Hungarian Conservative

Easter is the most solemn celebration in the Christian world, commemorating the redemptive death on the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In addition to egg-painting and sprinkling water, there are many folk customs and traditions associated with Easter, which you can read below in the collection of Magyar Krónika.

In Reform Era Hungary, on Easter Monday in the countryside maidens would be grabbed by boys, dragged to the nearest river and ‘dipped’ in it. If there was no river nearby, they would be taken to wells, laid in troughs and doused with cold water. On more than one occasion the poor girls would get a stroke from the cold water or die of pneumonia a few days later.

Our Lenten traditions include some elements that promote cooperation, while others are about cleaning up our environment or purifying our bodies and souls. By transposing these into the present day we may gather much needed strength in these difficult times.

On this day that millions of Christians observe worldwide, we share St John Paul II’s thoughts on the significance of Ash Wednesday.

According to Hungarian folk belief, those who receive the ashes on Ash Wednesday will be free from headaches for quite a while. In the olden days, there was even a Hungarian folk tradition according to which people returning home from church rubbed their foreheads with those who stayed at home, to help them avoid headaches.