LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Vienuoliai bazilijonai; Sesuo Rafaila; Lietuvių ir ukrainiečių ryšiai; Brazilija; Vasilijus Zinko; Biografija; Monks Basilians; Sister Rafaila; Ukrainians; Brazil; Vasilij Zinko; Biography.
ENThe monograph "Vasilij Zinko’s study Sister Rafaila: a historical - biographical context, research commentaries and theological terminology" consists of two parts: The translation of the Basilian Father Vasilij Zinko’s book “Sister Rafaila“, a historical - biographic context, research commentaries and theological terminology, V. Zinko’s biography and the analysis of his literary works. Vanda Rimkevičiūtė - Sister Rafaila - was a nun of the Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate congregation of the Eastern Catholic rite (Catholic women of the Latin rite also have a congregation of the same name). Father V. Zinko was in touch with her when he worked in Brasil. He heard her unusual life story from her own lips shortly before her death. [...] We know quite a lot about the efforts of Lithuanian emigrants to win fame for their nation and Lithuania. V. Zinko’s study witnesses that Lithuanian emigrants also worked for the welfare of other nations and countries. Published in Ukraine, the book attracted considerable attention and was published repeatedly. When he was on a visit to Lithuania, at the meetings with the students and teachers of the secondary school of Bazilionai (near Šiauliai) and during his talks on Sister Rafaila, Father V. Zinko was asked lots of questions. It was then that the necessity to translate the book into Lithuanian was first conceived. Lithuanians ought to know about the actions of their compatriot in the Ukrainian diaspora. Consequently, V. Zinko’s study was translated in Lithuanian. It is not only the first translation of this study, but also the first translation of a historical - literary work from Ukrainian into Lithuanian. However, in pursuit of historicity some phrases and paragraphs were eliminated from the original text by the author’s consent, the structure of the study was partially changed and the text was divided into units and subunits. [...].In his study Father V. Zinko depicted Vanda’s childhood, youth, her monastic life and activities in the background of historical events of Ukraine, Russia, Brazil and other countries and described the distinguished statesmen, the clergy, people of art and science of that time. Considerable attention was devoted to monastic orders (especially to the Order of St. Basilius the Great, which was founded in Vilnius, 1617) and congregations with special emphasis on the history of the congregation of Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate, with Rafaila as one of them. [...] The archival and printed sources of Lithuania, Ukraine, Brazil and Rome were used in preparing the explanations. Encyclopaedias, encyclopaedic publications, reference books, catalogues published in Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Brazil and publications of Lithuanian and Ukrainian diasporas were referred to. Calendars, articles and monographs of Lithuanian, Ukrainian and Polish researchers, Lithuanian and Ukrainian publicistic writings were used too. The majority of the Ukrainian sources and literary publications had not been used by Lithuanian scholars before. They are important at least in two aspects: they are for the first time offered to the Lithuanian scholary public and, thus, enlarge contemporary historiography; besides, they help to reveal the history not only of some countries (Ukraine, Brazil etc.), but also the history of religion (Uniates) and fill up some of the so called blank spaces. [...] The reader is acquainted with the activities of the Latin Catholic and Gre- ko-Catholic orders and congregations and their legacy: material-architectural monuments (churches, chapels, monasteries), cultural - educational (schools, organizations, publishing etc.), spiritual (spreading of the faith, formation of the conception declaring the unity of knowledge and the faith). [...].The monograph surveys the activities of monastic orders and religious of different monasteries and convents, draws a parallel between the congregations of Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate (the Esatem and Latin rites), and points out that Sister Servants of the Latin rite arc active in Lithuania, whereas those of the Greek rite perform important work in Ukraine and the diaspora, particulary in Prudentopolis and Irasema, Brazil. [...] The second part of the monograph [...] outlines the Basilian priest V. Zinko’s life and career, his creative work and publications [...]. The Basilian monk of the Eastern (Greek) Catholic rite Father V. Zinko was an outstanding figure of the Ukrainian diaspora in Brazil and Argentina and since 1994, in Ukraine. He was a priest, a pedagogue, a research scientist, an editor and a journalist. It is stressed that V. Zinko’s study about Sister Rafaila expands the history of Ukrainian - Lithuanian relations in emigration. Sister Rafaila’s standpoint puts forward a new approach to the activity of Lithuanians in emigration and is a stimulus for researchers to investigate the history of Lithuanian emigration. [...] New publications about Lithuanian emigrants come to light one after another. However, until recently, there have not been any research studies on Lithuanians who have served for the benefit of other nations. The monograph "Vasilij Zinko’s study Sister Rafaila: a historical - biographical context, research commentaries and theological terminology" is the first to break this dominant stereotype. It is probable that Sister Rafaila (Vanda Rimkevičiūtė) is not an exceptional case and that the monograph [...] will stimulate a new search for Lithuanians who maintained close contacts with emigrants from other countries and whose example may have a positive effect on the emigration wave of our century. [From the publication]