Sándor Alexander Haigli was born on December 1, 1912, in Nagycsákány (Vas County). He excelled in his studies, which he completed in Szombathely, particularly in mathematics and physics, and entered the Premonstratensian Order on the recommendation of a Cistercian religion teacher. At the age of nineteen, he entered the Csorna Abbey, where on August 15, 1932, he donned the white habit and received the monastic name Sziárd. He completed his theological studies at the abbey and was then sent to the Premonstratensian study house in Budapest (under the leadership of Jászóvár–Gödöllő) to specialize in the secular sciences, his chosen field of study. His outstanding academic achievements and exceptional self-discipline so impressed the prior of Gödöllő that he personally traveled to Csorna to request permission for Sziárd’s appointment: Sziárd became the prefect of the graduating students at both abbeys.

He was ordained a priest on August 22, 1937. He completed his postgraduate studies with the highest honors and then joined the faculty of the high school in Szombathely. On March 3, 1945, when the city was hit by a severe bombing raid and the neighboring house was destroyed along with all its residents, Sziárd played a key role in sustaining the spiritual strength of his fellow monks who had sought refuge in the cellar. At the 1946 chapter meeting, he argued so persuasively that the estates, which had been drastically reduced after the war, still provided sufficient grain for the abbey and its dependencies, that he was appointed central economic administrator and returned to Csorna in 1947.

When the dissolution of the abbey became an imminent threat following the communist takeover, Szilárd, together with his fellow monk László Parker, visited Abbot Jenő Simonffy on June 20, 1950, with the proposal that a few members of the order attempt to flee to the West in order to preserve the order’s traditions in the free world. The abbot gave his blessing, and Szilárd was appointed leader of the group. The monks split into two groups and, in July 1950—just before the state security forces raided Csorna and shut down the abbey for forty years—they made their way out by crossing the border at great personal risk.

Sziárd arrived in the United States in the fall of 1951, where he taught mathematics and physics as a professor at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin. In 1957, he and his fellow monks established a community in Santa Ana, California, while teaching at the nearby Mater Dei High School. Due to the demanding work at the school, conflicts within the diocese, and his chronic diabetes, Sziárd was forced to resign from his position as superior on October 1, 1959; his successor was László Parker, who later became the founding abbot.

In February 1960, Sylvester Killeen, the abbot of De Pere, personally approached Cardinal McIntyre of Los Angeles to secure permission for the Hungarian Premonstratensians to establish a novitiate. In the spring of 1960, while the members of the order were searching for a suitable estate for their new foundation, Siard was present during that first visit to the site of the future abbey when he asked, “Whose is this?” Their tour guide replied: “Not a chance. This is the heart of my 160-hold estate.” However, the man changed his mind the next day, and the deal was soon sealed.

Szilárd spent the rest of his life in faithful service to the community, in dedicated work, and in prayer. He passed away on June 4, 1986, a few months after suffering a stroke while working in his beloved garden in Santa Ana. He was the first member of the new foundation whose name was recorded in the Necrologium.

According to records, he loved gardening and was considered a strict but fair teacher.
He was originally laid to rest at Ascension Cemetery in El Toro, California, but was reburied on May 11, 2021, at the new St. Michael’s Abbey cemetery.