Cult of the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania and Poland

Straipsnyje pateikiami etnologinių ir religinės kultūros tyrimų duomenys apie Kryžių kalno kulto fenomeną Lietuvoje ir Lenkijoje. Abiejose krikščioniškosios tradicijos šalyse yra žinomi ir maldininkų, ir turistų gausiai lankomi Kryžių kalnai. Lietuvoje netoli Šiaulių, o Lenkijoje - Grabarkos (Grabarka) apylinkėse. Tyrimų rezultatai leidžia daryti išvadas apie šių objektų tapatumus (geografinė lokalizacija, kulto ištakos, religinės kultūros palikimas bei ritualai), jų skirtumus (katalikų šventvietė Lietuvoje ir stačiatikių Lenkijoje) bei čia atliekamas religines apeigas. Keliama hipotezė, kad Kryžių kalno fenomenas Lietuvoje ir Lenkijoje simbolizuoja istorinę krikščionybės kovą už religijos laisvę.There are countries all over the world where Christianity is much deeper rooted than in Lithuania and Poland. Nevertheless you will never meet such piety of folk and such expressions of spirituality that exists in the cult of the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania and Poland. The Hill of Crosses in Lithuania is not far from the town of Šiauliai, while in Poland - it is in Grabarka. The aim of the research was to reveal identities and peculiarities of the cult of the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania and Poland. The research that was made allows us to make the following conclusions. Identities: Geographical situation: a hill, a stream. The origin of the cult: cemetery (in Polish grzebać means to bury). The heritage of the religious culture: each of them has got a monastery around it (in Lithuania it is a monastery, in Polish Grabarka it is a nunnery) and a chapel (in Grabarka it is an Orthodox church). Rituals: a) celebration offcasts, b) pilgrimages, c) processions, d) carrying and building of the crosses, e) stations, f) bending of the head, g) making the sign of the cross, h) going and staying on the knees, i) burning of candles, j) praying declamations, k) singing of hymns, 1) praying at night, m) silent prayer, n) prayers lying on the ground, o) washing with the water from the surrounding stream, p) praying for the dead, r) donations for the beggars. Peculiarities: The Hill of Crosses in Lithuania (Šiauliai) is a Catholic sanctuary, while the Holy Hill of Grabarka (Poland) is Orthodox. The origin of Grabarka sanctuary goes back to the 13th century and is related to the storming there Tartars (Islam) and the plague of 1710; and Šiauliai is related to the times of the rivals of 1851 and 1863 against the tsarist Russia; the burials of the slain