Šv. Onos brolijos Žemaičių vyskupijoje XVII–XVIII a.

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Brolijos; Katalikų Bažnyčia; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Pranciškonai observantai (bernardinai); Šv. Onos brolija; Šv. Onos kultas; Žemaitija (Samogitia); Žemaičių vyskupija, 17-18 a.; Catholic Church; Cult of St Anne; Diocese of Žemaitija, 17-18 cent.; Franciscan Observance (Bernardine); Fraternities; Lithuania; Samogitia; St. Anne's Brotherhood; St. Anne's cult.

ENThe brotherhoods that began to be founded in the 17th c. in the diocese of Samogitia by gathering part of Catholic society around the churches or monasteries and encouraging more active religious practices became an important factor that contributed to the entrenchment of Catholicism. The article explores the activities of the very popular St. Anne's brotherhoods in Samogitia from their inception to the end of the 18th c. when the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth collapsed. On the basis of written and printed sources, the works of earlier historians, the dates of the founding of the St. Anne's brotherhoods and their localization were determined, their founding goals, the system of the brotherhood, their structure and performance characteristics analysed. The beginnings of St. Anne's cult in the diocese of Samogitia were observed at the end of the 15th c. – the first half of 16th c., and thus the emergence of the St. Anne's brotherhoods in the 17th c. (the majority – 10 of 14 of the St. Anne's brotherhoods in Samogitia – were established in the 17th c.), and their abundance show the engraftment and popularity of St. Anne's cult. The model of the social structure of the St. Anne's brotherhoods on the post-Tridentine period in the reestablished and newly founded brotherhoods could have been taken from the St. Anne's brotherhoods that were active at the beginning of the 16th c. in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first St. Anne's brotherhoods at the established Franciscan Observance (called Bernardine) convents in Samogitia appeared in the first quarter of the 17th c. They had to spread Catholicism in the western part of Samogitia and care for the return of the Protestants to the Catholic Church.The St. Anne's brotherhoods or parish churches could be established in two ways: they were founded by the St. Anne's brotherhood acting under the Warsaw Convent of the Bernardines or the parish vicar or priest would introduce the brotherhood; perhaps the bishop also encouraged the establishment of brotherhoods in parishes. The brotherhoods usually did not have separate foundations. As is typical for other post-Tridentine brotherhoods, the members of the St. Anne's brotherhood had their own community life based on mutual aid: they cared for the salvation of their souls by performing a variety of devotional practices, along with other members of the brotherhood they participated in church services, processions, pilgrimages and brotherhood meetings, oversaw the altar or a chapel belonging to the brotherhood, which they decorated with paintings of St. Anne, supported the brotherhood with their offerings. The St. Anne's brotherhoods that were active for several centuries in Samogitia developed deep roots in the parishes. Despite the restrictions of the tsarist government, in 1865 St. Anne's brotherhoods still functioned in ten parishes. [From the publication]

• Teologija / Theology
• Istorija / History