8 October
Our Lady of Hungary
(Christian holiday)

Our Lady of Hungary
(Latin: Patrona Hungariae)

Our Lady of Hungary is one of the titles of the Virgin Mary, expressing her special connection to Hungary. The Hungarian Catholic Church celebrates her with a major feast on 8 October, commemorating her protective patronage over the Hungarian people. On this day, both clergy and faithful pray for her intercession on behalf of Hungary and the Hungarian nation.

History
The close bond between the Hungarian people and the Virgin Mary dates back to King Saint Stephen, the first king of Hungary. According to a legend recorded in the early 12th century by Bishop Hartvik, Stephen—having no heir—offered Hungary to the Virgin Mary on 15 August 1038, the Feast of the Assumption, shortly before his death in Székesfehérvár. His words were:

Queen of Heaven, noble restorer of the world, in my final prayers I entrust to your protection the Holy Church with its bishops and priests, the country with its people and nobles; saying my last farewell, I commend my soul into your hands.

From that moment, veneration of Mary in Hungary became continuous and significant.

King Saint Ladislaus often prayed to Mary for victory in battle and built the cathedral of Nagyvárad (Oradea) in her honour.

King Béla IV, during the Mongol invasion, dedicated his daughter Margaret to God and the Virgin Mary, and later built the Church of the Assumption in Buda Castle—today known as the Matthias Church.

King Matthias featured the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus on his gold coins, and included her on his coat of arms, seeking her intercession. Coins bearing the image of Mary, called “Máriás”, were minted in Hungary until 1849.

In the 17th century, the concept of Regnum Marianum—“The Kingdom of Mary”—emerged, based on the idea that by King Stephen’s offering, the Virgin Mary became not only Hungary’s protector but its eternal sovereign. In 1658, Emperor Leopold I placed himself, his family, and his empire under her protection. In 1687, Hungary was formally dedicated to the Virgin Mary at the shrine of Máriavölgy (Marianka, Slovakia), and this dedication was solemnly renewed in 1693 at St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, in thanksgiving for liberation from Ottoman rule.

On 6 October 1895, Bishop Sándor Dessewffy of Csanád ceremonially offered his diocese and the entire country to Our Lady of Hungary in front of the icon of Mary at Máriaradna.