Pográny border crossing holidays

In most places, the majority of church ceremonies take place in the church and other church buildings. There are fewer village festivals (farewell processions, resurrection processions, Lord's Day processions, etc.). These can be linked to the inner areas of settlements or church gardens. There are only a few places left in the entire Hungarian-speaking area where the village border or part of it is still traditionally visited. In Pográny, several such festivals have survived, as if demonstrating the agricultural character of the village, its traditional connection and respect for the forces of nature. The first such festival is the St. Mark's Day wheat blessing held on April 25. At this time, the procession, led by the priest, leaves the church and goes out to a part of the border where there is a young green wheat field. As part of the church ceremony, people turn to the cardinal points and pray for a good harvest, and then the priest blesses the wheat. Afterwards, everyone takes home a few consecrated wheat stalks, which are used for crop growth and livestock protection purposes. May 25th is Saint Orbán's Day, when a procession of winegrowers and other believers marches to one of the statues of Saint Orbán ("Urbánka") to pray (one year to Cserhát, another year to the Poronna vineyard hill). After that, a wine-loving social event takes place on the hill. Ten days before Pentecost, there is Holy Thursday. The three days before this are called the days of the cross in Pográny. At that time, people pray at the crosses in the three villages of the Pográny parish. On Monday in Alsóbodok, Tuesday in Nyitrageszté, Wednesday in Pográny (the order may be different). In the past, the inhabitants of the three villages crossed the border and walked to each other, and then accompanied each other part of the way home (to the chapel on the border, where they prayed for a good harvest). Today, most people only go to mass and pray at the cross in their own village, or some prefer to travel to the neighboring village by bus or car.