This is how Hungarians celebrated Pentecost – Photos

The end of spring/beginning of summer marks Pentecost, a celebration important in both folk traditions and religious lives. The Hungarian Pentecost traditions are mainly connected to the Christian holiday, but some of the elements came from the Pagan times. We put together a little photo report, so that you can see how people celebrated Pentecost in Hungary and over the border 🙂

The largest Catholic celebration of the year in Hungary is connected to Pentecost. It is the Csíksomlyói búcsú, which is visited by hundreds of thousands of believers from Hungary, Transylvania and other places around the world. Csíksomlyó is a symbol of solidarity among Hungarians and represents the nation. Pilgrims have been gathering together at Csíksomlyó for 450 years during Pentecost to honour the Szeklers of Csík who defeated the troops of John Sigismund during the battle of Tolvajos tető. The king tried to force the Szeklers to convert to Protestantism.

This year, MTI made a special photo series about the Blessed Virgin Mary pilgrim train. More than one thousand pilgrims chose to take on the four-day trip on the pilgrim train to get to Csíksomlyó. You can see some of the photos below:

*The pilgrim train arriving in Cluj-Napoca – Photo: MTI*

*The pilgrim train welcomed in Cluj-Napoca – Photo: MTI*

*The pilgrim train welcomed in Gyimesbükk – Photo: MTI*

*One of the pilgrims praying in the neighbourhood of Zsibó – Photo: MTI*

*The pilgrims at the mass of Csíksomlyó – Photo: MTI*

*The pilgrims at a mass in Gyimesbükk – Photo: MTI*

Pilgrims resting in Gyimesbükk – Photo: MTI

*Man waving to the pilgrims in Gyimesbükk – Photo: MTI*

*The pilgrims arriving at the mass of Csíksomlyó – Photo: MTI*

*A man welcomes a pilgrim from the train – Photo: MTI*

*Franciscan monk Sándor Asztrik Tímár blessing devotional objects bought in Csíksomlyó – Photo: MTI*

*The pilgrim train leaving Carei – Photo: MTI*

Meanwhile, the visitors of the 23rd Pentecost Open Cellars celebrated a bit differently in Palkonya, a village belonging to the Villány wine region.

A Pentecostal mass was also held in the renovated place of worship of Pálosszentkút.

*Pentecost in Pálosszentkút – Photo: MTI*

In another part of the country, the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Péter Erdő held a pastoral mass at the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church of Máriaremete.

*Archbishop Péter Erdő after opening the programme series leading up to the 2020 Eucharistic World Congress – Photo: MTI*

Featured image: MTI

Ce: bm

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