Calvin Synod Herald, 2001 (102. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2001-01-01 / 1-2. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 7 I Believe and Confess... (Continued from our previous issue) The Former Reformed Parochial School where Bishop Dr. Imre Varga and Bishop Dr. Ferenc Vitéz attended school Gyürke - Durkov, Slovakia Hungarian Reformed believers consider Good Friday to be the greatest Reformed holiday, perhaps because the Roman Catholic church does not think of it as such. Certainly it was on that day that the Lord sacrificed himself for the sins of the world. On the symbol of the Hungarian Reformed Church the Lamb with the flag marches from right to left, which represents the transition from life to death. The “locsolkodás” is said to be a symbol of the ancient church’s tradition of baptism at dawn. In the cities perfume is poured onto girls’ heads by boys and young men, but in the villages water from the well is used for the same purpose. The last day of the Easter period is Ascension Day. The essence of the Pentecost period is that “what happened for us should also be internalised” (Bishop László Ravasz, 1882-1975). This is the time for confirmation, if it has not already taken place on Ascension Day. Christmas, Easter and Pentecost are bank holidays which last two days. In August we give thanks for the harvest, and at the end of October for the vintage. These holidays are also Eucharistic services. However, there are congregations that strengthen their community by more frequent Eucharists. October 31 is the Memorial Day of Hungarian Reformism. This is the day on which the victims of the persecutions of the Counter-Reformation, including the pastors sold as galleyslaves, are remembered. Reformed believers also visit cemeteries more often at the beginning of November. It is a generally accepted tradition in Hungary to celebrate All Saints’ day. The ecclesiastical year finishes with the Sunday of Eternity. Among state and national holidays is St. Stephen’s day on August 20. Stephen was the first Hungarian king, the founder of the Hungarian State, and introduced Christianity to our nation. Pope Sylvester II crowned him in 1000, and he was canonized in 1083. King Stephen’s life reminds us of the evangelization of the nation. March 15 is the Memorial Day of the Hungarian War of Independence in 1848-49, when the people rebelled against Hapsburg oppression. The enthusiastic demonstration of students in Pest started the revolution on its path, and it was only defeated by the common efforts of the Austrian emperor and the Russian tsar. The war of liberation failed, but its moral influence has been felt in the soul of the Hungarian nation for the past 150 years. October 23 is the newest national holiday. In the autumn of 1956 the world’s newspapers wrote of the Hungarian miracle, of a tiny nation which rebelled against the might of the Soviet Empire. Military superiority defeated that Revolution and war of liberation, but it has long been passionately remembered. After the change in regime of 1989 that day became an official bank holiday. (To be continued in our next issue)
