Pentecost celebration within the framework of the “new normal”
Pentecost is a notable Christian holiday, celebrated on the fiftieth day after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and marks the birth of the Christian Church. Hungarians usually organise family gatherings for the long weekend or visit the country’s open-air baths. Many believers take part in the pilgrimage to the miraculous Virgin Mary statue in Csíksomlyó. This year, the celebration of Pentecost is not going to be the same as usual due to the coronavirus pandemic, but technology provides opportunities for people to adapt to the circumstances.
József Steinbach, Bishop of the Transdanubian Reformed Church District, emphasised that the meaning and the significance of Pentecost have remained the same. On Sunday, believers celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the most important role of the Holy Spirit is to give faith to people.
Since church services are allowed with precautions in Hungary, the bishop informed Infostart that people could attend the Lord’s Supper, but confirmation ceremonies would be postponed to September.
The Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference issued an announcement describing the most important events that are connected to Pentecost: the descent of the Holy Spirit, the founding of the Christian Church, and the beginning of global missionary work. Pentecost is the third largest Christian holiday and the oldest one after Easter.
Masses and church services on Pentecost Sunday
On Sunday at 11:30, Cardinal Péter Erdő, the Archbishop of Esztergom−Budapest, celebrates a Mass in the Basilica in Esztergom, reported Alon. According to the basilica’s website, believers can only attend the Mass in masks, and they have to undergo body temperature measurement. The ceremony can be followed live on the archdiocese’s Facebook page.
Bishop István Bogárdi Szabó, the pastor of the Hungarian Reformed Church’s synod, preaches on Sunday in the Reformed Church in Buda Hill. The recording of the service is uploaded on the congregation’s Youtube channel and Facebook page.
Bishop Tamás Fabiny’s online service to the Lutheran congregation in Csömör starts at 10 a.m.
Csíksomlyó pilgrimage: Let us make a pilgrimage in our hearts.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, pilgrimages are postponed, and believers’messages are delivered to the shrine by horse and bicycle relays. According to this decision, organisers ask the believers to make a pilgrimage in their hearts and join the Mass and other liturgical programs online. The Mass and the sermon, presented by Gergely Kovács, the archbishop of the archdiocese of Gyulafehérvár, are broadcasted live on the shrine’s website (www.csiksomlyo.ro), its Facebook page, the SzeredApp application, and Duna TV.
The Hungarian National Museum provides new online content at Pentecost
From May 30 to June 1, the Hungarian National Museum presents the traditions connected to this Christian feast through their research results in the fields of archaeology, archaeozoology, art history, and numismatics, wrote Magyar Kurír. On Saturday, museologist Eszter Apor commemorated this year’s unusual Pentecost with an excerpt from the 81-year-old source about the origin of the Csíksomlyó pilgrimage. The museum also presented the article of Borbála Nagy, a writer from Miercurea Ciuc, titled Pünkösdi búcsú Csíksomlyón (Pentecost Csíksomlyó pilgrimage) that was originally published in 1939.
On Sunday morning, art historian Mátyás Gödölle discusses the pictorial representation of the descent of the Holy Spirit (Christian iconography has traditionally depicted the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove) based on a copper engraving from the second half of the 17th century.
Csaba Tóth, the numismatist of the video blog Pénzek színes világa (The colourful world of coins), reveals the secrets of religious texts that can be found on the coins of the Principality of Transylvania.
Read alsoUNESCO village Hollókő to reopen, celebrate Pentecost
Source: infostart.hu, alon.hu, magyarkurir.hu