A Sunday Mass in Števanovci Števanovci, 2006/03/12 As
on every Sunday the church community of Števanovci
congregates at the Roman-Catholic church, which presents proudly in grand yellow
on a hill, to attend mass. Also on this windy, chilly, but still sunny March
Sunday. Since the death of the
former parish priest of Števanovci, who was a
Slovene from the Raba region, the current priest of
Szentgotthárd delivers weekly sermons in the
church of Števanovci as well. After Sunday
mass in Szentgotthárd he goes to Števanovci, which explains the somewhat late
beginning of the mass (11 am). Since the death of the Slovene-speaking
priest, the mass in Števanovci is said only in
Hungarian. The two neighboring
Slovene-speaking villages Andovci and Verica-Ritkarovci do not own any churches. The
inhabitants of these communities therefore attend church in Števanovci. A bus, which connects Andovci and Verica-Ritkarovci
as well as Farkasfa village, which lies outside the Slovene Raba
region, with Szentgotthárd, takes the
believers to Števanovci for mass. Due to the
fact that the inhabitants live spread over a wide area, also many worshippers
from this village go to church by bus, however, some also come on foot. Very
often they are dressed darkly, mostly in black. Elder women wear mostly
headscarves and elder men hats. However, most community
members arrive at the church already some minutes before the mass starts in
order to pray in silent devotion or to light a candle commemorating a beloved
person. The church of Števanovci, which was
renovated some years ago, possesses an opulent nave with magnificent golden
saint figures and a majestic altar. On the church walls you can see decorated
images, some of which are provided with Slovene writings. Outside the church a
merchant patiently awaits the arrival of his potential custom. He sells
mostly articles of clothing and hopes to make a good stroke of business with
generous buyers. Like every Sunday. Pictures
Tibor Horváth / Joël
Gerber |