Prophet, Second Kings 5:1-15, Psalms 42:43, Luke 4:24-30, St Casimir Jagiellon, Vilnius Cathedral, Lithuania, Catholic Catechism Part One Section 2 The Creeds Chapter 3:5 The Spirit and the Church In the Last Days
Good Day Bloggers! Wishing everyone a Blessed Week!
Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013
P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Serenity Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7.
The world begins and ends everyday for someone. We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have
flaws but we also all have the gift of knowledge and free will,
make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in
Heaven. Its your choice whether to rise towards eternal light or lost to
eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and
survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes
from this earth to Purgatory and/or Heaven is our Soul, our Spirit...it's God's perpetual
gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
Heed the Solemnity of Lent! This Lent instead of "Giving Up" something, why not "Give" by volunteering time to a worthy cause, or extending a simple act of kindness! This blog is an act of giving, simply "opening a door" to all to learn about God, the history and cultures of humanity, the geography of our biosphere, the catechism of the Catholic Church and more; its you choice of "free will" to walk through this blog with an open mind, to learn, to evaluate, to contemplate,. Start by familiarizing yourself with the Beatitudes, they are universal to all mankind, of which one is the gift of knowledge, utilize.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’(Matthew 25:34-40)
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Prayers for Today: Monday in Lent
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Prayer For the Holy Election of Our New Pope
May the Lord preserve the sanctity of the enclave as they embark on electing our new Holy Father, give him life, and make him blessed upon earth, and deliver him not to the will of his enemies.
LET US PRAY:
O God, the Shepherd and Ruler of all the faithful, in Thy mercy look down upon Thy servant, (Our New Pope), whom Thou will appoint to preside over Thy Church, and grant we beseech Thee that both by word and example he may edify those who are under his charge; so that, with the flock entrusted to him, he may attain life everlasting. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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March 2, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
“Dear children; Anew, in a motherly way, I am calling you not to be of a hard heart. Do not shut your eyes to the warnings which the Heavenly Father sends to you out of love. Do you love Him above all else? Do you repent for having often forgotten that the Heavenly Father, out of His great love, sent His Son to redeem us by the Cross? Do you repent for not having accepted the message? My children, do not resist the love of my Son. Do not resist hope and peace. Along with your prayers and fasting, by His Cross, my Son will cast away the darkness that wants to surround you and come to rule over you. He will give you the strength for a new life. Living it according to my Son, you will be a blessing and a hope to all those sinners who wander in the darkness of sin. My children, keep vigil. I, as a mother, am keeping vigil with you. I am especially praying and watching over those whom my Son called to be light-bearers and carriers of hope for you – for your shepherds. Thank you.”
February 25, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
“Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. Sin is pulling you towards worldly things and I have come to lead you towards holiness and the things of God, but you are struggling and spending your energies in the battle with the good and the evil that are in you. Therefore, little children, pray, pray, pray until prayer becomes a joy for you and your life will become a simple walk towards God. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
“Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. Sin is pulling you towards worldly things and I have come to lead you towards holiness and the things of God, but you are struggling and spending your energies in the battle with the good and the evil that are in you. Therefore, little children, pray, pray, pray until prayer becomes a joy for you and your life will become a simple walk towards God. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
February 2, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
"Dear children, love is bringing me to you - the love which I desire to
teach you also - real love; the love which my Son showed you when He
died on the Cross out of love for you; the love which is always ready to
forgive and to ask for forgiveness. How great is your love? My motherly
heart is sorrowful as it searches for love in
your hearts. You are not ready to submit your will to God's will out of
love. You cannot help me to have those who have not come to know God's
love to come to know it, because you do not have real love. Consecrate
your hearts to me and I will lead you. I will teach you to forgive, to
love your enemies and to live according to my Son. Do not be afraid for
yourselves. In afflictions my Son does not forget those who love. I will
be beside you. I will implore the Heavenly Father for the light of
eternal truth and love to illuminate you. Pray for your shepherds so
that through your fasting and prayer they can lead you in love. Thank
you."
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Today's Word: prophet proph·et [prof-it]
Origin: 1150–1200; Middle English prophete < Late Latin prophēta < Greek prophḗtēs, equivalent to pro- pro-2 + -phētēs speaker, derivative of phánai to speak
noun
noun
1. a person who speaks for God or a deity, or by divine inspiration.
2. a. a person chosen to speak for God and to guide the people of Israel: Moses was the greatest of Old Testament prophets.
b. ( often initial capital letter ) one of the Major or Minor Prophets.
c. one of a band of ecstatic visionaries claiming divine inspiration and, according to popular belief, possessing magical powers.
d. a person who practices divination.
3. one of a class of persons in the early church, next in order after the apostles, recognized as inspired to utter special revelations and predictions. 1 Cor. 12:28.
4. the Prophet, Muhammad, the founder of Islam.
5. a person regarded as, or claiming to be, an inspired teacher or leader.
6. a person who foretells or predicts what is to come: a weather prophet; prophets of doom.
7. a spokesperson of some doctrine, cause, or movement.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4
2 I thirst for God, the living God; when shall I go to see the face of God?
3 I have no food but tears day and night, as all day long I am taunted, 'Where is your God?'
3 Send out your light and your truth; they shall be my guide, to lead me to your holy mountain to the place where you dwell.
4 Then I shall go to the altar of God, to the God of my joy. I will rejoice and praise you on the harp, O God, my God.
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Today's Epistle - Second Kings 5:1-15
1 Naaman, army commander to the king of Aram, was a man who enjoyed his master's respect and favour, since through him Yahweh had granted victory to the Aramaeans.
2 But the man
suffered from a virulent skin-disease. Now, on one of their raids into
Israelite territory, the Aramaeans had carried off a little girl, who
became a servant of Naaman's wife.
3 She said to her mistress, 'If only my master would approach the prophet of Samaria! He would cure him of his skin-disease.'
4 Naaman went and told his master. 'This and this', he reported, 'is what the girl from Israel has said.'
5 'Go by all means,' said the king of
Aram, 'I shall send a letter to the king of Israel.' So Naaman left,
taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and
ten festal robes.
6 He presented the letter to the king of
Israel. It read, 'With this letter, I am sending my servant Naaman to
you for you to cure him of his skin-disease.'
7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes. 'Am I a god to give death and life,' he said, 'for him to send a man
to me and ask me to cure him of his skin-disease? Listen to this and
take note of it and see how he intends to pick a quarrel with me.'
8 When Elisha
heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent word to the
king, 'Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, and he will find there is a prophet in Israel.'
9 So Naaman came with his team and chariot and drew up at the door of Elisha's house.
10 And Elisha sent him a messenger to say, 'Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will become clean once more.'
11 But Naaman was indignant and went
off, saying, 'Here was I, thinking he would be sure to come out to me,
and stand there, and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and wave his hand over the spot and cure the part that was diseased.
12 Surely, Abana and Parpar, the rivers
of Damascus, are better than any water in Israel? Could I not bathe in
them and become clean?' And he turned round and went off in a rage.
13 But his servants approached him and said, 'Father, if the prophet
had asked you to do something difficult, would you not have done it?
All the more reason, then, when he says to you, "Bathe, and you will become clean." '
14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, as Elisha had told him to do. And his flesh became clean once more like the flesh of a little child.
15 Returning to Elisha with his whole escort, he went in and, presenting himself, said, 'Now I know that there is no God anywhere on earth except in Israel. Now, please, accept a present from your servant.'
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Today's Gospel Reading - Luke 4, 24-30
And Jesus went on, 'In truth I tell you, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country. 'There were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah's day, when heaven remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a town in Sidonia. And in the prophet Elisha's time there were many suffering from virulent skin-diseases in Israel, but none of these was cured -- only Naaman the Syrian.' When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him off the cliff, but he passed straight through the crowd and walked away.
Reflection
• Today’s Gospel (Lk 4, 24-30) forms
part of a larger part (Lk 4, 14-32) Jesus had presented his program in
the Synagogue of Nazareth, using a text from Isaiah which spoke about
the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed (Is 61, 1-2) and
which mirrored the situation of the people of Galilee at the time of
Jesus. In the name of God, Jesus takes a stand and defines his mission:
to proclaim the Good News to the poor, to proclaim liberation to
prisoners, to give back their sight to the blind, to restore liberty to
the oppressed. After finishing the reading, he updated the text and
says: “Today this text is being fulfilled even while you are listening.
!” (Lk 4, 21). All those present were astonished (Lk 4, 16, 22b). But
immediately after there was a reaction of discredit. The people in the
Synagogue were scandalized and did not want to know anything about
Jesus. They said: “Is he not the son of Joseph?” (Lk 4, 22b). Why were
they scandalized? Which is the reason for this unexpected reaction?
• Because Jesus quoted the text of Isaiah only to the part that says: “to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord”, and he omits the end of the sentence which says: “to proclaim a day of vengeance for our God” (Is 61, 2). The people of Nazareth remained surprised because Jesus omitted the phrase on vengeance. They wanted the Good News of the liberation of the oppressed to be an action of vengeance on the part of God against the oppressors. In this case the coming of the Kingdom would be only a superficial change, and not a change or conversion of the system. Jesus does not accept this way of thinking. His experience of God the Father helps him to understand better the significance of the prophecies. He takes away the vengeance. The people of Nazareth do not accept that proposal and the authority of Jesus begins to diminish: “Is he not Joseph’s son?”
• Luke 4, 24: No prophet is ever accepted in his own country. The people of Nazareth was jealous because of the miracles which Jesus had worked in Capernaum, because he had not worked them in Nazareth. Jesus answers: “No prophet is ever accepted in his own country!” In fact, they did not accept the new image of God which Jesus communicated to them through this new and freer interpretation of Isaiah. The message of the God of Jesus went beyond the limits of the race of the Jews and opened itself to accept the excluded and the whole humanity.
• Luke 4, 25-27: Two stories of the Old Testament. In order to help the community to overcome the scandal and to understand the universality of God, Jesus uses two well known stories of the Old Testament: one of Elijah and the other one of Elisha. Through these stories he criticized the people of Nazareth who were so closed up in themselves. Elijah was sent to the foreign widow of Zarephah (1 Kg 17, 7-16). Elisha was sent to take care of the foreigner of Syria (2 Kg 5, 14).
• Luke 4, 28-30: They intended to throw him off the cliff, but he passed straight through the crowd and walked away. What Jesus said did not calm down the people. On the contrary! The use of these two passages of the Bible also caused them to get more angry. The community of Nazareth reached the point of wanting to kill Jesus. And thus, at the moment in which he presented his project to accept the excluded, Jesus himself was excluded! But he remained calm! The anger of the others did not succeed to make him change his mind. In this way, Luke indicates that it is difficult to overcome the mentality of privilege which is closed up in itself. And he showed that the polemic attitude of the Pagans already existed in the time of Jesus. Jesus had the same difficulty which the Hebrew community had in the time of Luke.
Personal questions
• Is Jesus’ program also my program, our program? Is my attitude that of Jesus or that of the people of Nazareth?
• Who are those excluded whom we should accept better in our community?
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
• Who are those excluded whom we should accept better in our community?
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane
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Saint of the Day: Saint Casimir Jagiellon
Feast Day: March 4
Patron Saint: Lithuania, Poland, Youth
Attributes: Usually he holds a lily, a symbol of virginity,
innocence, and purity. He might also hold a cross, a rosary, or a book
with words from Omni die dic Mariae (Daily, Daily Sing to Mary).
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| St Casmir Jagiellon |
Biography
Early life and education
A member of the Jagiellon dynasty, Casimir was born at Wawel, the royal palace in Kraków.[1] Casimir was the third child and the second son of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV and Queen Elisabeth Habsburg of Hungary. Elisabeth was a loving mother and took active interest in her children's upbringing.[2] The Queen and the children often accompanied the King in his annual trips to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.From the age of nine, Casimir and his brother Vladislaus II were educated by Polish priest Jan Długosz. The boys were taught Latin and German, law, history, rhetoric, and classical literature.[2] Długosz was a strict and conservative teacher who emphasized ethics, morality, and religious devotion. According to Stanisław Orzechowski (1513–1566), the princes were subject to corporal punishment which was approved by their father.[3] Długosz noted Casimir's skills in oratory when he delivered speeches to greet his father returning to Poland in 1469 and Jakub Sienienski, the Bishop of Kujawy, in 1470.[3]
Hungarian campaign
Saint Casimir's Chapel and silver sarcophagus at Vilnius Cathedral
Poland amassed an army of 12,000 men, commanded by Piotr Dunin and Dziersław of Rytwiany.[4] Both King Casimir and Prince Casimir participated in the campaign. In October 1471, the Polish army crossed the Hungarian border and slowly marched towards Buda. Matthias Corvinus managed to win over the majority of the Hungarian nobles, including the main conspirator Archbishop János Vitéz, and the Polish army did not receive the expected reinforcement. Only Deák, Perény and Rozgonyi families sent troops.[5] Upon hearing that Corvinus' army of 16,000 men camped outside of Pest, the Polish army decided to retreat from Hatvan to Nitra. There the soldiers battled food shortage, spreading infectious diseases, and upcoming winter. The Polish King also lacked funds to pay the mercenaries. As a result, the Polish army decreased by about a third.[5] In December 1471, Prince Casimir, fearing for his safety, was sent to Jihlava closer to the Polish border therefore further eroding soldier morality. Corvinus took Nitra and a one-year truce was completed in March 1472 in Buda.[5] Prince Casimir returned to Kraków to resume his studies with Długosz.
Długosz remarked that Prince Casimir felt "great sorrow and shame" regarding the failure in Hungary.[6] Polish propaganda portrayed him as a savior, sent by divine providence, to protect the people from a godless tyrant (i.e. Matthias Corvinus) and marauding pagans (i.e. Muslim Ottoman Turks). Prince Casimir was also exposed to the cult of his uncle King Władysław III of Poland who died in the 1444 Battle of Varna against the Ottomans. This led some researchers, including Jacob Caro, to conclude that the Hungarian campaign pushed Prince Casimir into religious life.[6]
Heir apparent
As his elder brother Vladislaus II ruled Bohemia, Prince Casimir became crown prince and heir apparent to the throne of Poland and Lithuania. Italian humanist writer Filippo Buonaccorsi (also known as Filip Callimachus) was hired to become Casimir's tutor in political matters, but his Renaissance views had less influence on Casimir than Długosz.[6] In 1474, Italian merchant and traveler Ambrogio Contarini met with Prince Casimir and was impressed by his wisdom. Prince Casimir completed his formal education at sixteen and spent most of his time with his father.[6] In 1476, Prince Casimir accompanied his father to Royal Prussia where he tried to resolve the conflict with the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia (see War of the Priests). In 1478 Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania demanded the King Casimir IV to leave either Prince Casimir or Prince John I Albert in Lithuania as a regent. King Casimir IV feared separatist moods and refused, but after settling the conflict in Prussia, moved to Vilnius.[7]Between 1479 and 1484 his father spent most of his time in Vilnius attending to the affairs of Lithuania. In 1481, Mikhailo Olelkovich and his relatives planned to murder King Casimir and Prince Casimir during a hunt at a wedding of Feodor Ivanovich Belsky.[8] The plan was discovered and Prince Casimir, perhaps fearing for his safety, was sent to Poland to act as vice-regent. Around the same time his father tried to arrange a marriage with Kunigunde of Austria, daughter of Emperor Frederick III. It is often claimed that Prince Casimir refused the match, preferring to remain celibate and sensing approaching death.[8] According to Maciej Miechowita, Prince Casimir developed tuberculosis. In May 1483, Prince Casimir joined his father in Vilnius. There, after the death of Andrzej Oporowski, Bishop and Vice-Chancellor of the Crown, Prince Casimir took over some of his duties in the chancellery.[9] However, his health deteriorated while rumors about his piousness and good deeds spread further. He was known for his charitable work and help to the needy. In February 1484, Polish general sejm in Lublin was aborted as King Casimir IV rushed back to Lithuania to be with his ill son.[10] Prince Casimir died on March 4, 1484 in Hrodna.[11] His remains were interred in Vilnius Cathedral, where a dedicated Saint Casimir's Chapel was built in 1636.
Religious Life
Lithuanian folk sculpture of Saint Casimir
Saint Casimir's painting in Vilnius Cathedral is considered to be miraculous. The painting, completed probably around 1520, depicts the saint with two right hands. According to a legend, the painter attempted to redraw the hand in a different place and paint over the old hand, but the old hand miraculously reappeared. More conventional explanations claim that three-handed Casimir was the original intent of the painter to emphasize exceptional generosity of Casimir (But when you give to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Matthew 6:3) or that the old hand bled through a coat of new paint (similar to a palimpsest). Around 1636 the painting was covered in gilded silver clothing (riza).
Casimir's iconography usually follows the three-handed painting. He is usually depicted as a young man in long red robe lined with stoat fur. Sometimes he wears a red cap of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, but other times, to emphasize his devotion to spiritual life, the cap is placed near Casimir. Usually he holds a lily, a symbol of virginity, innocence, and purity. He might also hold a cross, a rosary, or a book with words from Omni die dic Mariae (Daily, Daily Sing to Mary). The towns of Kvėdarna and Nemunaitis in Lithuania have Saint Casimir depicted on their coat of arms.
He was canonized by Pope Adrian VI in 1522 and is the patron saint of Poland and Lithuania.[14] On June 11, 1948, Pope Pius XII named Saint Casimir the special patron of all youth.
References
- Duczmal, Małgorzata (2012) (in Lithuanian). Jogailaičiai. translated by Birutė Mikalonienė and Vyturys Jarutis. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras. ISBN 978-5-420-01703-6.
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Today's Snippet I: Cathedral of Vilnius
The coronations of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania took place within its confines. Inside its crypts and catacombs are buried many famous people from Lithuanian and Polish history including Vytautas (1430), his wife Anna (1418), his brother Sigismund (Žygimantas) (1440), his cousin Švitrigaila (1452), Saint Casimir (1484), Alexander Jagiellon (1506), and two wives of Sigismund II Augustus: Elisabeth of Habsburg (1545) and Barbara Radziwiłł (1551). The heart of the Polish-Lithuanian king Władysław IV Vasa was buried there upon his death, although the rest of his body is buried at the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków.
Inside, there are more than forty works of art dating from the 16th through 19th centuries, including frescoes and paintings of various sizes. During the restoration of the Cathedral, the altars of a presumed pagan temple and the original floor, laid during the reign of King Mindaugas, were uncovered. In addition, the remains of the cathedral built in 1387 were also located. A fresco dating from the end of the 14th century, the oldest known fresco in Lithuania, was found on the wall of one of the cathedral's underground chapels.
During the Soviet regime initially cathedral was converted into a warehouse. Masses were celebrated again starting in 1985, although the cathedral was still officially called "The Gallery of Images" at that time. In 1989, its status as a cathedral was restored.
History
In 1387, the year in which Lithuania was officially converted to Christianity, construction began on a a second Gothic Cathedral with five chapels. This second cathedral, however, burnt down in 1419. During preparations for his 1429 coronation as King of Lithuania, Vytautas built a significantly larger Gothic Cathedral in its place. Although the coronation never took place, the walls and pillars of this third Cathedral have survived to this day. The third Cathedral had three naves and four circular towers at its corners, and Flemish traveler Guillebert de Lannoy noticed its similarity to Frauenburg Cathedral. In 1522, the Cathedral was renovated, and a bell tower was built on top of the Lower Castle defensive tower. After another fire in 1530, it was rebuilt again and between 1534 - 1557 more chapels and the crypts were added. The Cathedral acquired architectural features associated with the Renaissance.
In 1529, the Crown Prince and future King of Poland, Sigismund II Augustus, was crowned Grand Duke of Lithuania in the Cathedral. After yet another fire in 1610, the Cathedral was rebuilt again, and the two front towers were added. The Cathedral was damaged again in 1655 when Vilnius fell to Russian troops in the Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667. It was renovated and redecorated several more times.
Between 1623 - 1636, at the initiative of Sigismund III Vasa and later completed by his son Wladyslaw IV Vasa, the Baroque style Saint Casimir chapel by royal architect Constantino Tencalla was built of Swedish sandstone. Its interior was reconstructed in 1691-1692 and decorated with frescoes by Michelangelo Palloni, the altar and stuccowork by Pietro Perti. This chapel contains sculpted statutes of Jagiellon
kings and an epitaph with Wladyslaw IV Vasa's heart. More than anything
in the Cathedral this chapel symbolizes the glory of Polish-Lithuanian
union and common history.
Between 1786 and 1792 three sculptures by Kazimierz Jelski were placed on roof of the Cathedral - Saint Casimir on the south side, Saint Stanislaus on the north, and Saint Helena in the centre. These sculptures were removed in 1950 and restored in 1997.[3] Presumably the sculpture of St. Casimir originally symbolized Lithuania, that of St. Stanislaus symbolized Poland, and that of St. Helena symbolized Russia's dominance.
In 2002 work officially began to rebuild the Royal Palace of Lithuania behind the Cathedral. The newly erected palace building will considerably alter the context of the Cathedral.
The Cathedral and the belfry were thoroughly renovated from 2006 to 2008. The facades were covered with fresh multicolor paintwork, greatly enhancing the external appearance of the buildings. It was the first renovation since the restoration of Lithuania's independence in 1990.
Reference
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Today's Snippet II: Lithuania
Lithuania officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika) is a country in Northern Europe, the largest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden and Denmark. It borders Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 3 million as of 2012, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. The Lithuanians are a Baltic people, and the official language, Lithuanian, is one of only two living languages (together with Latvian) in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family.
For centuries, the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea was inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, who was crowned as King of the Lithuania, creating the first unified Lithuanian state, on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe: present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.
In the aftermath of World War I, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the re-establishment of a sovereign state. Starting in 1940, Lithuania was occupied first by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end in 1944 and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. On 11 March 1990, the year before the break-up of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare independence.
Prior to the global financial crisis of 2007–2010 and now in its aftermath, Lithuania has one of the fastest growing economies in the European Union. Lithuania is a member of NATO, the Council of Europe, and the European Union. Lithuania is also a full member of the Schengen Agreement. The United Nations Human Development Index lists Lithuania as a "Very High Human Development" country. Lithuania will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2013.
History
Prehistoric
The first people settled in the territory of Lithuania after the last glacial period in the 10th millennium BC. Over a millennium, the Proto-Indo-Europeans, who arrived in the 3rd – 2nd millennium BC, mixed with the local population and formed various Baltic tribes. The first written mention of Lithuania is found in a medieval German manuscript, the Annals of Quedlinburg, in an entry dated 9 March 1009.Medieval
By the end of the 14th century, Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe and included present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia. The geopolitical situation between the west and the east determined the multicultural and multi-confessional character of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The ruling elite practiced religious tolerance and borrowed Chancery Slavonic language as an auxiliary language to the Latin for official documents.
In 1385, the Grand Duke Jogaila accepted Poland's offer to become its king. Jogaila embarked on gradual christianization of Lithuania and established a personal union between Poland and Lithuania. It implied that Lithuania, the fiercely independent land, was one of the last pagan areas of Europe to adopt Christianity.
After two civil wars, Vytautas the Great became the Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1392. During his reign, Lithuania reached the peak of its territorial expansion, centralization of the state began, and the Lithuanian nobility became increasingly prominent in state politics. Thanks to close cooperation, the armies of Lithuania and Poland achieved a great victory over the Teutonic Knights in 1410 at the Battle of Grunwald, one of the largest battles of medieval Europe.
After the deaths of Jogaila and Vytautas, the Lithuanian nobility attempted to break the union between Poland and Lithuania, independently selecting Grand Dukes from the Jagiellon dynasty. But, at the end of the 15th century, Lithuania was forced to seek a closer alliance with Poland when the growing power of the Grand Duchy of Moscow threatened Lithuania's Russian principalities and sparked the Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars and the Livonian War.
Modern
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was created in 1569. As a member of the Commonwealth, Lithuania retained its institutions, including a separate army, currency, and statutory laws. Eventually Polonization affected all aspects of Lithuanian life: politics, language, culture, and national identity. From the mid-16th to the mid-17th centuries, culture, arts, and education flourished, fueled by the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation. From 1573, the Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania were elected by the nobility, who were granted ever increasing Golden Liberties. These liberties, especially the liberum veto, led to anarchy and the eventual dissolution of the state.During the Northern Wars (1655–1661), the Lithuanian territory and economy were devastated by the Swedish army. Before it could fully recover, Lithuania was ravaged during the Great Northern War (1700–1721). The war, a plague, and a famine caused the deaths of approximately 40% of the country's population.[14] Foreign powers, especially Russia, became dominant in the domestic politics of the Commonwealth. Numerous factions among the nobility used the Golden Liberties to prevent any reforms. Eventually, the Commonwealth was partitioned in 1772, 1792, and 1795 by the Russian Empire, Prussia, and Habsburg Austria.
The largest area of Lithuanian territory became part of Russian Empire. After unsuccessful uprisings in 1831 and 1863, the Tsarist authorities implemented a number of Russification policies. They banned the Lithuanian press, closed cultural and educational institutions, and made Lithuania part of a new administrative region called Northwestern Krai. The Russification failed owing to extensive network of book smugglers and secret Lithuanian home schooling.
After the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), when German diplomats assigned what were seen as Russian spoils of war to Turkey, the relationship between Russia and the German Empire became complicated. The Russian Empire resumed the construction of fortresses at its western borders for defence against a potential invasion from Germany in the West. On 7 July 1879 the Russian Emperor Alexander II approved of a proposal from the Russian military leadership to build the largest "first-class" defensive structure in the entire state – the 65 km2 (25 sq mi) Kaunas Fortress. Between 1868 and 1914, approximately 635,000 people, almost 20% of the population, emigrated from Lithuania. Large numbers of Lithuanians went to the United States in 1867–1868 after a famine. A Lithuanian National Revival laid the foundations of the modern Lithuanian nation and independent Lithuania.
20th and 21st centuries
Acquired during the Klaipėda Revolt of 1923, the Klaipėda Region was ceded to Germany after a German ultimatum in March 1939. During the interwar period, the domestic affairs of Lithuania were controlled by the authoritarian President, Antanas Smetona and his party, the Lithuanian Nationalist Union, who came to power after the coup d'état of 1926.
The Soviet Union returned Vilnius to Lithuania after the Soviet invasion of Eastern Poland in September 1939. In June 1940, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed Lithuania in accordance to the secret protocols of Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. A year later the Soviet Union was attacked by Nazi Germany, leading to the Nazi occupation of Lithuania. The Nazis and their collaborators murdered around 190,000 Jews of Lithuania (91% of the pre-war Jewish community) during the Holocaust.
After the retreat of the German armed forces, the Soviets re-established the annexation of Lithuania in 1944. Under border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference in 1945, the former German Memelland, with its Baltic port Memel (Lithuanian: Klaipėda), was again transferred to Lithuania, or as it was after 1945 the Lithuanian SSR. Most German residents of the area had fled in the final months of World War II.
The Soviets engaged in massive deportations of Lithuanians to Siberia, complete nationalisation and collectivisation and general sovietization of everyday life. From 1944 to 1952 approximately 100,000 Lithuanian partisans fought a guerrilla war against the Soviet system. An estimated 30,000 partisans and their supporters were killed, and many more were arrested and deported to Siberian gulags. It is estimated that Lithuania lost 780,000 people during World War II.
The advent of perestroika and glasnost in the late 1980s allowed the establishment of Sąjūdis, an anti-communist independence movement. After a landslide victory in elections to the Supreme Soviet, members of Sąjūdis proclaimed Lithuania's independence on 11 March 1990, becoming the first Soviet republic to do so. The Soviet Union attempted to suppress the secession by imposing an economic blockade. Soviet troops attacked the Vilnius TV Tower, killing 14 Lithuanian civilians and wounding 600 others on the night of 13 January 1991 (January Events). On 31 July 1991 Soviet paramilitaries killed seven Lithuanian border guards on the Belarusian border in what became known as the Medininkai Massacre.
On 4 February 1991, Iceland became the first country to recognise Lithuanian independence. After the Soviet August Coup, independent Lithuania received wide official recognition and joined the United Nations on 17 September 1991. The last Soviet troops left Lithuania on 31 August 1993 – even earlier than they departed from East Germany. Lithuania, seeking closer ties with the West, applied for NATO membership in 1994. After a transition from a planned economy to a free market one, Lithuania became a full member of NATO and the European Union in the spring of 2004 and a member of the Schengen Agreement on 21 December 2007.
Geography
Lithuania lies between latitudes 53° and 57° N, and mostly between longitudes 21° and 27° E (part of the Curonian Spit lies west of 21°). It has around 99 kilometres (61.5 mi) of sandy coastline, of which only about 38 kilometres (24 mi) face the open Baltic Sea and which is the shortest among the Baltic Sea countries; the rest of the coast is sheltered by the Curonian sand peninsula. Lithuania's major warm-water port, Klaipėda, lies at the narrow mouth of the Curonian Lagoon (Lithuanian: Kuršių marios), a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad. The main and largest river, the Nemunas River, and some of its tributaries carry international shipping.
Lithuania lies at the edge of North European Plain. Its landscape has been smoothed by the glaciers of the last ice age. Lithuania's terrain is an alternation of moderate lowlands and highlands; its maximum elevation is Aukštojas Hill at 294 metres (965 ft) in the eastern part of the country. The terrain features numerous lakes, Lake Vištytis for example, and wetlands; a mixed forest zone covers nearly 33% of the country. The climate ranges between maritime and continental, with wet, moderate winters and mildly hot summers.
After a re-estimation of the boundaries of the continent of Europe in 1989, Jean-George Affholder, a scientist at the Institut Géographique National (French National Geographic Institute) determined that the Geographic Centre of Europe is located at 54°54′N 25°19′E. The method used for calculating this point was that of the centre of gravity of the geometrical figure of Europe. This point is located in Lithuania, specifically 26 kilometres (16 mi) north of its capital city, Vilnius.
Culture
Lithuanian language
The Lithuanian language (lietuvių kalba) is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 0.2 million abroad. Contrary to popular myth, it is not a Slavic language. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they are not mutually intelligible. It is written in an adapted version of the Roman script. Lithuanian is believed to be the linguistically most conservative living Indo-European tongue, retaining many features of Proto Indo-European.Religion
In the first half of the 20th century, the Lutheran Protestant church had around 200,000 members, 9% of the total population, mostly Protestant Lithuanians from the former Memel Territory and Germans, but it has declined since 1945. Small Protestant communities are dispersed throughout the northern and western parts of the country. Believers and clergy suffered greatly during the Soviet occupation, with many killed, tortured or deported to Siberia. Various Protestant churches have established missions in Lithuania since 1990. 4.9% are Orthodox (mainly among the Russian minority), 1.9% are Protestant and 9.5% have no religion.
Lithuania was historically home to a significant Jewish community and was an important center of Jewish scholarship and culture from the 18th century, until the community, numbering about 160,000 before World War II, was almost entirely annihilated during the Holocaust. The community numbered about 3,400 at the end of 2010.
Education
The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania proposes national educational policies and goals. These are sent to the Seimas for ratification. Laws govern long-term educational strategy along with general laws on standards for higher education, vocational training, law and science, adult education, and special education. County administrators, municipal administrators, and school founders (including non-governmental organizations, religious organizations, and individuals) are responsible for implementing these policies. By constitutional mandate, ten years of formal enrollment in an educational institution is mandatory, ending at age 16.
26 percent of the 1999 state budget was allocated to education expenses. Primary and secondary schools receive funding from the state via their municipal or county administrations. The Constitution of Lithuania guarantees tuition-free attendance at public institutions of higher education for students deemed 'good'; the number of such students has varied over the past decade, with 68 percent exempted from tuition fees in 2002.
The World Bank designates the literacy rate of Lithuanian persons aged 15 years and older as 100%. As of 2008, 30.4% of the population aged 25 to 64 had completed tertiary education; 60.1% had completed upper secondary and post-secondary (non-tertiary) education. According to Invest in Lithuania, Lithuania has twice as many people with higher education than the EU-15 average and the proportion is the highest in the Baltic. Also, 90% of Lithuanians speak at least one foreign language and half of the population speaks two foreign languages, mostly Russian and English.
As with other Baltic nations, in particular Latvia, the large volume of higher education graduates within the country, coupled with the high rate of spoken second languages is contributing to an education brain drain. Many Lithuanians are choosing to emigrate seeking higher earning employment and studies throughout Europe. Since their inclusion into the European Union in 2004, Lithuania's population has fallen by approximately 180,000 people.
As of 2008, there were 15 public universities in Lithuania, 6 private institutions, 16 public colleges, and 11 private colleges. Vilnius University is one of the oldest universities in Northern Europe and the largest university in Lithuania.
Literature
Lithuanian literary works in the Lithuanian language started being first published in the 16th century. In 1547 Martynas Mažvydas compiled and published the first printed Lithuanian book The Simple Words of Catechism, which marks the beginning of printed Lithuanian literature. He was followed by Mikalojus Daukša with Katechizmas. In the 16th and 17th centuries, as in the whole Christian Europe, Lithuanian literature was primarily religious.
The evolution of the old (14th–18th century) Lithuanian literature ends with Kristijonas Donelaitis, one of the most prominent authors of the Age of Enlightenment. Donelaitis poem The Seasons is the national epic and landmark of the Lithuanian fiction literature.
With a mix of Classicism, Sentimentalism, and Romanticism, the Lithuanian literature of the first half of the 19th century is represented by Maironis, Antanas Baranauskas, Simonas Daukantas and Simonas Stanevičius. During the Tsarist annexation of Lithuania in 19th century, the Lithuanian press ban was implemented, which led to the formation of the Knygnešiai (Book smugglers) movement. This movement is thought to be the very reason the Lithuanian language and literature survived until today.
20th century Lithuanian literature is represented by Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas, Antanas Vienuolis, Bernardas Brazdžionis and Vytautas Mačernis and Justinas Marcinkevičius.
Arts and museums
The Lithuanian Art Museum was founded in 1933 and is the largest museum of art conservation and display in Lithuania. Among other important museums is the Palanga Amber Museum, where amber pieces comprise a major part of the collection.Perhaps the most renowned figure in Lithuania's art community was the composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875–1911), an internationally renowned musician. The 2420 Čiurlionis asteroid, identified in 1975, honors his achievements. The M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum, as well as the only military museum in Lithuania, Vytautas the Great War Museum, are located in Kaunas.
Music
Lithuanian folk music belongs to Baltic music branch which is connected with neolithic corded ware culture. Two instrument cultures meet in the areas inhabited by Lithuanians: stringed (kanklių) and wind instrument cultures. Lithuanian folk music is archaic, mostly used for ritual purposes, containing elements of paganism faith. There are three ancient styles of singing in Lithuania connected with ethnographical regions: monophony, heterophony and polyphony. Folk song genres: Sutartinės, Wedding Songs, War-Historical Time Songs, Calendar Cycle and Ritual Songs and Work Songs.Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis is the most renowned Lithuanian painter and composer. During his short life he created about 200 pieces of music. His works have had profound influence on modern Lithuanian culture. His symphonic poems In the Forest (Miške) and The Sea (Jūra) were performed only posthumously.
Vytautas Miškinis (born 1954) is a professor, composer and choir director of the famous Lithuanian boys' choir Ąžuoliukas. He is very popular in Lithuania and abroad. He has written over 400 secular and about 150 religious works.
In Lithuania choral music is very important. Vilnius is the only city with three choirs laureates (Brevis, Jauna Muzika and Chamber Choir of the Conservatoire) at the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing. There is a long-standing tradition of the Lithuanian Song and Dance Festival (Dainų Šventė). The first once took place in Kaunas in 1924. Since 1990, the festival has been organised every four years and summons roughly 30,000 singers and folk dancers of various professional levels and age groups from across the country. In 2008, Lithuanian Song and Dance Festival together with its Latvian and Estonian versions was inscribed as UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Food and lifestyle
Architecture and housing
Lithuania is also known for numerous castles. About twenty castles exist in Lithuania. Some castles had to be rebuilt or survive partially. Lithuanian village life has existed since the days of Vytautas the Great. Zervynos and Kapiniškės are two of many ethnographic villages in Lithuania.
Biržai Castle is a castle in Biržai, Lithuania. Construction of the earth bastion-type castle started in 1586 by the order of Krzysztof Mikołaj "the Lightning" Radziwiłł. In 1575, preparing for this construction, a dam was built on the Agluona and Apaščia rivers at their confluence, and the artificial Lake Širvėna, covering about 40 km², was created. Major castle building works were finished in 1589 . Since the second half of the 17th century, the castle has been the main seat of the Biržai-Dubingiai Radziwiłł family line, which was transferred here from the Dubingiai Castle. Biržai Castle served as a major defensive structure during the wars with Sweden. The castle was reconstructed from ruins in the 1980s, in the Renaissance-Baroque style. The residential manor of the castle houses a library and a regional history museum "Sėla" (literally Selonia), founded in 1928.
References
- Bousfield, Jonathan (2004). Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania. London, England: Rough Guides. ISBN 1-85828-840-1.
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Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part One: Profession of Faith, Sect 2 The Creeds, Ch 3:5
CHAPTER THREE
I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
V. The Spirit and the Church In the Last Days
Pentecost
731
On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ's
Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given,
and communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours
out the Spirit in abundance.Acts 2:33-36
732
On that day, the Holy Trinity is fully revealed. Since that day, the Kingdom
announced by Christ has been open to those who believe in him: in the humility
of the flesh and in faith, they already share in the communion of the Holy
Trinity. By his coming, which never ceases, the Holy Spirit causes the world to
enter into the "last days," the time of the Church, the Kingdom
already inherited though not yet consummated.
We have seen the true Light,
we have received the heavenly Spirit, we have found the true faith: we adore
the indivisible Trinity, who has saved us.Byzantine liturgy, Pentecost Vespers, Troparion, repeated after communion
The Holy
Spirit - God's gift
733
"God is Love"Jn 4:8,16 and love is his first gift, containing all
others. "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy
Spirit who has been given to us."Rom
5:5
734
Because we are dead or at least wounded through sin, the first effect of the
gift of love is the forgiveness of our sins. the communion of the Holy
Spirit2 Cor 13:14 in the Church restores to the baptized the divine likeness
lost through sin.
735
He, then, gives us the "pledge" or "first fruits" of our
inheritance: the very life of the Holy Trinity, which is to love as "God
(has) loved us."Jn 4: 12 This love (the "charity" of ⇒ 1
Cor 13) is the source of the new life in Christ, made possible
because we have received "power" from the Holy Spirit.Acts 1:8
736
By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit. He who has
grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear "the fruit of the Spirit:
. . . love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control."Gal
5:22-23 "We live by the Spirit"; the more we
renounce ourselves, the more we "walk by the Spirit."Gal 5:25
Through the Holy Spirit we are
restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as
children, given confidence to call God "Father" and to share in
Christ's grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory.St. Basil, De
Spiritu Sancto, 15,36: PG 32,132
The Holy
Spirit and the Church
737
The mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to completion in the
Church, which is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. This
joint mission henceforth brings Christ's faithful to share in his communion
with the Father in the Holy Spirit. the Spirit prepares men and goes out to
them with his grace, in order to draw them to Christ. the Spirit manifests the
risen Lord to them, recalls his word to them and opens their minds to the
understanding of his Death and Resurrection. He makes present the mystery of
Christ, supremely in the Eucharist, in order to reconcile them, to bring them
into communion with God, that they may "bear much fruit."Jn 15:8
738
Thus the Church's mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy
Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, the
Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery
of the communion of the Holy Trinity (the topic of the next article):
All of us who have received
one and the same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, are in a sense blended
together with one another and with God. For if Christ, together with the
Father's and his own Spirit, comes to dwell in each of us, though we are many,
still the Spirit is one and undivided. He binds together the spirits of each
and every one of us, . . . and makes all appear as one in him. For just as the
power of Christ's sacred flesh unites those in whom it dwells into one body, I
think that in the same way the one and undivided Spirit of God, who dwells in
all, leads all into spiritual unity.St. Cyril
of Alexandria, In Jo. ev., 11,11: PG 74, 561
739
Because the Holy Spirit is the anointing of Christ, it is Christ who, as the
head of the Body, pours out the Spirit among his members to nourish, heal, and
organize them in their mutual functions, to give them life, send them to bear
witness, and associate them to his self-offering to the Father and to his
intercession for the whole world. Through the Church's sacraments, Christ
communicates his Holy and sanctifying Spirit to the members of his Body. (This
will be the topic of Part Two of the Catechism.)
740
These "mighty works of God," offered to believers in the sacraments
of the Church, bear their fruit in the new life in Christ, according to the
Spirit. (This will be the topic of Part Three.)
741
"The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we
ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with sighs too deep for
words."Rom
8:26 The Holy Spirit, the artisan of God's works, is the
master of prayer. (This will be the topic of Part Four.)
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