on Pannonian Hill; The Czechs turn to their friend because it is said that Prokop Sázavský visited Svorada in Nitra. However, they most faithfully kept them in the memory and respect of the Slovak people, among whom they lived.
Skalka thus gradually became a place of pilgrimage due to the work of these hermits, and today it can be said that the oldest place of pilgrimage, then Hungary and an important spiritual center for centuries in Slovakia, especially the founding of the Benedictine abbey by Bishop Jakub in Nitra. 1224. Even in the later period, when the Bishop of Nitra Ján Püsky in 1644 handed over to the Jesuits.
The monastery represented a gift of spiritual, educational and general cultural growth, not only for its inhabitants, but for the whole of Považie, and even a large part of Slovakia. The monastery was the focus of evangelism, but also of spiritual and material culture. On Skalka, as recorded in contemporary records, at the following times: "the religious singing of the faithful (idiomate slavonico) was powerful - in Slovak." The Jesuits worked here until their abolition in 1773
Unfortunately, this sacred place was marked by wars and gradually abandoned. In the 18th century, the monastery and the church were destroyed. For a long time, only the ruins marked this memorial place, but even then the pious people did not stop wandering here and doing devotions. Finally r. In 1853, a church was rebuilt in Mala Skalka from the charitable believers. After further devastation, but also a complete reconstruction, on July 13, 1924, in honor of these saints, he was again consecrated by the Bishop of Nitra Karol Kmeťek in the presence of the Bishop of Spiš Ján Vojtaššák and with the participation of thirty thousand pilgrims. On this occasion, the declaration made during the consecration of the three bishops in Nitra - February 13, 1921 - was again published.
Significant personalities were signed: Dr. Karol Kmeťko, Bishop of Nitra, Dr. Augustín Fischer -Colbrie, Bishop of Košice, Ján Vojtaššák, Andrej Hlinka, Dr. Ján Kohút, Bishop Vicar, Fr. Richard Oslvald, Archbishop Vicar, Dr. Alois Kolísek, P. Vendelín Javorka, SJ, rector of the Jesuits, Dr. Jozef Bellai, Trenčín County, Ján Pöstényi, SSV administrator and many others.