Праздник вознесения пресвятой девы Марии на небеса в Аглоне: местные особенности и совпадения с Литвой
EN'The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary' is one of the most characteristic and popular Catholic feasts in Latvia and Lithuania. In Latvia it is prominently celebrated in Aglona. This feast in Aglona and Lithuania (in Krekenava and Pivašiūnai) has not been researched in the scientific field of religious ethnology. For this research the following objectives were set: firstly, to shortly introduce the historical origins of 'the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary'; secondly, to analyse what sacral objects, devotional practices, and ritual customs make this feast distinctive, and thirdly, to reveal the links of this feast in Aglona with the neighbouring Lithuania and its local peculiarities. The research leads to the following conclusions: firstly, the devotion of 'the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary' became known in Aglona in the 18th century; in Lithuania - in the 15th century in Krekenava and in the 19th century in Pivašiūnai); secondly, the origins of this feast in Aglona are the cultural heritage of Dominicans from Lithuania (Trakai), and thirdly, this feast in Aglona and Lithuania (in Krekenava and Pivašiūnai) reveals itself by visiting sacral objects mixed with folk devotional practices and ritual customs. St. Anthonyís spring, the monument of the Three Crosses, and 14 stations of the Way of the Cross make Aglona unique. Aglona is unique in its funeral psalms and prayers of the Way of the Cross. The results of the research validate the hypothesis set at the beginning of the research that 'the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary' in Aglona is original in its local peculiarities and therefore is different from the ones celebrated in Lithuania.
