Klaipėdos universitetas

This paper presents a preliminary study of the orientation of Lithuanian Catholic churches and interactions between Christian and pagan cosmologies in Lithuanian church architecture. We can state that the Christianization of Lithuania involved an interaction of these two systems. It is already known that models of time and space in Christian Europe were reflected in the architecture of Lithuanian Catholic churches. But pagan cosmology also influenced Lithuanian Christian architecture.

The article is devoted to the new results on literary research about the power of memory in “Roadside Doggy” by Czesław Miłosz (1911-2004). Cz. Miłosz remembers episodes from his life in Vilnius, which is a proof of his special point of view. Miłosz’s journey, which started at the beginning of the previous century, has no limits in “Roadside Doggy”. “Two horses driven carriage” goes without obstructions, penetrates deeply into the mind, and reaches the farthest neighbourhoods. It is a kind of account with one’s past according to the idea that “man without memory is nearly dead and represents the inferior part of humanity.”

The article is devoted to the new ethnographic and social research results on the Karaitic religion’s minority in Lithuania and Poland. After the last partition of Poland in 1795 main part of Karaites lived in Russia and was given some privileges by the tsars too. When Poles regained their independence and created new Polish Republic Karaites declared full loyalty towards it. During II World War Karaites were not ex-terminated by the Nazis like Jews although they easily could be taken for Jews because in Karaitic liturgy Hebrew language is still present. Today in Lithuania there are two main Karaitic centres: in Trakai and Vilnius with two churches still open. While visiting Trakai it is worth to see Karaitic wooden houses with three windows situated next to a road being a sign of presence of Karaitic community composed of 154 persons.

The article is devoted to the research of activities of illegal Polish culture organizations in Vilnius during the turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries. The author reminds that Vilnius city and the whole Vilnius land belonged to so-called North-West district of Russian Empire at the beginning of 20th Century. From the time of suppression of January Uprising (1863-1864) the Russian government introduced in this land a severe regime of ruling. They attempted in the same time to suppress the spirit of enslaved nations by means of destruction of their culture. In a consequence the Polish society in Vilnius hasn’t a possibility to act legally in the field of culture and science, therefore it begun to create illegal structures. As the first such attempt was the Committee for building of Adam Mickiewicz monument organised in 1897. It was a manifestation of patriotic stand and aspirations for a liberty of Polish people.

The article concentrates on the role and importance of the intellectual culture of contemplative female orders in the societies of the onetime Vilnius. The article depicts the use of normative liturgical texts and the preaching creativity in the religious activity of the order. What was emphasized were the books functioning in the characterised environment as well as the individual and collective religious reading matter and the organisation and contents of the monasterial libraries.