Šv. Mykolo giesmės ir muzika Žemaitijoje

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 Catholism and Orthodoxy, and it is important in terms of Christian culture. But practically there is no research of this phenomenon in Lithuanian historiography, ethnology, and musicology. The aim of this research is to reveal the hymns and music in honour of St. Michael in Samogitia. The tasks of the research: firstly, to describe the range and causes in spreading and forming of St. Michael'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 in honour of St. Michael. The issue of the research led to such conclusions: firstly, the hymns in honour of St. Michael in Samogitia firstly appeared in parishes where the feast of this Saint was celebrated.These were the parishes of Gaurė, Kražiai, Janapolė, Rietavas, Samogitian Naumiestis, Gargždai and Mosėdis; secondly, as a tradition these hymns were sung in the parishes of Skuodas, Mažeikiai, Mosėdis, Telšiai, Plungė, Rietavas, Gargždai, Samogitian Naumiestis, Tauragė, Gaurė, Jurbarkas, Kražiai, Varniai, Janapolė and Tverai; thirdly, the origin of these hymns comes from Jesuits and Marianes; fourthly, traditional authors of the melodies of St. Michael's hymns are from folk, and at the beginning of the 20th century Marian monks started writing them. The issues of the research are based on the hypothesis that St. Michael's hymns and their music in Samogitia were the cultural heritage of the local Jesuit and Marian monks.