Living on to Make New Traditions. The Saint's Day Festivals of Hungarian Immigrants in America

Abstract

Drawing on immigrant press sources and church publications, the paper describes and analyses the saint's day festivals of Hungarians who inmigrated to the United States. It traces customs related to pilgrimages from the end of the 19th century to WWII. The primary goal in retaining or reviving this tradition was to preserve religious continuity, boost national awareness, win the recognition of American society and create ethnic identity above group affiliations. Also, the church festivals held by Hungarians in the United States played partly the same role as the practice in the home country: the religious function predominated, followed by the opportunity to get together and the intention of strengthening cohesion of the community. However, it gradually lost the character of a continuation of old-world experience while it gained new symbolic meanings.