Monastic institutions of Lithuania: features of their history in the twentieth century

XX a. Lietuvos Bažnyčios, kaip ir viso krašto, valstybės, raidą lėmė tautinis atgimimas (tuo laikotarpiu susiformavo lietuviškos Bažnyčios struktūros) ir politinės permainos. Bažnyčia įgijo didžiulių įtakos galimybių ir pogrindžio veiklos patirtį. Vienuolijos bene trečią kartą šį šimtmetį lyg feniksas keliasi gyventi. Jų laukia dvigubas išbandymas: prisiderinimas prie laiko sąlygų ir II Vatikano Susirinkimo inspiruotas vienuolinio gyvenimo atsinaujinimas. Kokią vietą Lietuvos visuomenėje ir Bažnyčioje užims vienuolijos, kokia vidaus struktūra, vieša veikla joms būdinga? Atsakymai į šiuos bei kitus klausimus glūdi ir vienuolijų praeityje. Atsinaujinimas vyks lengviau, jei istorines jų šaknis Lietuvoje, kultūrinę tradiciją pažins ne tik patys vienuoliai, bet ir visuomenė. To ir siekiama šia knyga. Knygoje Lietuvos vienuolijų istorija apžvelgiama XX a. įvykių fone. Chronologiškai joje apimama maždaug 1891–1996 m. Suprantama, kiekvieno ordino ar kongregacijos gyvenimo šerdis yra sekimas Kristumi, malda, narių dvasinis tobulėjimas. Ši sritis, nepaprastai individuali kiekvienai vienuolijai ir net atskiram vienuoliui, yra teologijos objektas, eiliniam pasauliečiui istorikui ji nepažini. Tad knygoje analizuojama išorinė (socialinė, kultūrinė) vienuolių ordinų bei kongregacijų veikla, jų, kaip Katalikų Bažnyčios instituto, funkcionuojančio konkrečiomis valstybės ir vyraujančios ideologijos suponuotomis sąlygomis, raida. Nesistengėme rašyti atskirų ordinų ir kongregacijų istorijos (išskyrus jų kūrimosi aplinkybes, atspindinčias lietuvių visuomenės, Bažnyčios imperatyvus), o išryškinti būdingiausius jų veiklos XX a. bruožus, kryptis ir mastą, struktūrines permainas radikaliai besikeičiant politinėms, socialinėms sąlygoms. Konkreti informacija, statistinės žinios apie atskiras vienuolijas bei jų namus pateiktos lentelėse.More than five hundred years after the christianizing of Lithuania, in the first half of the twentieth century, monastic orders and congregations began to establish themselves anew and to operate in this country. The continuity of their history had been disrupted during the tsarist period as well as during the period of Lithuanian national rebirth. At the beginning of the twentieth century, in what is now the territory of the republic of Lithuania, there were five legally operating cloisters, while thirty cloisters operated in secret (mostly congregations founded by the Polish Capuchin Honorat Kozminsky). Only the latter were able to operate more actively under the protection of local aristocrats and clergymen. They used to establish various craftshops and orphanages. Meanwhile the legal cloisters, supported by funds from the treasury of tsarist Russia – those belonging to the Bernardines of Kretinga, the Marian Fathers of Marijampolė, the Benedictine nuns of Kaunas and Vilnius, and the Catherinites of Krakės – contained only aged monks and nuns. As late as 1905, the tsarist authorities allowed the admittance of a limited number of new members to women’s convents. In 1912 they allowed the Franciscans to admit new members for the first time since 1863. But it was only after World War I that the restrictions on monastic activity in Lithuanian society would be lifted. Thus, persons with a vocation to the religious life had few alternatives in Lithuania. As legal cloisters were isolated and with little information about secret cloisters, these persons had to leave the country and enter cloisters in foreign countries. However, this alternative was open only to the well–off and well–educated. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, the cloisters belonged to the cultural sphere of the elite. The cloisters were funded by the aristocracy and the clergy, and only nobles by birth could enjoy full rights as members. However, the upper levels of Lithuanian society did not speak Lithuanian and their political views did not coincide with the aspirations of Lithuanian nationalism. Therefore, the cloisters were not trusted. In the popular consciousness, they were associated with Polish culture. Furthermore, they were quite estranged from the social and cultural needs of the modern Lithuanian nation. The secret cloisters in particular were distrusted because of their subordination to Polish superiors. Along with the democratization of Church and society, the emancipation of the lower strata of society created the necessity of integrating the cloisters into Lithuanian social life. A great breakthrough took place: the cloisters began to be filled by persons from the peasant class, nationalistically conscious, and having their own culture and needs. These events lasted several decades, and the conflict between the Lithuanians and Polish could not have been avoided. The old cloisters were forced to integrate themselves into Lithuanian society and to participate in the social tasks suggested by the Lithuanian church. The secret cloisters which were not equal to the task declined. In the first and second decades of this century, many efforts were made to estabish new Lithuanian congregations. Regardless of the traditional relationship of the Lithuanian church with Poland, Switzerland was chosen as a fitting country for the education of monks and nuns. At the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, many Lithuanian priests studied at the University of Fribourg. It was at their instigation that the first nuns for the first Lithuanian convents of the sisters of St. Casimir and the Sisters of the Poor spent their novitiate year with the congregation of the Holy Cross in Ingenbohl. From 1911 until 1918 the novitiate of the revived congregation of the Marians operated in Fribourg. From 1918 until 1940, the Catholic Church of independent Lithuania enjoyed favorable legal and material conditions. Therefore, new monastic institutions were established. Their life and activities took on a unique character. Many of them were established or revived by Lithuanians who during the tsarist period had entered cloisters in Poland, Italy, and the United States. For example, Father Benediktas Adruðka in 1903 entered the novitiate of the Jesuit order in Galicia, and later oversaw the revival of the Society of Jesus in Lithuania. Father Kazimieras Kudirka in 1909 took perpetual vows in Poland and oversaw the Capuchins. Antanas Skeltys of the Salesians in 1906 took holy order in Italy. Fr. Bonaventûra Paliukas became a Dominican in 1927 in the United States. Sister Augustina Galdikaitė of the Franciscans of the Divine Heart of Jesus was educated by German Franciscans, 1922–1928. Other pontifical cloisters were established at the instigation of superiors or at the invitation of Lithuanian bishops. During the two decades of national independence, the number of orders and congregations tripled in Lithuania (excluding the region of Vilnius, which in the period 1920–1939 was part of the republic of Poland). By mid–1940 there were as many as fifteen orders and congregations: six for men and nine for women. In addition, there were three remaining convents from those established by Koêmiñsky, operating as charitable societies. [...