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

gathering, widespread since the 17th century, the novena. The Austrian version of this custom was introduced to the Hungarian language territory on the initiative of the church and the priests, although the late 19th century trashy publications, the saint's day leaders and the saint's day pilgrimages played a great part in the popularisation of the custom. The Journey of the Holy Family was practised in the whole of Central and Western Europe as well as Hungary, in fact, besides in Roman Catholic circles, in Greek Catholic and certain Greek Orthodox communities too. /7. Christkindlspiel or Bethlehem girls One of the most important events of Christmas Eve (24 December) was the welcoming of the festival, of which several versions existed, and each one of these has a different historical basis. The most varied, most colourful Christmas customs were preserved in the villages with German minority; these have been revived and are still practised in many places today. This Christmas play is the Bethlehem girls or Christkindli, Christkindlspiel, the peculiar characteristics of which: the number, names and dress of the players, differ from village to village. The Christkindl group always sets out early in the morning, in order to visit every house in the village and finish by the start of the midnight mass. Every member of the group participates in the mass. The Christkindl is the most tiring of all the plays to welcome Christmas. The players rise at dawn, in order to have enough time to put on the ornamented costumes, and they don't sit down all day, so that the costumes will not get creased. The preparation and decoration of the costumes requires patience, expertise, time and money, as these are not only ornamental, but also require a lot of materials. The players in the Christkindlspiel were girls, and they still are today: boys are found only very occasionally among them. In the majority of cases, they are seven in number, although there are places where the group is formed of nine to ten persons, and in other places five. The players are as follows: Vorpot, Vapot: the herald angel, who carries a wooden star, decorated with paper flowers, foliated gold and pictures. Kirzenengel, Kerzenengel: the two candle angels, who each carry a candle in a candlestick. Stallengel, Stollengel: the stable angel, who holds the home-made Bethlehem scene. In the stable are placed paper cut-out models of the Virgin Mary St Joseph, the three kings, the shepherds, and the animals; only the manger crib is missing. Mary: carries a doll representing the Lord Jesus, in a lined crib decorated with ribbons. Christkindl, Christkindlein: Little Jesus, generally holding in his hand a willow whip, plaited from four branches and decorated with ribbons. In Herend, he carries an apple or orange, decorated with a stem of rosemary bound with ribbons. Kfeinengel: a small angel, holding an apple with a ribbon-bound branch of rosemary in his left hand. In Herend he is missing from the group, and in Tótvázsony, a large angel fulfils this role. Potzmann, Potzemann, Porz: Shepherds, bearing crooks wound with crepe