Latin-rite Catholics in Romania are members of an ethnic Hungarian minority, a small community surrounded by Orthodox Christians in one of Europe’s most religiously observant societies. Catholics live mostly in homogenous enclaves in the eastern part of the Transylvania region. There is a sense that these areas are a kind of Catholic homeland. There is a widely-known legend (believed by many ordinary Catholics to be historically true) that the Virgin Mary appeared to a group of Catholics defending this region against an invading Protestant army. An annual pilgrimage to the site of this apparition helps bolster the sense that Catholicism has a “home” in this region.
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Loustau, Marc Roscoe "Risking a Miracle: Transcendentally-Oriented Improvisation and Catholic Charismatics’ Involvement in a Transylvanian Canonization." The Journal of Contemporary Religion 31 (2016): 335-50.
Everyday life in the ethnic Hungarian Catholic enclave can look and feel just as devout as in Orthodox Christian and Romanian parts of the country — from devotional cards and rosaries on buses to the noontime church bells heard far and wide. Catholics in Romania are comfortable with these signs of religious observance that mostly go unnoticed as people go about their daily business.
Like at a European concert festival, music is a major attraction at the Csíksomlyó Youth Gathering. The young people in the crowd jump, dance, shout, and sing along to well-known Charismatic Catholic songs.
Devotion to the Virgin Mary is a strong and everyday part of life in the Transylvanian Hungarian and Catholic community. Attendance at Mass is visibly larger on annual holidays dedicated to Mary, and pilgrimages and prayer circles honor her.
Annual calendrical rituals associated with Lent, Easter and Christmas often assume traditional complementary gender roles, but you will see women and men relate to each other in a very different manner in regular life.
Just before Lent, villagers in the Ciuc Valley hold a raucous procession called the "Carnival Burial," which ends with the burning of a straw man. At Easter, families present their food baskets for blessings by the parish priest, while young men go "watering" neighborhood women like flowers with water or perfume.
Pictures of saints and the Virgin Mary on refrigerator doors, kitchen cabinets, and bookcases are not only a way of decorating the home, but they also help people pray and play an important role in providing religious education for children.
The Pentecost pilgrimage to Csíksomlyó is one of the largest annual religious gatherings in Romania. Meanwhile, two smaller pilgrimages take place in the Csík valley each year, one to visit and leave wildflowers at a statue of Saint Anthony, and another to remember the murder of a 16th-century cardinal.
Talking about miracles is most popular among volunteers with the new Transylvanian branch of the World Family of Radio Maria, a Catholic media network. The volunteer efforts by women who give their time to Radio Maria are making it more acceptable to tell stories about asking the Virgin Mary for help, but many Catholics in Romania still worry about what others will think if they speak about divine intercessions.
The Virgin Mary is the most popular saint among Catholics in Romania, but married women and mothers also rely on Saint Anthony of Padua for help in many circumstances.
Two wedding traditions special to Romanian Catholics include friends of the groom building an arbor of pine poles and flowers to mark the groom's house, and a procession to call out the bride on the day of her wedding. Today's wedding couples prefer contemporary music, while older generations belt out traditional ballads.