Liaudiškasis pamaldumas: naratyvai apie šventuosius XX a. vidurio - XXI a. pradžios Lietuvos kultūroje

LTŠiandienos religinio tapatumo ir asmens religingumo kaita kviečia iš naujo pažvelgti į žmogaus santykį su šventaisiais ir praktiką, skirtą jiems pagerbti. Gilinantis į liaudies pamaldumo raiškos formas, kyla klausimas, kaip šiandieniame pasaulyje suvokiami krikščionių šventieji. Ar šventieji, kuriais tradicinėje Lietuvos kultūroje buvo tiesiogiai ir besąlygiškai pasitikima, išlieka svarbūs dabartiniame pasaulyje, ar jie vis labiau pamirštami ir nebeatlieka išskirtinio vaidmens religiniame žmogaus gyvenime? Monografijoje plėtojama autorės atliktų etnografinių lauko tyrimų, susijusių su liaudiškuoju pamaldumu, skirtu Švč. Mergelei Marijai ir įvairiems šventiesiems pagerbti, tema. Pasitelkus lauko tyrimų medžiagą, gilinamasi į asmens religingumo raiškos formas ir religinę praktiką. Taip pat išsamiau analizuojamas asmeninis žmogaus požiūris į jam ar jo šeimai, o kartu ir bendruomenei svarbius šventuosius, pateikiama Švč. Mergelės Marijos ir šventųjų pagerbimo praktika, maldų intencija, asmeninis religinis išgyvenimas ir patyrimas, aptariama šventiesiems priskiriama veikla.Ši monografija prisideda ne tik prie liaudiškojo pamaldumo šventiesiems raiškos tyrimų, bet ir suteikia žinių apie asmens ir šventojo santykį, šventųjų pagerbimo praktiką – piligrimines keliones, altorius namų erdvėje. Knyga suteikia žinių apie svarbiausius šventuosius, kurie buvo reikšmingi religingiems žmonėms. Atliktas tyrimas padeda geriau suvokti religinius žmogaus gyvenimo aspektus, liaudies pamaldumo išraišką, formas, taip pat svarbius kultūrinio, religinio žmogaus, bendruomenės, kurioje jis gyvena, elgesio veiksnius. Monografija turėtų sudominti ne tik religijos etnologijos, lietuvių pasakojamosios tautosakos tyrėjus, bet ir įvairių sričių mokslininkus, kurie domisi liaudiškojo pamaldumo, religinio tapatumo tyrimais, taip pat – švietimo, kultūros darbuotojus, kuriems įdomus folkloras, etninė kultūra, liaudies religija. Tikimasi, kad monografija suteiks įdomių žinių ir suteiks galimybių naujai pažvelgti į liaudiškojo religingumo raiškos problemą iš etninės kultūros ir folkloro kūrinių tyrimo perspektyvos. [Iš Pratarmės]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Liaudiškasis pamaldumas; Kultūra; Šventieji; Folk Piety; Culture; Saints.

ENSaints have had a prominent place in Christian culture, and the practices of commemorating and venerating them have become embedded not only in the context of official religion but also in the personal life of the religious person manifested in various forms of folk piety. However, today’s changing attitudes towards religion and piety raise a number of questions about a person’s religious identity, various aspects of a person’s spiritual life, religious worldview, activities, or personal religious practices related to the veneration and commemoration of saints. With the changing approach to religiosity and religion in general, the ethnological study of folk piety and its expressions is relevant for a better understanding of the current situation and for explaining important factors of cultural and religious behaviour that can be observed in contemporary Lithuanian culture. The study of the expression of folk piety and one’s relationship with the saints is also relevant for understanding the aspects of a person’s religious life, the manifestations of religiosity, and the important factors of cultural and religious behaviour. In Lithuania, the relationship of the individual to the saints and the practices of folk piety devoted to them have not been studied in depth. Such studies help understand the place that the cult of saints has occupied in both personal life and community surroundings, and how it is manifested in contemporary Lithuanian culture. Research in the ethnology of religion is also relevant for enhancing the concept of folk piety and its expression in both traditional and contemporary culture. It can help to understand better the interrelationships between Christian religion and traditional Lithuanian culture, which is often characterised by aspects of pre-Christian culture.The monograph addresses the problem of the expression of folk piety concerning the treatment of saints and the activities intended to venerate and commemorate them. In this context, it is important to understand and clarify how practices venerating saints relate to personal religious experience, how saints are perceived in the context of folk piety, and what activities attributed to them remain relevant in modern society. The object of the monograph is the narratives provided by mostly elderly Lithuanian residents residing in villages or small towns who confess the Catholic religion and based on their own and their community’s religious life, practices venerating the saints, the treatment of the saints, and their personal relationship with the saints who are important to them, as well as their private, personal religious experiences. As M. B. McGuire has pointed out, it is precisely because of the lack of research on religion-as-lived that many aspects of popular religion have been overlooked647 by scholars. Therefore, in order to better understand how religion is practised and experienced by the individual, the direct religious experience of the interviewees and the practices of folk piety related to the veneration of the saints, which the interviewees identified as being important in their daily religious life are examined in the monograph. In accordance with this approach, the aim of the monograph is to investigate the expressions of folk piety in the Lithuanian rural and small-town culture of the mid‑20th and early 21st centuries related to the veneration of the saints and the relationship of the individual to the saints, by analysing the religious experiences of the individual and the perception of the St. Mary the Virgin and various Christian saints in the person’s worldview. To achieve the aim the following objectives have been set out.Firstly, to determine how the respondents acquired religious knowledge about the saints who were important to them, and to highlight their attitudes towards religiosity and its changes in different periods of life. Secondly, to present narratives of personal religious experience about dreams, personal and private visions, and their meaning in the context of personal religiosity and folk piety. Thirdly, to identify the most characteristic expressions of folk piety related to the veneration of saints, and to discuss the purpose and meaning of visits to holy places, pilgrimages, the function of home altars, and the content and intentions of personal prayers. Fourthly, to reveal the relationship of a person to the saints who are important to them, their favourite saints, by explaining which saints are singled out by the person and how the person perceives the roles performed by the other saints, and which practices of popular piety are used to seek their patronage. To achieve the aim and objectives, the ethnographic field research methodology (observation, interview, semi-structured in-depth interview, questionnaire, diary writing, photographs) is chosen. The ethnographic field research methodology is used to identify the practices of the respondents’ folk devotions to venerate St. Mary the Virgin and the saints, to discuss their favourite saints, the activities of the saints, the relationship of the respondents to St. Mary the Virgin and the individual saints, and to record the narratives of the individuals’ religious experience, which cover the topic of the research. The selection of the respondents living in and around Lithuanian towns and villages is based on the principle of snowball sampling, where one respondent identified another person close to him/her who shared similar elements of worldview, religious experiences, religious practices, and attitudes towards religious life. [From the publication]

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