Žolinė

LTKrikščioniškame liturginiame kalendoriuje Švč. Mergelės Marijos Dangun ėmimo šventė (Rugpjūčio 15-oji) yra viena didžiausių bažnytinių ir liaudiškų švenčių. Lietuvos vyskupų konferencijos dokumente "Dėl privalomų Bažnytinių švenčių dekreto įgyvendinimo", išleistame 1996 m. sausio 24 d. Nr. 1-52/96, katalikams paliekamos keturios privalomos šventės: Šv. Kalėdos, Švč. M. Marijos Dievo Gimdytojos (Naujieji metai), Žolinė ir Visų šventųjų diena (Bažnyčios žinios 1996). Tai įvyko neatsitiktinai, nes Žolinė - viena svarbiausių bažnytinių švenčių, turinti gilias istorines šaknis ir nenutrūkstamą tradiciją. Miesto gyventojams švęsti darbo dieną visuomet būdavo sunku, galutinai Žolinė šventines pozicijas mieste prarado sovietizavus Lietuvą 1940 m., о XX a. vid. kolektyvizacija nustūmė ją į viešojo gyvenimo pašalį. Vis dėlto, katalikų liturgijoje sovietmečiu atlaidams persikėlus į sekmadienį, tikintiesiems Žolinė išliko reikšminga. Kaimo gyventojams švęsti darbo dieną niekada nebuvo sudėtinga, nes, esant būtinybei, po pamaldų žmonės galėdavo dirbti. Sovietmečiu ši šventė, kaip ir kitos, dėl valdžios draudimų viešai švęsti religines šventes bei visuomenės pokyčių išnyko iš kasdienybės, tačiau tikintiesiems reikšmės neprarado. Tik atkūrus nepriklausomybę, XX a. pab. Lietuvoje įteisinus naują valstybinių ir naujų švenčių kalendorių, sugrįžo sovietmečiu draustos kalendorinės šventės. [Iš straipsnio, p. 292]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Šventės; Religinės šventės; Bažnytinės šventės; Liturgija; Apeigos; Tradicijos; Žolynai; Vilniečiai; Lithuania; Holidays; Religious holidays; Church holidays; Liturgy; Rites; Traditions; Herbs; Vilnius residents.

ENAfter the restoration of Lithuanian independence, and after the Sejm legislated an amendment of Holidays Act in 2000, 15 August was declared a public holiday in the new calendar of Public and New Holidays: the Day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven. Therefore the research in Vilnius attempted to establish how significant to the Lithuanians, the Poles and the Russians the liturgical and folk meaning of the Assumption Day is, and also to reveal peculiarities of the celebration of this public holiday in the families of Vilnians. The celebration of the Assumption in the Christian calendar of the Church was established in religious documents in the first centuries of Christianity. Consecration of herbs, common to the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven, started from the tenth century, and since that time are known the prayers of the consecration of flowers, in which Cod is asked for the herbs to be beneficial both to the healthy and the ill, to humans and animals. This tradition reached Lithuania along with Christianity and similar prayers can be found in the RC Church documents of the seventeenth century. The material, assembled in the course of the research, shows that to the Lithuanians and the Poles of Vilnius, herbs are the symbol of commemoration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven. Either entire families or singular members take herbs to be consecrated, and then for a period of time they are used to decorate the dwellings. For nonbelievers, or those not looking for a connection between the Assumption and public holidays, 15 August is just an additional day of rest and does not include the notion of a feast.Yet in exploring national peculiarities of celebrating the Assumption, it was noted that the greatest problem in celebrating this feast is posed to the Russians, since their Day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven is on 28 August, therefore the Assumption (15 August) is marked only by those Russians that recognise and respect its status of the public holidays. In the Orthodox celebration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven liturgical consecration of herbs is absent. Only for the Catholics this religious feast and consecration of herbs in the rituals of the Assumption has remained a significant ritual. The Poles of Vilnius tend to consecrate herbs most commonly, and much less the Lithuanians, who celebrate the Assumption independently of its status of public holidays. Therefore a larger portion of Vilnians do not mark this occasion in the families. In traditional rural culture, along with the religious elements of it, agricultural objectives of the Assumption were also clearly expressed, now obsolete to modern urban dwellers, thus making elements of agricultural heritage in the feast little understood. Despite this, in the herbs of Vilnians one may find ears of grain and stalks of flax. However, most Vilnius' citizens of Polish and Lithuanian origins do not arrange their flowers, but rather purchase them at the specially arranged stalls by the churches. Even though a variety is on offer, still original and tradition maintaining herbs are possible to produce only with one's own hands. It is not a coincidence to see a distinctive tradition of herbs, complemented with berries and vegetables, common to the celebration among the Poles of Vilnius. However, the meaning of the sacramental in the post-festival period has changed, bearing no more real application in various life situations, except for the still remaining use of consecrated herbs during funerals among the Lithuanians and the Poles.This way in the larger portion of Russian and Lithuanian families, for various reasons, the Assumption has a status of neither traditional nor public holidays. The analysis of data bears witness that the feast of the Assumption in the Vilnian families separates into two tendencies, absent of ethnic peculiarities. First is the position upholding religious meaning of the occasion and its status of a public holiday: it's when religious people attend churches in spite of the status of the Assumption in the secular world. The status of public holidays is accepted by both secular and religious people. The second tendency is a part and parcel of the first one, i.e. it is important to those who celebrate and consecrate herbs to continue folk customs that were born in the context of religious folk piety. Even though the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven could be differentiated on ethnic grounds for various reasons, still the larger part of the public shares one common attitude to this religious and public holiday: 15 August is a complementary resting day for leisure. [From the publication]