| Abstract [eng] |
The tradition of veneration of images of the Blessed Virgin Mary united the Orthodox and Catholic confessional communities of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Union of the Eastern and Western Churches in Poland and Lithuania was declared in 1596 and created a new confessional community, the Greek Catholics, who retained the Orthodox rites but recognised the primacy of the Roman Pontiff. The Uniates took over venerating images of the Virgin Mary, which was important for Orthodox and Catholic religiosity. In the early 17th century, when the Orthodox places of worship of the Virgin Mary were handed over to the Uniates, they became the core of the identity of the new denominational community. In the third decade of the 17th century, the first Uniate books of miracles of the Virgin Mary were published in Vilnius, documenting the graces granted by the Mother of God. These books, written in Polish and aimed at the reading public of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, spread the message of the successful union of the Eastern and Western Churches in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland. By analysing the 1622 and 1629 editions of the first Uniate Book of Miracles, written by the monk of the Basilian Order, Teodozy Borowik, the origins of the cult of the Mother of God in the Uniate Church of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the socio-cultural dynamics of the cult's development are revealed. The first chapter of the thesis presents the origins of the cult of the Virgin Mary in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and highlights the universality of this religious practice and the uniqueness of the first Lithuanian books of the Virgin Mary's miracles. The second part of the Master's thesis examines the changes in the publication and content of the miracle books. The third chapter, exploring the testimonies of the graces of the icon of Our Lady of Zyrowicz, reveals the socio-cultural dynamics of the cult of Zyrowicz. The changes in the publication of the Zyrowicz miracle books demonstrate the systematic documentation of the miracles of icon of the Virgin Mary. The additions to the history of the site and the editing of the miracle testimonies made during the preparation of the second book of miracles reveal the construction of the concept of the sanctuary as a place of the Uniate worship of the Virgin Mary in 17th-century religious literature of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The systematic presentation of miracle accounts on a chronological basis reveals the sanctuary's transformation into a Greek and Latin Catholic place of worship. A closer look at the ailments that dominate the miracles reveals a wide range of 17th-century diseases and highlights the various practices of devotion to Mary in the Uniate Church. An analysis of the prefixes to the names of those who experienced miracles demonstrates the prevalence of the cult in different social classes and denominational communities. The study of the origin of the individuals reveals the prevalence of the cult of the Zyrowicz icon throughout the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This work is the first research in Lithuania devoted to the genesis and development of the cult of the Virgin Mary expressed in the first Greek rite Catholic miracle books in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It is anticipated that the work will be relevant for the studies of the multicultural religious heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and will open up new perspectives for the research of Uniate literature and culture. |
