Kunigo Jono Totoraičio MIC laiškai kunigui Pranciškui Bučiui MIC

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Jonas Totoraitis; Kunigas Jonas Totoraitis; Kunigas Pranciškus Būčys; Laiškai; Laiškai, Bučys P., Totoraitis J; Panas Būčys; Susirašinėjimas; XX a. pradžios katalikybė Lietuvoje; Correspondence; Jonas Totoraitis; Letters; Letters, Bučys p., Totoraitis J; Lithuanian Catholicism in early 20th century; Pranas Būčys; Priest Jonas Totoraitis; Priest Pranciškus Būčys.

ENThe publication contains Father Jonas Totoraitis’s (1872-1941) letters to Father Pranciškus Būčys (1872-1951). The correspondence covers the years 1906 to 1913. During this period Father Totoraitis worked in several places. At the beginning of 1906 he was a curate in the Daukšiai parish. Since March of that year, for almost three consecutive months, he worked in the editorial of the weekly “Šaltinis” in Seinai, and then as the curate in the village of Šunskai. Prompted by Jurgis Matulaitis and Pranciškus Būčys, Jonas Totoraitis joined the renewed Congregation of Marian Priests in 1910. The same year he went to St. Petersburg in order to serve a novitiate. He became a curate of the parish Sintautai afterwards. In 1911 he was appointed a spiritual director of the seminary in Seinai. Throughout the period covered in the correspondence, Father Pranciškus Būčys was a professor at St. Petersburg Theological Academy. The published letters reveal many aspects of Jonas Totoraitis’s life. The correspondence begins with Totoraitis’s letter from Daukšiai. The letter is important for the study of the origins of the Lithuanian Catholic press. It also describes the revolutionary events in the Daukšiai parish. The events described taking place in different parts of Lithuania after the Great Vilnius Seym are especially interesting. The letter further describes Totoraitis’s editorial work in “Šaltinis” and his struggles with the obstacles that he had to overcome. In letters written from the Šunskai parish he paid more attention to social activism and inner thinking (he was considering leaving Lithuania in order to continue academic work). He also wrote about the activities of the association of priests. Totoraitis’s letters from 1912 to 1913 describe the reality of the seminary in Seinai and his relations with its superiors, professors and seminarians. [From the publication]