Sons of Mary Totus Tuus – The Hungarian Men’s Rosary Crusade

How did the men’s Rosary prayer movement begin in Hungary?

In 2022, I saw photographs for the first time of men praying the Rosary publicly on their knees in Sydney. At that moment, a desire was born in me that this prayer should also begin in Hungary.

In 2022 and 2023, I tried to convey to the leaders of several major movements how important it would be to bring this initiative to Hungary. At that time, however, the idea did not really catch fire. Eventually, one of my brothers and I realised that we had to take the first step ourselves. The two of us received the faith needed to begin, and from then on the process accelerated.

In December 2023, we contacted Krunoslav Puškar, the coordinator of the Croatian men’s Rosary initiative. He willingly helped us with the spiritual and technical aspects of getting started. We prepared the invitation poster and, having obtained ecclesiastical approval, were able to gather in front of St Stephen’s Basilica on 2 March 2024.

Despite the rainy weather, approximately 50–60 men prayed at the first gathering. At the end of the event, Father Gábor Kemenes blessed those present.

Since then we have been meeting at 10 a.m. on the first Saturday of every month, at the same location: St Stephen’s Square, in front of St Stephen’s Basilica, Budapest.

What inspired you Was there a defining experience?

The photographs taken in Sydney gave me a profound, heavenly experience in my heart. I experienced them as an inner certainty: this is what truly matters, what has eternal value.

In the sight of the men kneeling in prayer, I sensed something of heavenly adoration: that we stand before God, worship Him, and belong to Him with our whole lives. This experience remained in me, and from it arose the desire to act.

Why the Rosary and why public places?

In the Rosary, we contemplate Christ’s life with Mary. Our Lady leads us to Jesus and helps us entrust to Him the joys and struggles of our lives, our families, and our future.

Our initiative is connected with the First Saturday devotion of reparation requested at Fatima and with devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Kneeling expresses our humility, trust, and self-surrender. Public prayer is a visible witness: as men, we openly embrace our belonging to God and ask for His grace together.

We pray for peace, reconciliation, families, the protection of human life, and the spiritual renewal of men.

Why is it important for men to pray publicly today?

The example of men’s faith is decisive in the family and in the community. It is important that children see their fathers praying and experience that relying on God is also a natural part of a man’s life.

Public prayer together can encourage other men as well. It shows them that there is a community to which they can belong and brothers with whom they can seek God.

We want to take the strength received in the square back into our families and carry it into our everyday responsibilities.

Have masculinity and faith become separated in today’s culture?

I believe that, for many men, the connection between the two has become obscured. They face many different expectations while receiving few reliable spiritual foundations.

In Christ, we can discover the foundation of our vocation as men: responsibility, fidelity, courage, self-control, and self-giving love. We also want to understand men’s spiritual authority in this light, in the service of our families and communities.

That is why our call is: “Be a man, be holy!”

How do other men react when they see you?

We see that photographs of praying men and reports from the communities pass on the invitation. For me, too, such a photograph was the beginning, which is why I consider it especially important that men in other towns can also see one another praying.

I would not want to generalise about the reactions of individual passers-by. The emergence of new communities, however, shows that the example inspires others to take action.

Did you expect the initiative to grow in this way?

At the beginning, we received the faith that we had to take the first step. We could not yet see the entire path of later growth.

On 3 October 2026, we held the 32nd First Saturday gathering in Budapest. The report published about it mentioned 23 Hungarian locations known by name. Together with the 33 locations of our Croatian brothers, this represents a community of several thousand praying men.

Each local community has its own story. We want to help them with their beginnings, perseverance, and the building of relationships among one another.

Have you seen lives changed as a result of the initiative?

Among the directly visible fruits are the formation of regular men’s prayer communities, faithful participation, and fraternal relationships that strengthen one another.

Those directly involved can speak most authentically about personal changes in their lives through their own testimonies. We would also like to collect and share these testimonies separately.

Our mission is for prayer to bear fruit in everyday life as well: in family relationships, at work, in sacramental life, and in service.

Is there a particularly powerful story or testimony?

For me, the first personal testimony is the story of the beginning itself: a photograph taken in Sydney reached my heart, and after a longer period of waiting, the Budapest prayer gathering was born from the shared faith of two men.

The involvement of young people is also a beautiful example for the community. At the Budapest gathering in November 2025, the average age of the five men leading the prayers was no more than 17. At the same time, the men from Csíksomlyó sent a copy of their statue of Our Lady to the Budapest community as a sign of our fraternal unity.

In these events, we see the transmission of faith and the strengthening of love among the communities.

What difficulties or opposition have you encountered?

The first difficulty was turning the call we had recognised into a real initiative. For a longer period, I tried to draw the attention of other leaders to it, until we realised that we ourselves had to begin.

As we continued, regularity, organisation, supporting local coordinators, and maintaining communication required perseverance. We consider cooperation with the Church important, and we encourage men to organise local prayer with the support of their own parish priest.

Was there discouragement or fear about continuing?

Before the beginning, I had to experience that what I had recognised inwardly as important did not immediately receive a shared response. This required patience.

The turning point came when one of my brothers and I received the faith to act. That beginning still reminds me how much the closeness of a brother and a shared yes can mean.

How is the prayer received in Budapest?

The square in front of St Stephen’s Basilica is a special location: on one of Budapest’s most significant sacred sites, the presence of praying men becomes visible in the midst of the city’s everyday life.

Our aim is to be present in an orderly and prayerful spirit. We want to show both the people who live in the city and those who visit it a community of men turning to God.

What message would you like to share with the world?

Our message is closely connected with our name: Sons of Mary are born at the foot of the Cross.

The basis for choosing this name is the scene beneath the Cross in the Gospel of John. Jesus turns to His Mother: “Woman, behold, your son,” and then to the beloved disciple: “Behold, your mother” (Jn 19:26–27).

It is there that we recognise our sonship: in Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, redemption is fulfilled, and the way opens for us to a life of grace reconciled with God. In the beloved disciple, we also recognise our own calling: we welcome Mary into our lives as our Mother and live in Christ as her sons.

This is the foundation of our heavenly identity: as children of the Father, in Christ, we desire to live as sons of Mary. From this flow our prayer, our fraternal covenant, and our mission.

Totus Tuus – “Totally Yours” expresses this self-surrender: we entrust ourselves to Mary so that she may lead us ever more fully to her holy Son.

Through the prayer of men, we want to build a network of grace woven across squares and hearts, throughout the entire Regnum Marianum, and to take part in building this network extending throughout the whole world. We long for men, through this covenant, to recognise the power of grace through Mary and to discover their own complete identity in Christ. He gives us a new heart on the heavenly, grace-filled soil of Mary’s Immaculate Heart.

We share an intimate and fraternal relationship with our Croatian brothers: we take part in Croatian spiritual days and maintain a living connection with Krunoslav Puškar and the Knights of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We are grateful for our Croatian brothers because they courageously followed Our Lady’s call and thereby gave us courage as well. We are also happy to strengthen our relationship with the men’s communities of Australia and other nations.

What does the Rosary mean to you personally?

For me, the Rosary is a prayer of connection with Christ through Mary, of trust, and of self-surrender.

The photographs of the men praying in Sydney made this tangible to my heart as well: we stand before God, we belong to Him, and this has eternal value.

I want prayer to shape our entire lives, so that grace may take first place in our decisions, relationships, and service.

Why does the world need this now?

Amid uncertainty, wars, division, and the burdens placed on families, we need God and one another.

We need men who are ready to pray, repent, take responsibility, and love faithfully. The shared First Saturday prayer serves this spiritual renewal and asks for grace for our everyday responsibilities.

That is why we invite men to pray the Rosary personally each day, to take part in local community prayer, and to join the public First Saturday Rosary. The connection is also strengthened by the online men’s Rosary on Wednesdays, spiritual days, and shared pilgrimages.

Dániel

Sons of Mary – Totus Tuus

The Association and Mission of Men Kneeling on Their Knees in Prayer with the Rosary

Our motto is:

“Let grace come first on every PUBLIC SQUARE!”

“Be a man, be holy!”

Our Website : www.mariafiai.hu

References reports and photo galleries

Our own platforms
Magyar Kurír 2024
Magyar Kurír 2025
Magyar Kurír 2026