Katoliiklaste palverännak Erdély Csíksomlyós: Tekst, kontekst ja rituaal

• Main Author: Taisto Raudalainen
• Format: Article
• Language: Estonian
• Published: Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum 2004-01-01
• Series: Mäetagused
• Online Access: http://www.folklore.ee/tagused/nr26/rauda.pdf

The Chángó-people living in the Moldavian region have suffered heavily under Romanian chauvinism. They have not had the opportunity of receiving elementary education in their mother tongue, nor has the Romanian government supported the attempts to establish Hungarian elementary schools in the area. During the 1990s it became the responsibility of the Hungarian Ministry of Education to finance these projects. Today it is impossible to estimate the total number of Chángós, because local authorities continue to provide conflicting statistics. Rough estimates range anywhere between 50,000 to 150,000. During Pentecost, or Whitsuntide, a mass, vigil, and a procession - in other words, the `pilgrimage' - takes place in the small town of Csíkszereda. Many Chángós participate in the Pilgrimage procession and the Church Holiday that follows. As we know all too well, the communist government in Romania had succeeded in suppressing all forms of religious traditions. As a result, the pilgrimage of 1990 was the first public one after a 45-year break. Some more religious Chángós undertake the pilgrimage to Somlyó on foot, which might take up to three days. It involves a complex series of rituals and taboos. The journey is usually quite a difficult experience, but only through the suffering it is possible to acquire additional merits and grace. The participants must retain the Lord's passion (via crucis, imitatio Christi) and the passions of the numerous Martyrs. One of the staunchest followers of Christ was St. Francis himself and one of the stained-glass windows in the local cathedral depicts his stigmatised and crossed hands.