Šv. Kazimiero relikvijų pagerbimas Vilniuje 1922 metais
LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Religinės šventės; Relikvijos; Relikvijų pagerbimas; Vilnius; Šv. Kazimieras; Homage to the relics; Memorabilia; Religious celebrations; St. Casimir; Vilnius.
ENThe paper discusses one of the most impressive religious celebrations that took place in Vilnius in the first half of the 20th century - the solemn celebration of the 400th anniversary of the canonisation of St. Casimir. The event is presented in a more general historical context, and the readers' attention is drawn to the fact that the celebration took place during the time which was politically complicated for Vilnius and for Vilnius region, insofar as several years of armed struggle for the ownership of this land ended with Poland's victory. This fact determined that national segregation could not be avoided during the solemnities: Lithuanian and Polish services took place apart, and the celebrations accompanied by the cultural programme were organised separately. Yet thanks to the efforts of the bishop Jurgis Matulaitis prayer was the first and foremost consideration during the solemnity. Alongside the discussion of the order of celebrations, the paper also analyses their artistic character. The latter was created by Ferdynand Ruszczyć (1870-1936) who was the Dean of the Faculty of Art at the Stefan Batory University at the time. For the celebrations professor Ruszczyc designed a temporary sarcophagus of St. Casimir (he entrusted sculptor Balzukiewicz with its execution), the gate that adorned the faęade of the Church of St. Casimir, as well as the front-cover of the programme and the poster announcing the solemn evening reception in the City Hall.The temporary reliquary of St. Casimir - a sarcophagus in modern style, carved from wood and silverplated - became one of the most memorable artistic features of the celebration. Both from the artistic point of view and in the way the relics were displayed, the work by Ruszczyć starkly contrasted with the mid-18th-century reliquary that stood (and still stands) in the Chapel of St. Casimir in the Cathedral. Instead of a sealed silver sarcophagus, the relics of the Saint were placed in a glass-walled receptacle, thus opening themselves to the eyes and prayers of the faithful. The paper proposes that the solemn homage to the relics of St. Casimir revealed an important feature of the modernising society. At the beginning of the 20lh century, just as in the past, the cult of the Saint was a source of powerful emotions and religious experiences. Certain features of the celebrations - primarily the disclosure and open display of the relics, participation in the procession, as well as the choice of a suitable type of sarcophagus - contributed to the creation of St. Casimir's praesentia, that is to say, the belief in the presence of an invisible person. The joy at the proximity of the Saint experienced thanks to this presence reinforced the manifestations of goodwill and solidarity. [From the publication]
