Farewell

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Farewell

 Europe » Hungary By korossyl
June 18th 2007 No, I'm not leaving. This weekend I attended the Kövesdi Búcsú -- the "Farewell" in Mezőkövesd, a small town that's famous for being the home of the Matyó people, who form one of Hungary's most recognizable culture groups. Anyways, this was some sort of Catholic festival -- I'm still not entirely clear on the concept, but it has something to do with the Cult of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (cult is their word -- "kultusz" -- not mine!). Anyways, there was a giant open-air Mass, followed by the archbishop's parade, followed by a distinctly non-religious carnival type thing. An interesting insight into both some of the religious life if Hungary and it's modern culture.

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Photos

Búcsú 1
The main avenue, before the parade. Residents are expected to cut down branches of Jegenye trees and line the road with them.

Búcsú 2
The avenue.

Búcsú 3
Decorations were also put out. A beautiful cloth from the 1930s: "Heart of Jesus, I trust in you".

Búcsú 4
The heart of Jesus.

Búcsú 5
The main celebrant at the Mass was the Archbishop of Eger, my town. Mezökzövesd is in the Archdiocese of Eger. This particular archbishop was actually just installed two weeks ago -- the Church wanted to spruce things up a bit for my arrival.

Búcsú 6
The faithful.

Búcsú 7
The faithful.

Búcsú 8
The beginning of the parade. That is NOT the archbishop -- which is pretty funny, 'cause I could make a joke here about a certain foiled assassination attempt on the Sultan of Turkey, but no one else would get it. :(

Búcsú 9
National flags, following the cross as they're supposed to, but rarely do. The small striped banners are the standards of House Árpád, the founding dynasty of Hungary.

Búcsú 10
The beginning of the parade -- again! Now from in front of my uncle's house.

Búcsú 11
Mary. The banner reads, "Our Virgin Mother, save us!" It should be understood that Mary is the Patroness of Hungary, and according to some interpretations of the ancient law, the actual ruling monarch in perpetuity. Her identity was syncretistically combined with an ancient pagan Hungarian deity, the "Boldogasszony", or "Blessed Woman", and her veneration is therefore quite widespread, even for a deeply Catholic European country.

Búcsú 12
Examples of traditional dress.

Búcsú 13
A group of Matyos...

Búcsú 14
...carrying the biggest Rosary...

Búcsú 15
...I've ever seen.

Búcsú 16
Virgins in sparkling white. There was a grand total of... six.

Búcsú 17
A boy carrying the crown of thorns. His expression struck me.

Búcsú 18
The Lord Archbishop of Eger.

Búcsú 19
Csángó pilgrims, from Transylvania. An impoverished region, though rich with Hungarian national pride.

Búcsú 20
My uncle and his family, scrambling to do all they could to relieve the thirst of the faithful on a very hot day.

Búcsú 21
And succeeding!