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“But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them.
In the eyes of the foolish, they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be an affliction,
and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace...
They who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love;
because grace and mercy are upon his elect.”
(Wisdom 3:1-3, 9)
Our heavenly Father, the Lord of the living and the dead, has called to Himself
R.D. Clement Adalbert Rudnay, O.Praem.
Senior Member of the Canonry of Orange
March 18, 1913 - February 7, 2006
One of the seven founding fathers of St. Michael’s Abbey in Orange, Fr. Clement Rudnay, the senior of our canonry,
passed to eternal life on February 7, 2006. Surrounded by his confreres and strengthened by the grace of the sacraments,
Fr. Clement thus completed a life, characterized by fidelity and sense of duty, begun on August 15, 1933
with his entrance into the novitiate of St. Michael’s Abbey, Csorna, Hungary.
Ordained to the priesthood on August 21, 1938, he soon began graduate studies and earned two masters’ degrees
at the Pázmán Péter University in Budapest. He taught at the Norbertine gymnasium in Keszthely until
the suppression of the Catholic schools by the Communist government in 1948 and then served in various
parishes for the next several years.
In 1950 Fr. Clement fled the Communist regime and, after brief stops in Austria and Rome,
arrived in the United States where the canonry of DePere welcomed him and his fellow confreres from Csorna.
After some time of pastoral service in St. Joseph’s Parish, Madison, Wisconsin, Fr. Clement was assigned to
St. Norbert Abbey, DePere, Wisconsin where he served as professor of history for the juniorate.
In 1957 Fr. Clement joined his confreres from Csorna in re-establishing community life and taking up a
common apostolate at Mater Dei High School, Santa Ana, California, this at the invitation of
James Francis Cardinal McIntyre, Archbishop of Los Angeles. He remained in this assignment for 25 years
and during this same period served as a weekend assistant at parishes within Orange County, most especially at
St. Joachim’s in Costa Mesa. In 1982 Fr. Clement took up residence at the then St. Michael’s Priory in Orange
and taught history at the Priory’s Preparatory school.
He retired from this last assignment in 1992 and spent the years that followed persevering in a life of fidelity
to the priestly and religious ideal of St. Norbert. In spite of failing health Fr. Clement continued to show himself
a good-humored confrere. He will be missed by the surviving founding fathers, the priests, juniors and novices
of the Abbey, who have looked after him in his increasing debility during the last years of his earthly sojourn,
and in particular Mr. Alec Avarillo, who faithfully cared for him in these recent years.
The reception of the body at the Abbey Church will take place on Thursday, February 9, 2006, 3:00 P.M.
There will be Pontifical Vespers celebrated at 5:00 P.M. followed by visitation throughout the night.
The Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Friday, February 10, 2006, 9:30 A.M. followed immediately
by the interment at Ascension Cemetery, Lake Forest, California. Please remember Fr. Clement in your prayers.
Abbot and Confreres of St. Michael’s Canonry, Orange
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