LTŽemaičių vyskupystėje šv. Ona patenka į populiariausių dangiškųjų globėjų grupę. Intensyvią jos kulto sklaidą liudija altorių ir altarijų fundacijų, brolijų, atlaidų, vaizduojamosios dailės kūrinių gausa. Šv. Onos populiarumą visuose visuomenės sluoksniuose pirmiausia lėmė aukštas šventosios, kaip Švč. Mergelės Marijos motinos, statusas ir jai priskiriamos globos funkcijos bei galios, ilgainiui suformuotos katalikiškosios Tradicijos. Straipsnyje aptariama, kaip Bažnyčioje susiformavęs Dievo Motinos gimdytojos įvaizdis valstietiškos prigimties žmogaus sąmonėje transformavosi į šeimos globėjos - rūpestingos šeimininkės - paveikslą, glaudžiai susijusį su kasdieniu kaimo gyvenimu. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Šv. Ona; Žemaičių vyskupystė; Šventųjų kultas; Giesmės; Etnologija; St. Anne; Samogitian Diocese; Cult of saints; Religious songs; Ethnology.
ENIn the Samogitian Diocese St. Anne belongs to the group of the most popular heavenly patrons. The intense spread of her cult is witnessed by the number of churches, chapels, fraternities in her name and by the live tradition of Church festivals and the early prevalence of her name among all stratums of society. The popularity of St. Anne was determined by many factors. Those include the high status of the Saint herself as the mother of the Mother of God, her appealing life story and also the data of the festival in the liturgical calendar. The fatal life events of St. Anne (which were appropriated from the apocryphal hagiography approbated by the Doctors of the Church, which found their way into the texts of sermons, songs, litanies and prayers) have, in the course of centuries, formed the picture of a Saint rich in protective functions and powers. However, in the consciousness of a human of peasant origins the high status of the mother of the Virgin Mary, which was granted to this Saint by the Church, was transformed into the picture of a very close family protector that was closely related with everyday life. The intensive integration of this Saint into the everyday life of village people and their customs, and the increased trust that was placed in her help and protection were determined by many factors. The Church held the largest influence in this matter with a wide range of various forms and practises of devotion, especially through its public modes of the faith's creed; although the customs of the rural community and the traditional folk calendar also had their impact as well. The Festival of St. Anne takes place in mid-summer - during the time when some cultures bring in a new harvest. The festival also coincides with the reaping of the first sheaf of grain - a day which is considered to mark the boundary between the old and the new.All this determined that the liturgical calendar and the festival of St. Anne (and at the same time her Christian image) became easily and quite naturally integrated into the traditional calendar and the consciousness, custom and tradition of the folk people. Over the course of time the mother of the Virgin Mary almost assumed the mantle of a family member. She was identified with married women or good housewives, and associated with the most important thing - bread. The popularity of saints amongst ordinary village people and also their visual content are mostly revealed through customs and oral creation. The considerable number of idioms and other petty folkloric texts which convey cultural and spiritual information relating to the name St. Anne bear witness to the transformation of the folk image of the saint and its alienation from the picture formed by the Church. Many of the protective functions and powers ascribed to her by the Church naturally failed to adjust to the peasant environment and lifestyle. A rural person, although orientated towards Christian values, ascribed to their own image of the Saint all that concerned them most and affected their feelings and imagination. It was precisely for this reason that the folk image of St. Anne, marked by its intense sensual relationship with the everyday reality of the living world, became so vivacious and solid. It has been widely reflected in the oral creation that embodies an empirical experience, although its manifestations are much weaker in folk art.In the folk painting and sculpture which spread the images of St. Anne adopted from the professional sacral arts the iconographie scheme of the St. Ann, the Third Wife became the prevailing one. The vitality of the folk image of St. Ann was sustained by conservatism of village life and culture, the settled way of life of communities and the sustainability of customs, traditions and self-consciousness. It is worth noticing that from the abundant pantheon of heavenly patrons that exist only a few saints took such deep root into the ethnic culture and became a integral part of it. Just like Saints Michael, George or John, St. Anne over time became enshrined into the community's customs and traditions formed and integrated into the traditional Lithuanian calendar. [From the publication]