Transylvania House Blessing

Where there is faith, 

there is love.

Where there is love,

there is peace.

Where there is peace, 

there is blessing.

Where there is blessing, 

there is God.

Where there is God

there is no need.

This is the Transylvania House Blessing.  It can be found hanging over the door in most Unitarian homes in the Transylvanian region of Romania, on decorative plates like this one, burned into wooden plaques or embroidered with red thread onto white cotton cloth. I have always loved the wording since the first time I heard it and when our retired minister brought this one to our church's fundraiser auction last fall, I bought it.  As soon as I can get a system "sorted out", it will be hanging on our wall in our home. 

A lesson in faith - "Unitarian History in Transylvania  - Unitarianism traces its religious roots back nearly 450 years to 16th Century Transylvania. There, the theologian Francis David (who in true UU fashion was first a Catholic, then a Calvinist before becoming a Unitarian) converted the King and much of the population to a radical theology -- a theology that espoused the oneness of God and the humanity of Jesus, and that held up reason and tolerance as the pillars of its faith. Today, despite centuries of persecution, there are still some 50,000 Unitarians living in the Transylvania region of Romania."  (info from the UU Partner Church website, www.uupcc.org)