Užmiršti dvasininkai

LTNuo pat Valinčių kaimo paminėjimo rašytiniuose šaltiniuose (1642 m.) jame gyveno Valinčiai. 1765 m. minimos šešios – Andriaus, Jono, Jurgio, Motiejaus, Mykolo, Povilo – Valinčių šeimos. Šiandien sunku nustatyti jų giminystės ryšius. XIX a. pradžioje kaime gyveno penkiolika tokią pavardę turinčių šeimų. Tuomet net trys Valinčiai – Pranciškus, Bonifacas ir Petras – tapo dvasininkais. Šiandien jau mažai kas juos prisimena. Sunkiausiai buvo rasti duomenų apie kun. Pranciškų Valinčių, kuris dirbo Varšuvos pranciškonų vienuolyne, o vėliau Kališe [p. 130].

ENThe author of the article describes five parishioners from Punskas who worked all their lives as clergymen in various orders and parishes in the 19th and 20th centuries. He also reviewed the genealogical trees of three priests: Pranciškus (1817-1901), Bonifacas (1822-1915) and Petras (1826-1887) Valinčiai, who were born in the village of Valinčiai, Suvalkai Province. The most educated and distinguished of the abovementioned clergymen was Pranciškus Valinčius, the Franciscan friar from the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFMConv). In 1859 he was the parish priest in Szczawina. For favouring the insurgents in 1864, he was sentenced to police supervision until 1870. After the dissolution of the Łagiewniki monastery, on November 1866, he was transported to Kalisz. There he performed a number of important functions, including: lector, guardian, definitor, provincial. In 1894 in Kalisz, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his priesthood. The importance of this jubilee is evidenced by the fact that the ceremony was attended by several priests, the President of Kalisz and many distinguished parishioners. He was given a mace with a cross and a chasuble. Probably, the aforementioned chasuble was given to the church of Punskas in 1894. He died in Kalisz on February 27, 1901 and was probably buried there. Fr. Bonifacas Valinčius was the last representative of the Dominican Order. He studied in Seinai, in 1843 he entered the Dominican Order in Warsaw, from where he was sent to the sembiary in Janów. In 1846 he was appointed a religious preacher in Warsaw. From 1856 to 1859 he was a novice professor at the Lublin monastery. Then he was the prior of the convent in Warsaw and held this office until the dissolution of the monastery in 1864. In the years 1866-1867 he resided in the monastery in Gidle, then he was secularized and until 1874 he served as a vicar in Łódź. Transferred to Warsaw, he was the chaplain of the Canonesses at the Church of St. Andrew.There he married the writer Henryk Sienkiewicz and Maria Szetkiewicz on August 8, 1881. From 1901 until his death, he lived at the Church of the Virgin Mary in Leszno. He died on July 21, 1915. He was buried in Powązki. During his long life he did not forget about the church in Punskas and in 1895 he donated a chalice, in 1909 he donated a beautiful and expensive monstrance. Currently, the distant relatives of the priests live in the place where they were born (Petras and Juozas Valinčiai). Fr. Petras Valinčius was ordained a priest on March 3, 1849. From 1849 to 1866 he was a vicar of the parish in Filipów. In 1866-1886 he was a pastor of the parish in Krosna (Lithuania). He probably died there on July 24, 1887. In the nineteenth century, his relatives moved to Vidugiriai. Only the oldest parishioners of Punskas know when the priests described below were ordained. Fr. Antanas Burba entered the Order of the Missionaries of the Holy Family in 1958 and began his studies at the Minor Seminary MSF. However, he did not finish his studies because he had to return to work on a farm. At that time, he continued his studies at the Suvalkai secondary school for working people. In 1964, he passed his high school diploma and re-entered the aforementioned Order of Missionaries. On November 7, 1971 he was ordained to the presbytery in Kazimierz Biskupi. Then he worked as a vicar in Tarnówka in the years 1972-1975, 1976-1978. In 1975-1976 he was a seminary treasurer in Kazimierz Biskupi. He was a vicar in Wielki Klincz (1978-1988), a confessor of novices (from 1992 in Bąblin, from 2000 in Wielki Klincz). In 1988 he became a parish priest in Kiszewo and worked there for 12 years. He died in the religious house in Wielki Klincz on October 6, 2017 and was buried there.