Zpěv a slovo posvátné - ke studiu obřadní komunikace na počátku 21. století
Song and the Sacred Word on the Study of Ritual Communication at the Beginning of the 21th Century

Summary/Abstract: In one Catholic village in southeast Moravia, during Advent families maintain an extra-liturgical folk ritual called “carrying the Virgin Mary to bed”, also called “putting Mary to bed”. The Advent event (the expected arrival of the Son of God) and the figure of the Virgin Mary became present every year through this ritual; that is, it takes place in the village and in the families in real time. Groups of women or older children carry the statue of the Virgin Mary from house to house, where the family takes her in for the night. For according to the Gospel, Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem “there was no room for them at the inn” (Luke 2.7). In this way the religious family receives the Virgin Mary into their home, and she is set in a place of honor there. Than all participate in a worship service in the home. The faithful turn to the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God; and for their own mother, the dialogue with her begins by inviting her into the house (with the phrase Do chléva nechoï, Panenko svatá, pojï radìji k nám) (Don’t go to the stable, Holy Virgin, but come to our house instead); the dialogue continues by wishing her good night (singing Dobrou noc, Maria, pøejeme Tobì) (Mary, we wish you good night), and ends with a prayer (singing Maria, Tvé dìti všichni chceme být; Matko, neopouštìj nás) (Mary, we want to be your children; Mother, do not leave us). Around 1990 a new song appeared in this ritual called Kéž tomuto domu Pán Bùh požehná (May the Lord God bless this home). During this domestic worship service people also sing other Marian folk songs, spread by oral tradition around 150-200 years old, such as the legend Proè, Maria, tak vzdycháte (Mary, Why do you Sigh?). This advent tradition has parallels in Austria, Bavaria, and in Slovenia in the 19th century, and carries elements of pre-Vatican Catholic worship into the 21st century. It presents the shared message of the cult of the Virgin Mary through song, and is at the same time an opportunity to collect financial donations for the parish.

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