St. Stephen's Festival in Hungary - August 20th

 

Matryoshka nesting dolls at a street fair in Budapest, Hungary.  Photo from PublicDomainPictures.net.

              Saint Stephen’s Festival is celebrated every August 20st in Hungary.  It is a day of feasting, parades, fireworks, music, and dance.  A large Catholic mass is held on the square in front of St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest (built between 1851-1905), at which there is a procession of the embalmed right hand of Saint Stephen.  This day is a national holiday in Hungary and is also known as Foundation Day and Constitution Day.  Additionally, bread is blessed and celebrated during the holiday’s festivities.

                King Stephen was sainted by the church after his death, but during his life he was the first king of Hungary, a new nation of the previously migratory Magyar people.  The Magyar people are of Ugric-Turkish ethnicity and were originally from western Siberia, near the Ural Mountains.  They migrated southwest through the Khazar Turkish Empire around the Caspian Sea and then settled in the land that is present day Hungary in the 9^th century CE, after defeating the Slavs and Huns there.  In 955 CE, the Magyars decided to give up their nomadic lifestyle and to reside permanently in the area.  Thes

e early Hungarians were notorious for their violent raids throughout Europe and this legacy survives today in the English word for “ogre”, which is derived from “Hungar”. 

Vaik, the Grand Prince of the Hungarians, came to power in 997 and used Christianity to unite the people together in their new nation.  In 1000 CE, Pope Sylvester II crowned Vaik as King Stephen, thus initiating the Apostolic King line of the Hungarians.  (Vaik was renamed after Saint Stephen, a pope who was beheaded by the Roman Empire in the 3rd century CE.)  King Stephen zealously tried to abolish the pagan practices of the Magyar people and to create a fully Christian kingdom of Hungary.  It is said that he only fought in defense and did not invade other countries.  

Budapest, Hungary.  St. Stephen's Basilica towers in the upper right corner.  Photo from PublicDomainPictures.net.

A trio of crosses in Hungary.  Photo from PublicDomainPictures.net.

The Hungarian Parliament building in Budapest, Hungary.  Photo from PublicDomainPictures.net.

The Salzburg Horse Pool in Hungary.  Photo from PublicDomainPictures.net.

A 19th century reproduction of a metal bowl, from Budapest, Hungary.  Photo in the public domain, downloaded from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

An 18th century wine decanter from Hungary.  Photo in the public domain, downloaded from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A windmill in Hungary.  Photo from PublicDomainPictures.net.

REFERENCES:

Butler, Alban.  Lives of the Saints.  Benziger Brothers, 1894.  Accessed through SacredTexts.com.  https://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/lots/index.htm

“Celebrate St. Stephen’s Day.”  Traveling Seouls. https://travelingseouls.com/st-stephens-day/

“Hungarian.”  The Encyclopedia Britannica.  https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hungarian-people

MacDonald, Margaret Read, Editor.  The Folklore of World Holidays, First Edition.  Gale Research Inc., 1992.

“Saint Stephen’s Day.”  Office Holidays.  https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/saint-stephens-day