St. Andrej Svorad (980? – 1034?), monk and hermit, came from Poland and his Slavic name is Svorad (Świerad in Polish). In the monastery of St. Hypolit in Zobor near Nitra he adopted name Andrej. He renounced a common life in Benedictine monastery and preferred a life of a hermit with fasting and uninterrupted prayer. One legend holds that his hermitage was in a small cave at Skalka mountains beside Trenčín above the Váh River, where he lived with his follower Benedict (? – 1037?). After Andrej’s death, the monk Benedict continued to live out in quiet seclusion at Skalka. Around 1037, he was attacked by highwaymen, trussed up and thrown into the Váh River. One year later, Benedict’s body was found intact in the water. He was buried in the grave of his spiritual father Andrej in the basilica of St. Emeram in Nitra. In 1930 – 1931, the saint’s remains in silver relics were removed to newly reconstructed Romanesque church near basilica. In 1064, Pécs’s bishop Maurus wrote biography of the two saints. In 1083, the Pope Gregory VII canonised Svorad and Benedict and they became patrons of the Hungarian Kingdom. After R. Ondruš: Close to God and People processed by Antónia Paulinyová M.A. Sheet of 50 stamps