Confessional aspect of Antanas Baranauskas’ creative activity in Lithuanian

Antanas Baranauskas – a poet, Lithuanian linguist, professor at Kaunas Priest Seminary, and Seinai bishop – does not lack attention by researchers. However, his personality as a representative of the clergy has not been evaluated from the confessional aspect. The paper therefore deals with the religious inducement of Baranauskas to write in Lithuanian. The study discusses the impact of ethnocultural and religious factors on the Lithuanian activities of Baranauskas. It reveals his attitude towards the development of the Lithuanian language and examines the relationship between his poetry and religion. The paper notes the early Polish poetry of Baranauskas, where the expressed ideas of the fall, mission and spiritual renewal were transposed to the Lithuanian context. The content analysis of Baranauskas’ texts allows assuming that the source of his Lithuanian creation differed from the source of creation born out of the ethnocultural movement. The poet considered nationality and faith to be identical concepts, and historical development – an expression of transcendental powers. Thus, ethnocultural movement ideology was defeated by Christian ideology. Unlike Daukantas, Baranauskas did not create an ethically distinctive culture for the sake of culture. Baranauskas was convinced that Catholic needs were the meaning of both Lithuanian poetry and Lithuanian linguistics. The universal religious attitude, adapted to the life and work of Lithuanian peasants, enabled the poet, who did not lose his national identity, giving meaning to his nationality and expressing the Christian apologia in his mother tongue