Mokslo ir tikėjimo dialogai

The article reviews and attempts to verify mythical information provided by Matthaeus Praetorius (Matthäus Prätorius, the end of the 17th century) in his work “Deliciae Prussicae or Prussian Theater” (Deliciae Prussicae, oder Preussische Schaubϋhne), which is directly concerned with childbirth and christening rituals, at the same time the role of Laimė, Laumė and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the mentioned customs is revealed. In parallel with this, the article discusses interpretations by more significant researchers of the 19th–21st centuries who were concerned with M. Praetorius’s mythical material on childbirth and christening. The context of the researches of the 19th–21st centuries has shown that researchers of earlier periods did not consider the question of reliability of M. Praetorius’s mythical material. The present research has also revealed that mythical information on childbirth and christening described by M. Praetorius is reliable and that patrons of human birth – Laimė / Laumė / the Blessed Virgin Mary – should be treated as some kind of (each other’s) continuation or as a constant and variables. Human birth is a constant which is made meaningful by rituals that, taking into account historical and religious context, are patronised by a certain variable.

The collective memory of people in the post-Soviet space preserves some stereotypes, and they have a certain influence on the cognitive process. For example, the focus on interfaith conflict, as well as silencing issues of constructive interaction, was a deliberate manipulation. The author set the goal of analysing intercultural contact between different ethnic groups in the religious practice of votive offerings in Ukrainian lands. The attribution of votive offerings preserved in museums in Ukraine shows that the tradition was widespread, but waned during the Soviet era.

Jesus, the Son of God, through whom all things were created, united with the world when taking on a human body in the womb of Virgin Mary. Therefore, the Church addresses Mary as Mother while praying for protection and care. Pope Francis is particularly devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Holy Father Francis emphasises that Mary, while carefully watching Jesus fulfilling His mission, always points to Her Son Jesus and not to Herself. The article discusses the aspects of Pope Francis’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and his teaching about the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The article analyzes the theme of the Trinity of God in the encyclicals of John Paul II. St. Pope John Paul II was one of those supreme pastors of the Catholic Church who, during a sufficiently long time of his pontificate (27 years), time wrote many encyclicals, apostolic exhortations, and other Church documents. They fought relentlessly for human rights, against the so-called “realism of socialism”, against communism, against liberal theology. He spoke out against abortion and euthanasia, against “wild capitalism” and liberalism. He spoke out against the women’s priesthood and allowing Catholic priests to marry. So, let’s say his teaching doctrine was conservative but balanced. He saw the signs of the time perfectly and was able to read them. This essentially gave one of the most peaceful times in every sense to the entire Catholic Church. He wrote a total of 14 encyclicals in which he touched on the theme of the Trinity of God in one way or another. It could not be otherwise, because in Christianity, to speak of God means to speak of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One of the first encyclicals in which the Pope explored the doctrine of the Trinity of God in detail was Redemtor Hominis (1979). This theme was further developed in the encyclicals Dives in misericordia (1980), Dominum et vivificantem (1986). The Pope has always presented the teaching of the Trinity of God in a historical context of how the dogma of the Trinity has been perceived and accepted or rejected from early Christian times to the present day, clearly reflected in the sources of the Christian faith: Scripture, the Bible, the Church Fathers and its traditional official teaching – Magisterium. In dealing with these topics, the encyclical concluded with a pastoral call for the Church to evangelize believers and the world.