Catholic Caucus: Catholics hold traditional Whit Monday ceremony in Germany

Crux ^ | 06.10.19

[Coleus]

BERLIN — Women in traditional white dresses have carried a centuries-old statue of the Virgin Mary to mark Whit Monday in an annual ritual in the eastern German town of Rosenthal.

Hundreds of Catholic Sorbs, a Slavic minority, held prayers in rural churches in about a dozen areas before walking to Rosenthal for another service. They then ended their pilgrimage walking with the young women carrying the 1480 wooden statue of Mary through the town to a field for an open-air mass.

The ritual marks Whit Monday, the day after Whitsun or Pentecost, which falls seven weeks after Easter Sunday and is the day the Holy Spirit is said to have descended upon the apostles.

The day is a national holiday in Germany and many other countries.

[Coleus]

I never heard of this holiday.

Women dressed in the traditional clothes of the Sorbs carry the statue of the Virgin Mary during a procession in front of the Roman Catholic pilgrimage church in Rosenthal, eastern Germany, Monday, June 10, 2019. Traditionally on White Monday catholic faithful Sorbs, a Slavic minority near the German-Polish border, celebrate an open air mass in the small village east of Dresden. (Credit: Jens Meyer/AP.)

Women dressed in the traditional clothes of the Sorbs carry the statue of Virgin Mary during a procession in Rosenthal, eastern Germany, Monday, June 10, 2019. (Credit: Jens Meyer/AP.)

Women dressed in the traditional clothes of the Sorbs hold sun umbrellas during a procession in Rosenthal, eastern Germany, Monday, June 10, 2019. (Credit: Jens Meyer/AP.)

[Marchmain]

In the new calendar, Whit Monday is the feast day of Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.

[Coleus]

oh yea, that’s right,Pope Francis made that feast day. I don’t think we all caught on yet, still pretty new.

[Captain Walker]

It seems to be these countries (or parts of countries) that were under Communism that seem to grasp the importance of practicing the Faith.

They call it both "Whit Monday" and "White Monday"; the former is the correct name.

"Whit Monday" is simply the Monday after "Whit Sunday", which is another name for the feast of the Pentecost. The pictures (as stated below) were taken on June 10, 2019. Pentecost took place in June that year because Easter Sunday took place as late as it did (April 22nd). (June 9th was "Whit Sunday".)

[mosesdapoet]

Interesting they’re the Wends that a Caesar wrote about. Known to have settled mostly around Cottbus.

[married21]

Thank you for this article. My Polish ancestors included some who spoke German rather than Polish. So it’s interesting to me to learn about this region and the mix of people there.