Saint Mary of the Snows Church, Reșița (; ; ; ) is the first Catholic church of

Reșița Reșița (; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a city in western Romania and the capital of Caraș-Severin County. It is located in the Banat region. The city had a population of 58,393 in 2021. It administers six villages: Câlnic (''Kölnök''), Cuptoare (''Kupt ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Situated in the old part of the city, it is flanked by the

steel works A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

and is closed in by a bridge-tunnel that helps intersection of the public road with industrial activities ways of the steel works. This is typical scenery in most parts of Reșița. The church is dedicated to Mary of the Snows, and simply known by some locals as Mary of the Snow (). The present church replaced the original wood church that existed on the same spot.

History

When the area belonged to the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, the church was erected between 1846 and 1853, and sanctified in 1846. The wood church that existed on the same spot was erected in 1771. The church existed before the steelworks from behind of it and the bridge-tunnel from the front was constructed after 1947. In a 1948 census there were 10,000 Catholics and 15,000 Orthodox believers in town. The dedication of the church to Mary of the Snow is celebrated each year on the Sunday closest to 5 August. The inside paintings were made by an unknown artist and were remade by Kurta Cazimir and Aurel Regulsky in 1988. The organ was made by

Richard Wegenstein Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and i ...

from

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

in 1929 ( L. Wegenstein and Sons company). It has a pneumatic structure, two guides, a crank and 18 sounding registers. The last restoration of it occurred in 2010.

Life of the church

Masses are celebrated in three languages: Romanian, Hungarian and German (some prayers in Croatian or Czech on special occasions). Religious education is also in the three main ethno-historical languages of the city. The parish, having the building next to the church, works closely with the

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the service of the poor. Started by Frédéric Ozanam and Emmanuel-Joseph Bailly de Surcy and named ...

, the society being relatively closely situated to the church. The

Catholic Medical Association The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) is an organization of Catholic physicians, dentists, and health care professionals. This article refers to the organisation operating in the United States and Canada. it had about 900 members. Until 1997, i ...

also shares many activities with Mary of Snow. Each year in January, Mary of Snow, together with all Christians of the city actively participate in the

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an ecumenical Christian observance in the Christian calendar that is celebrated internationally. It is kept annually between Ascension Day and Pentecost in the Southern Hemisphere and between 18 January a ...

. There is also a local

Ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

Women's Monthly Committee which meets for prayers in different churches of the city.

List of Catholic priests of Reșița

The following table is a list of all catholic priest that served in Reșița.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary of the Snows Church, Resita Reșița Historic monuments in Caraș-Severin County Roman Catholic churches completed in 1853 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Romania