The Madonna of Csiksomló
La batalla de Pentecostés · Șumuleu Ciuc, Rumanía · 1567
The Szekler and the Reformation
The Szekler - a town of Hungarian origin that inhabited the eastern Carpathian mountains in present-day Romania - were fervently Catholic in a context in which Protestantism quickly advanced through the Principality of Transylvania. In 1566, Calvinist Prince John II Segismundo Zápolya ordered the Szekler to convert to Protestantism. Those who refused would pay for the consequences.
Before the ultimatum, the Szekler of the Csik region gathered before the Franciscan sanctuary of Csiksomló to pray and ask for the help of the Virgin. The sanctuary housed a 15th-century wooden statue, almost two metres high, representing Mary with the Child and which for generations was the center of regional devotion.
La batalla de Pentecostés de 1567
The army sent by the prince to force the conversion attacked the Szekler on the day of Pentecost in 1567. Against all odds, the Szekler - in very lower numbers and without external support - defeated their attackers. Tradition shows that during the battle an extraordinary light was seen over the sanctuary, and that the soldiers of the prince felt an unexplained panic that led them to flee.
The largest pilgrimage in Central Europe
In thanksgiving for the victory, the Szekler established the custom of pilgrimage to the sanctuary every Pentecost. This pilgrimage, which has been celebrating continuously for over four hundred and fifty years - even during the communist regimes that tried to eliminate it - today calls for more than half a million people and is the largest annual Marian pilgrimage in Central Europe.
The original 15th century statue that he presided over that night of prayer of 1567 remains in place in the Franciscan church of Csiksomló. The Hungarian community of Romania lives it as the most powerful symbol of its cultural and religious identity.
that you gave a small people the strength to defend their faith,
intercede for all the minorities they are now guarding
His identity and belief in power. Amen.