Gulyás Éva: Egy őszi pásztorünnep és európai párhuzamai: Adatok a Vendel-kultusz magyarországi kutatásához – Szolnok megyei múzeumok közleményei 42. (1986)
(counties of Győr-Sopron, Fejér and Vas), being fairly frequent here and in the eastern part of the country with Saint John of Nepomuk. In a niche standing on a high column by the roadside in the village of Balozsamegygyes, county Vas, the statue of Saint Wendelinus, Florian and Donath from the 18th century, can be seen. They are frequently depicted together in church pictures, in boundary statues, primarily in order to avoid grievous disasters (animals' pestilence, outbreak of fire, lightring) (settlements around lake Fertő). In folk traditions Saint Wendelin is the mam patron of shepherds, protecting the sheep against diseases and every trouble. His day (October the 20th) is highly honoured by sheep-keeping owners. On such occasions they do not even harness animals „so they remain unharmed" (Göcsej, county Vas). Wendelinus's day in Szulok, county Somogy, is a votive feast, „when in memory of a large pestilence of cattle no one should harness the cattle". In Csoma (county Győr-Sopron), people take home a small vial of holy water from the service in his honour, pour it to the drinking water of animals in order to protect them against any trouble. In Szilvágy in Göcsej (county of Zala) when an animal is bewitched, water with coal is prepared while praying to Saint Wendelinus. In Katádfa, county Baranya, Saint Wendelinus must be some kind of a bad ghost, because in times of animals' pestilence they say Wendelinus is taking the animals away. The surroundings of Székesfehérvár and the Mezőföld (county of Fejér) were the outstanding areas of the veneration to Wendelinus in Transdanuia, This land was already famous for its sheep-farming on large scale in the second half of the 18th century. The breeding of wooly merino sheep, imported from Germany, was begun here. German shepherds, familiar with the new breeds were invited to the latifundiums of the Mezőföld, and they settled in the Transdanubium because of the favourable conditions. German shepherds brought the veneration to Saint Wendelinus with them as a tradition of their homeland and spread it in their new habitats. In many villages chapels were erected in his honour. The day of the week on which Wendelinus's day fell in the given year was held in high respect and was observed by prayers and invocations. Another characteristic pocket of the cult was the region of Buda and the area of the Pilis-hills west of Budapest inhabited by Germans. At the beginning of the 18th century,, after the liberation wars from Turkish occupation, this area was largely colonized by Germans. Most of the 139
