The central celebration for the canonisation of Margaret of Hungary in January 1944

Barna, Gábor (2016) The central celebration for the canonisation of Margaret of Hungary in January 1944. In: Religion, Culture, Society. MTA-SZTE Vallási Kultúrakutató Csoport, Szeged, pp. 53-75.

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Abstract

After numerous unsuccessful attempts over 700 years, on 23 July 1943 Pope Pius XII signed the canonisation bulla of Margaret of Anjou of the medi- aeval Hungarian royal dynasty (1242-1271), a nun of the Dominican Order. The liturgical feast of Margaret, who was beatified in the 17 th century falls on Janu- ary 18. This was the reason why the Hungarian Catholic Church chose January 1944 for the official and national celebration of her canonisation. It ordered that a three-day celebration (triduum) be held in all Catholic churches of the coun- try at that time, and also specified the liturgy. The central celebration was held within the frame of an eight-day commemoration (octava) in the Queen of the Rosary church of the Dominican Order in Budapest. The celebration provided a good example of the cohesion of the Catholic Church, the cooperation between the Catholic Church and the political sphere, and the broad social support for the cause. The article analyses this central celebration and some of the sermons preached on the occasion. No similar celebrations were held in later years or decades. The Eastern front of the Second World War reached Hungary in the summer and autumn of 1944, and after the war the atheist-communist-socialist regime that came to power prevented similar aspirations. As a result, the veneration of Saint Margaret that reached a peak in early 1944, subsequently gradually faded away.

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