Arra mennek az angyalok… Angyali alakok, csoportok és rendek a régi Csíkszék archaikus népi imádságaiban
The Angels Were Going That Way… Figures, Groups and Orders of Angels in the Archaic Folk Prayers of Former Csík County

Summary/Abstract: The folk prayers of the former Csík county show the ethereal fi gures, groups and orders of Angels. Their fi eld of function in the prayers – just like in the traditional dogmatic comprehension of the Church – is twofold, fi rst they’re the army and the household of God (angeli assistentes), on the other hand they mediate between God and the human beings, as deputies or ministers (angeli ministrantes). In the latter case, their mission is to defend the humans and their houses, the temple and the altar, to teach the believers and prepare them for eternal life, to mitigate the sufferings of those about to die , to lead the blessed souls to the eternal homeland. From the seven or nine habitual orders of the Angels (ordines angelorum), in the Szekler and Csángó archaic folk prayers the angels and archangels are mostly mentioned in the role of angels, while the other orders (cherubim, seraphim etc.) appear only by implication. Maybe it all results from the early genesis of the archaic folk prayers and their personal – basically soteriological – point of view. At the same time, in these prayers there is – even today as well – a vivid concept of the tenth order of Angels, which consists of people. After all, we could think, the desire of fi nal “counting” into this tenth angelic order is the aim of every praying and its traditional “imitatio Christi”.

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