S. Lackovits Emőke: Az egyházi esztendő jeles napjai, ünnepi szokásai a bakonyi és Balaton- felvidéki falvakban (Veszprém, 2000)

Festivals, holidays and customs of the ecclesiastical year

Magyarpolány, who gave a great deal of help in immortalising the customs of the ecclesiastic year. Ms Mária Arnold, a teacher from Herend, deserves thanks for filming the Christkindlspiel and providing us with the material. I. Journey of the Holy Family or seeking accommodation One of the most recent customs of the Christmas festival is the Journey of the Holy Family, seeking accommodation, also known as Holy Family novena or Holy Family evenings, which promotes the spiritual preparation for the feast and serves to enhance the solemnity of the advent expectations. Daily between 15-24 December, the accommodation seekers visited a different house, led by a prayer leader or lead singer, who throughout the year has kept a sanctified picture of the Holy Family, which they then carried with themselves. Between the two world wars, in each village there were several accommodation seekers' groups, and every family was visited. In the decades following the war, the custom was discontinued in many places. Where it has remained, the accommodation seekers' group consists of members of the Rosary Society, who only visit one another. The order of the nine days is decided by previous discussion or by drawing lots. They always start at the house of the prayer leader. The custom was still practised in a few places in the 1990s. Our film was taken in Raposka. Each evening, the members of the accommodation seekers' group gather at the house where the picture of the Holy Family is kept. From here, they leave for the next house, where they are expected. For this occasion, a domestic altar is always prepared in the early morning. This is a small table, covered with a white or embroidered cloth, with a crucifix in the centre, flowers and candles at both ends. This is only dismantled in the late evening, after the picture of the Holy Family has been taken away. The ceremony of the accommodation seeking begins with a sung dialogue, in which the group asks to be received in the name of the Holy Family, and he who opens the door, offers accommodation in the name of his household. After the group has entered, the dialogue continues. The essence of this is an expression of joy, that the Holy Family thus honours the home. The members of the group take their places around the domestic altar, and led by the prayer leader, prayers, the Joyful Reader, litanies (different each evening: Sacred Heart, Holy Family, St Joseph, Mary litanies), seasonal Mary antiphony, intercessions, thanksgiving and a final song follow on from one another. After this, a ballad based on a mediaeval legend distributed in manuscript form is sung, about a rich blacksmith and his crippled, blind daughter, who as a result of her mercy, received the grace of healing. Following this, the hostess provides the accommodation-seeking guests with shortcake, doughnuts, wine and maybe milk-loaf, which are eaten with relaxed conversation in a good atmosphere. They then take their leave, and depart while singing advent songs. The custom consists of three components: a mediaeval Bethlehem play of French origin, a ballad which preserves legendary elements, and a popular prayer