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

etrated by the consecrated smoke. The consecrated bundle of sticks was taken home and put in the attic or larder, and if a storm came, a piece was thrown on the fire to guard against lightning strikes. The men also took some to the wheat field, and fixed a piece in each of the corners, to protect the grain against hail and blight. The pieces removed were replaced immediately, as only a whole bundle could be consecrated. The custom is a paraliturgical practice. It was generally practised by the German minority in Hungary, and known by various different names. Pre-christian superstitions in connection with fire, driving out evil and purification have become built into the custom. The culmination of the Easter Eve ceremonies is the resurrection procession, which can be considered general in Central Europe. Along the route, lighted candles were placed in the windows, to show respect to the risen Christ. In Magyarpolány, as in other places, the procession is put together in a determined order. At the front are the ministrants with church banners and a crucifix decorated with flowers, following them, under a canopy held by tour men, the priest carries the host, and one man on each side of him with a statue of the risen Christ and a burning Easter candle. They are followed by the members of the consistory, the precentor women, and the faithful. Today, they do not walk round the whole village as they did until the 1950s, but just the church hill and its surroundings. Afterward, the great majority of the faithful do not enter the church, but go straight home. Some of them, however, do return, to be present at the end of the ceremony. They then gradually depart, and the church empties during the final hymn. XIII. Rogation days In Roman Catholic communities, Ascension Day between Easter and Pentecost was preceded by three rogation days. The predecessor of the custom in former times was the Ascension Day procession, in memory of when Jesus led his disciples to the Mount of Olives, and at the same time, this procession also involved intercession to receive the blessings of Heaven. The feast of rogation was already kept by early Christian assemblies in the 4th-7th centuries, with processional pilgrimages to the crosses from the 5th century, which became general from the 8th century. In the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, with the rogation day processions, on each of the three days, they would go to pray at a different one of the village crosses. These outdoor crucifixes had already been decorated with flowers on the previous evening or in the early morning. At our request, the rogation custom was revived in Magyarpolány. The ceremony begins with litany in the church, and after this the procession is formed. At the front are three ministrants, with a crucifix decorated with flowers in the middle, and a church banner on each side, afterwards comes the priest, and then the precentors and the faithful. They are accompanied to the cross by the sound of bells, whilst they sing all the way. Reaching the cross, the songs are followed by intercessions, for the family, the home, and the crops. They pray for rain in time of drought, and sunshine in a season of rain. The litany of All Souls, intercessions, sprinkling with consecrated water, and blessing are all part of the rogation ceremony. They return singing to the