Šv. arkangelui Mykolui skirtų giesmių Žemaitijoje kilmė

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Žemaitija (Samogitia); Šv. Mykolas; Giesmės; Muzika; Samogitia; St. Michael; Hymns; Music.

ENReligious cult, as a practical aspect of religion, shows the level of incorporation of Christianity in the society. And the cult of the Saints is one of the main features of Catholic and Orthodox faiths, and is significant in terms of Christian culture. But there is no research of this phenomenon in Lithuanian historiography, ethnology and musicology. The aim of this research is to reveal hymns and music dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel in Samogitia. The tasks of the research: firstly, to describe the range and causes of spreading and forming of St. Michael the Archangel’s hymns in Samogitia; secondly, to present and analyse the texts of these hymns and their origin; and thirdly, to set and describe the origin of the music of the hymns dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel. The results of the research led to such conclusions: firstly, the hymns dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel in Samogitia firstly appeared in parishes where the feast of this Saint was celebrated. These were the parishes of Gaurė, Kražiai, Janapolė, Rietavas, Žemaičių Naumiestis, Gargždai and Mosėdis; secondly, traditionally these hymns were sung in the parishes of Skuodas, Mažeikiai, Mosėdis, Telšiai, Plungė, Rietavas, Gargždai, Žemaičių Naumiestis, Tauragė, Gaurė, Jurbarkas, Kražiai, Varniai, Janapolė and Tverai; thirdly, the origin of these hymns comes from Jesuits and Marians; fourthly, traditional authors of the melodies of St. Michael the Archangel’s hymns are folk people, and at the beginning of the 20th century Marian monks started creating them. The results of the research validate the hypothesis that St. Michael the Archangel’s hymns are the cultural heritage of priests and monks of Samogitia (later – Telšiai) diocese. [From the publication]