Church leaders send Pentecost messages

Budapest, May 24 (MTI) – Leaders of Hungary’s main Christian churches sent messages at masses they gave to mark Pentecost, on Sunday.

Cardinal Peter Erdo, the head of the Catholic church, said at a mass in the Esztergom Basilica in northern Hungary that despite sinister events in the world, history is not dark without prospects because “the Holy Spirit will always teach us what Christ expects from us.”

Bishop Istvan Szabo Bogardi, parish president of the Reformed Churches’ synod, said that forced oblivion has been prevalent in many parts of the world today, but the Holy Spirit reminds people of what Jesus taught them.

“The Holy Spirit teaches people not only to remember, but to act as well,” he said in a reformed church in Budapest.

Lutheran Bishop Peter Gancs celebrated a Pentecost Sunday mass in Szarvas in south-eastern Hungary.

“God wants to have a say in our ordinary lives here and now, at Pentecost; he calls us for a new beginning, revival and conversion,” he said, adding that “the gift of Pentecost is nothing less than we are the children of God.”

Photo: MTI

President attends Pentecost Pilgrimage

Budapest (MTI) – Everyone should “pay heed” to the message of loyalty heard at the sermon in Sumuleu Ciuc (Csiksomlyo), President Janos Ader said on Saturday.

The president and First Lady Anita Herczegh attended the annual Pentecost Pilgrimage in Sumuleu Ciuc, where hundreds of thousands of believers gathered to join the open-air mass led by Gyorgy Jakubinyi, Archbishop of Alba Iulia (Gyulafehervar).

“The sermon we heard was a message of loyalty. Loyalty to faith, loyalty to the homeland, the loyalty of being a part of a nation and the loyalty of keeping one’s native language,” the president said.

This year Pope Francis blessed the Pentecost Pilgrimage on the occasion that the local statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary was carved 500 years ago.

Sumuleu Ciuc became a pilgrimage site in 1567, when Hungarian king John II Sigismund Zapolya wanted to convert the Szekler population to Protestantism. The Szeklers refused to convert and fought back. A battle took place on a nearby field, on Saturday before Pentecost, which was won by the Szeklers. Since then, the event has been commemorated by a pilgrimage when Catholics gather on Pentecost every year.

Hundreds of thousands in Csiksomlyo

Csíksomlyó Pentecost Szeklerland

Csiksomlyo, May 23 (MTI) – Hundreds of thousands gathered for the Pentecost pilgrimage in Csiksomlyo hogback on Saturday. At the end of the pilgrimage, the participants receive papal blessing with full indulgence.

In Szek utca, which leads to the location, the several pilgrims walked towards the Csiksomlyo church and then they went to the hogback. At the head of the groups that march under the cross (so-called keresztalja), tables indicate the places where the pilgrims arrived from. In addition to the religious flags, there were several Hungarian and Szekely flags.

Before the start of the Mass, the organizers announced pilgrims arrived from the Philippines and Congo. President Janos Ader and his wife also arrived at the event.

This year’s Eucharistic celebration speech is held by Gyorgy Jakubinyi, Archbishop of Gyulafehervar. Pauline monks of Czestochowa, Poland made him a chasuble specifically for this occasion. On the front of the cloth, there is the Virgin Mother of Csiksomlyo, on the back side, there is the Black Madonna of Czestochowa.

The motto of this year’s pilgrimage is “We run under your protection” is related to the jubilee Mary-year, which was announced for the 500th anniversary of the making of Csiksomlyo Mary statue.

based on the article of MTI
translated by BA

Photos: MTI

Four days to Pentecost – The traditions and habits of Pentecost

The Pentecost is one of the biggest holidays in the spring and it is not only important in the folk traditions but also in the religious lives.

The history of the Pentecost

Femcafe.hu said that not a lot of people know but its name derives from Pentacles which means the 50th day. The reason is simple: the 50th day after Easter, we celebrate this important day.

The 50 days has its reason, too. After the 50th day of Pesach, Jews harvested the first fruits on this day. The Hungarian Pentecost traditions are connected mainly to the Christian holiday but some of the elements, such as the Pentecost king’s naming and the green branch carrying, came from the Pagan times.

As other religious holidays, it is based on Pagan beliefs, in which the Christian religion builds on and it has merged into one common holiday. The Christians celebrate that Jesus’ Holy Spirit came back to the Apostles after it had gone to the Heaven. The Pentecost means joy to the Church and a lot of traditions are connected to it.

The Pentecost’s traditions

The Pentecost king’s naming

The king’s name was gained after the winning of the skill games. By this, the king had the following privileges: The Pentecost’s king was invited for a year all of the weddings, celebrations and holidays; he could drink for free at all the pubs because all of his drinks were paid later on by the community. Usually, he became the lad’s leader in that year.

Spring welcoming

Pentecost is closely connected to flowers. For example, at some places they put flowers or branches to the window’s rim or into the fence (usually elder, Pentecost rose or Jasmine) in order to avoid being hit by a lightning.

Couple selection and suitor’s habits

Suitors have their habits at Pentecost, too. At some places, the suitor has to put a Pentecost rose to the girl’s window. Girls, however, have to make a wreath and hand it over to the lads. Another tradition was called ‘mátkázás’ which meant that the suitor sent a basket of scones and wine to the girl who he liked. If the girl had the same feeling, she sent back a similar basket. At night, the wooing could continue at the balls they have organized at Pentecost.

The tree planting in May and the green branch carrying

Májusfa (Photo: jakd.hu)

At some places, they have planted the tree, called ‘májusfa’. And at the places where they had planted the tree on 1st May, they have cut it out at Pentecost. Usually, the community had its own, shared tree and when it was cut out, it was followed by celebration and dances. At other places, they have put green branches at their houses and fences. In some towns, by this tradition they have marked the houses where a single lady could be found but in other places they have only shown their respect for the holiday.

based on article of femcafe.hu
translated by Andrea Toth

Photo: mult-kor.hu

Schedule of Hungarian holidays for 2015

If you work in Hungary, this summary might help you in planning your holidays well in advance during the year.

Long weekends in 2015:

  • 1st – 4th of January (New Year’s)
  • 4th – 6th of April (Easter)
  • 1st – 3rd of May (Labour Day)
  • 23rd – 25th of May (Pentecost)
  • 20th – 23rd of August (National Holiday)
  • 23rd – 25th of October (National Holiday)
  • 24th – 27th of December (Christmas)

Of course every coin has two sides, so here are the following dates when we work on Saturdays as well in order to compensate the gaps between weekends and the actual holidays.

  • 10th of January
  • 8th of August
  • 12th of December

based on aritcle of origo.hu
translated by AB

Photo: Pixabay

“Csíksomlyói Búcsú” – The Largest Catholic Celebration Of The Year For Hungarians On June 7

Csíksomlyó Pentecost Szeklerland

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and tourists are going to visit the Csíksomolyói Whitesun, the biggest religious and Christian event in Transylvania in 2014. This year the traditional pilgrimage will be held in the area of the Transylvanian town called Csíksomlyó between the 6th and 10th June.

Csíksomolyó is a famous place of pilgrimage of Székely-Hungarian Catholics. The historical event has been held since 1990 and hundreds of thousands of religious people and tourists pilgrimage to the “Csíksomolyói búcsú” to take part in the celebration. Each year lots of Hungarian Catholics take part in this big ceremonial event and give their respect before the Blessed Virgin Mary in Transylvania. A night Mass and vigil opens this enormous ceremony on each Pentecost Friday.

According to karpateuropa.hu website, there are special trains which take the passengers and tourist to the venue. The number of the special trains has increased since 2008. At present there are 3 different types of trains – the Székely Gyors and Csíksomlyó Expressz as well as the Boldogasszony Zarándokvonat – which carry the tourists from Budapest to the final destination each year. Interestingly, the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) and the Carpathian Europe Travel Agency decorate the trains with motifs which are related to the history of Hungarians. Train tickets can be purchased online or at the Travel Agency. Moreover, there are some packages for tourists and pilgrims in which meals and lodging are included in the tickets. Thus, those pilgrims who come by train could sleep at Székely-Hungarian families – as part of the country tourism – and get full meals during the whole event.

The event will start at 7pm on 6th June with a holy mass and then an all-night-long vigil will be held in the Pilgrim Church in Csíksomlyó. The event will be continued with confessions and holy masses on Saturday morning. The climax of the event is the Ceremonial Holy Mass which will be held at “Hármashalom oltár” from 12:30 on Saturday. The “Hármashalom oltár” is a venue in the saddle between the mountains of “Kissomlyó” and “Nagysomlyó”.

csíksomlyó 4

After the big Holy Mass night vigils and holy masses will continuously be held in the Pilgrim Church in Csíksomlyó. The “Csíksomolyó Farewell and Pilgrim” officially finishes with the Holy Mass on Sunday morning and with the departure of the groups of pilgrims and tourists. However, on Monday and Tuesday (9th-10th June) holy masses will be held three times a day at the Pilgrim Church.

The “Csíksomlyói búcsú” program will take place from 6th June to 10th June and lots of travel agencies and websites organize special tickets for the ceremony which includes the transport, meals and lodging as well.

For those who would like to travel there by car and spend one or two days only in this wonderful place it’s highly recommended to watch the roads and traffic changes carefully sduring the whole event.

based on article of szekelyfoldiinfo.ro, karpateuropa.hu 
translated by Valentina Leanyfalvi

Photo: Daily News Hungary