AI-FONSAS MOTUZAS. PIt-ICRIMACE IN TO TFIE IIII, I- OF CROSSES

i,, rrr,rlt'ridlS describing the Hill of Crosses are very poor. The first to men- , r . the Russian archaeologist S.V. I'okrovskij. He introduced it in the list ALFONSAS MOTUZAS ' , ,, 1,, r, r rlogical heritage in Kaunas gubernatorial map. On August 22, 7900 a " il''l.r11glr ir-rvestigation of the Hill was done by the Polish scientist PITGRIMAGF TO TI-]F I-JILL OF CROSSES i r rr it ki. Tl-re historical analysis about the origin of the Hill was published TATVIAN ' CATHOIIC TRADIIION' r | , rLIys in the encyclopaedic edition "Churches in Lithuania", vol.3 [81. 1,, l,rr k of materials and the fact that practically no reseatcher has tried to Introduction I rr1,1111 this topic show that the work is novel and original. Thcre.rc cou.trie-s all .ver the r,r,orltr where crathoricisrn t,' , ,rr It,r to rcveal the Latvian ritual customs on the Hill of Crosscs, firstiy we decply r.oiecr is mucrr rrr,,rr tha'in r,iilrra'ja, . t, , there, to but yotr .,,,".,", fi'd srch speciar nr;rkc a brief overview of the origin of devotional practices then spiritual L.xLrressions crevoti.rr:,,rrrrl that are , on thc Hill of Clro, far-frc,rn r | lrr,rintcd with the materials collcctcd during the summcr cxpeditions of riai. Trre Hiir rrrc city or ri,.rrr uf c-.o.r..;',.';;,",,,::::,T'ilj'.1_t.ii""t:,not 'r)()3, witnessing about the Latvian ritual customs, thirdly, to describe the- rr a' o'er rrr ' r)rr e w<, rr cr ri'g rhc tc. r":l' :.i..':,1:T,":iilr,:iff]f , ,', ,,1 these rituals, and finally, to show their way to thc' Hill of Crosses. mrrsic <'>i thc Hi, of c..,.r", rrrere werc . ,", thc pilgrinrs L ;l:;: frorr all cr "i'ollll',lill"ill[i::,tJ,il r I'r'ief history of the origin of the Hill of Crosses m,,sic a ccorcr, u,,ilii,'l., H,: l'T :iliJl:i";::1, "1",J}:;**, llr, llill of Crosses is situatecl 12 km north of the'town of Sirtrli.ri, ntrt far groLrps are also", ilfi il met amorrg ,, t them with their bt antl ,,, lrc motorway to lliga. Nowadays it belongs io the Siatrliai diocese. I'eople Iowing tl.reir rituals. the.prayers, l"l Tl]" ,,.,t1.,..,. of thc article ..l.l'j*.--*tltt"t ,il rlri'hill differently: thc Hill of the Castle, the cemetery of furgaiiiai. rit'als tike, wrrcrc cl. rrrev origirrare *",", ;;;1,,.:,iJ::"t I lrt' I{i11 itself is on the left bank of a small Iliver Kulpe and it is surroundcd ancl :,'l:'r:li.:T:J,ll,: existcncc, whcr. these c-ievotiolls come f.,u'. ir.'' L;rtvia? i ,r r,nrall tributary which does not even havc'a name. It is about 70 tn long, Hencc. rftc jr,r f,c rcscnrclt thc. rituals oh | ,,7 - of ' pilgrims | | | r \\,icle anr-l it is as high as a two-storey house high. From the geological pornt 'l ,* in" ,r,,, oi Crosscs. ht'nirr,s tci irvestig.ie Latvia'.ir".r, p".r..mecl by r,atvian i \ r,'\v it is thc highest point of the arca. The first data about the hili are from Hill of pilgrims.rr rlrr crosses. rrr.rc'rtr to reach trris.im."s..n.cl., excavations: people's skeletons, swords and mcdals from has bcen cro'e for more,r,r,r ",lr,reoiogical ;l#I'ii,lil:i1i.il[T[,,;:,T.:i'l:::iffi .,' , , Iish times have- been found lcf .14,4014061. I lrere arc. a lot of legends about thc Hill of Crosses. One of thcm hars it th:rt rn kt. -t;7; t)1. :]1fJ:lilli:i:iliinlf l' I r, ('hristian Lithuania, at thc present piace of the hill there was a big batilc. Rtstnrch tnsks: 1,, t\\'cen Riga crusaders ar-rd the local pagans which cnded in serious casualtics. 1) to analysc rituals of Latvian piigrims; 1,, r('nlembrar-rce of thc battle the local people moundccl a hill with a sacred firc, 2) kr establish the origin of these .iiuotr; l,rri rring on it, kept by pricstesses. Supposedly, there was a castle, in the 3) to revc'ar r'r'rry Laivi.n pirgrims .l',,r,,r., trrese ritut-rrs , lrtrnicles it was callccl "Kr-rle, Kulan", which was burnt by the crusaders rn the as fheir c.rev.tions Hill of Crosses. 'rr I i lfi. Aftcr the introcluction of Christianity the altar and thc castle were demol- Tlr lrypo,rsis of ,rc rcscnrtrt: thc. boncrs of I_atvi., a'c-r lrt'rl, and a chapei/church was built instead [cf. 8,2551. cultnrc that Litrruanian Carr.rrr ' startcd fror-r. At thc. beginning of ther 19th century the peasants of thesc arears took a very Hlr or Crc,sse, rr,, ",; ;;;.;Tl:..TTllll,];Iilli.,i'"i1,'.,1; "''.",,"Jo,, r, livc part in the revolt against tsarism. It is said that thc first crosses were built llcstttrcl t t ne I Jrcttl s.. analytical, comparativc and rc.trospectivc. tlrt'rc by the relatives of Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish lost rebels of the.l831 ', r'olt, because the tsarist power had not allowed to pay tribute to their graves. 172 I(ULTURAS KRUSTPUNKT] 2. I.Ii(I]cnS I\I-FONSAS MOTUZAS. PILICR]MAC]E IN TO THE HILI- OF C]IIOSSES The .umber of crossrs increascd aftcr the rev.lt .f 1g63. During 18(r.r rI liorn€ as the sign of public confession of the belief in Christ and Holy the gc-ncl.rmes *lri{ k,red , Litrruanian ancr Irorisrr rebers a'cl put them t.1,,r,rrr.l . ,i l, I rr, 34-351. rn a prt rn the hiri. si'ce thcn the rocar pcoprc usecJ to buird crosses irr,,,rrr i l,, r rtrr,rl to kneel at the stations of the cross in commemoration of Christ's ntemoration of thc sla.in, br-rt_the tsarist power clestroyed them. ,, ,r ntl c-lcath came from Jerusalem, when in the Basilica of Holy Sepulchrc, soviet Durirrli tlre ',r times, communists ancl athcists orga.isc.cr five attempts to destr.y rrre ,r,,, .rritlrthel5thcentury,thepilgrimstogetherwithlocalFranciscanmonks hill, and all the built crosses werc. knocked clown. It happencd I r,,111111 the Stone of Anointmcnt which is in the centre [cf. 11,99]. The 1961; on Apqll r April 26, 1973; November 23, 1974; the psalms are suI'rg while at crrristmas , 1971 and in surrrrrr,.r ' ' rrf ', of the rituals when prayers are said and 1976 Then the rri'was totaty crearcd, part of rr was even bulltlozed, h.r't,r ,ll ,,, . rti)es back to 380 AD when the first Christians visited the sacred places er' belicvc'rs wcnt on praying the'rc a'cr btrilding crosses at nigrrt. An.r , in Jerusalem on the night of Palm Thursday to Goocl Friday had the Hill of rr,,,, 'tlr,,lics Crosses survived. ,, ,,,rrling different chapters from the Bible, saying the prayers, singing the on scptember 7, i993_when the.'.pe. John paur II w's celcbrated ,1,,r ,nrd other hymns, but starting with the 15th century, they were led by Mas-s thc rr,r1 in the built c^apel opposite thc mr-rsicologists, thc ntu- ^cwly Hill, it becamc famous all ovt,r. tlu, , , ,, I t rns lcf.5,2151. Nowadays according to Latvian worlil [cf. 72, 2]. t rrr',irrg mourning psahns Ot't'icium DefunctLtrunt (Office of the Dead) during After a brief rriskrrical srrrvey of thc origin of ihe. F{ilr, we ,, tLrr[.r,rl, was introduced at the end of the lTth century. In 1U20 ihe Jesuit obclisk sc€r that rt r:; ,rr to the fightc'rs for religi.rrs a.cr Dct'ttnctorttm stu"- national freedom who were buriecl lrr.r,. . rr,,rl lr tsarist I{nssia was suppressed but the ritual of Ofr:itnr , , , | ,r'' r clcvotional folk tradition fcf .3, 12-74]. The rituals used by Latvian pilgrims on the Hill of Crosses ililr,. w,e may say that the singing of psalms during thc funeral in Latvta and their origin ,,,t,l,,, l thcm to use the same ritual on the Hill of Crosses and to vcnerate the Using the matcriars of the 7gg2).04 paying tribute summer exprcji1i611r, let us anirrv,n, , ,,rr which Jesus Christ was crucified and died. The ritual of what the rituals of Latvian pirgrims were . 9,92, 93]. duri.g iheir stay on trre H'l .f Cr.s:;r,r , | | ,, ( ('rretry and thc dead goes back to the first Christian agc [cf The rnaterials of the ,992 2004 summer rc.vel, that pilgrims,rrr,l \rrothcr ritual - the silent prayer - is also knr:rwn since the early Chr:istian tourists from Latvia arrive ""p.r,rru.,, at ihe. Hit of Crosses: pirgrims , , , ,, l, rvhich later became a tradition in Roman liturgy to conccntr;rte before Da'gavpils, fr.m Rezcnrrr, Rigtr trncl Jergava Catholic 6, 971' parishes and tourists from diffcr.t,rrl , I | ,, \'('r'. It was exceptionally practiced by Jesuits in the 16th century lcf ' places irr Lat'ia' I-ots of pirgrims art' of a ve.erable age ancl are lecl by '', , \\'e have to admit that the tradition of silcnt prayer in Latvian folk devo- or a catechist a prit,,,l [cf. l]. i, ,r,,(()ltlesfromtheJesuitheritage,whichisstillfarirlyvividinrccentLatvtan Thc m.terials srrow trrat Latvian pirgrims ,, the table is includecl. start trreir statio.s of trre cross r,\, lrl,r()ils culture. To make a morc thorouS;h research, k'eeli'g cl.wn witrr thc sign of tt-t" .r.rrr, trrey go round the centrar cross, s,r\ sile.t prayers: "l,ord,s Praycr,,, ,,Hail ,,t<"q.ri",_,-,,,. Mary,, nr.,.i FIavi'g said tlrt,' l,rlrf g. fl11' rituals oi Latuian ytilgrims on the Hill of Crosses ,:.*Tml; thereli'*:'#:ifi*T::;i*ilii?;i,i_11"1'.:itil:i;f (either Christ,s orSt. \,,1;11y,5), thei pray silently, paying tribute ing down turgical in Jerusa clead to tlrt,ir arrd to thosc buried hcre tt.,., t_,iti Iii.:lia. t. Cross Liturgical in The cluestion "" The Sign of the - is - what is the origin of thc.sc. riiuals? Kneelirrg clown or gcnuflecticln Stations of the (-ross on knees Franciscan - in Jenrsalem . . oa nn of curt camc int. use 4th "rp..-rrig1 in trrt, ce't'ry i. Ilome with the crevotio'ar practice Praying and singing while Franciscan - in Jerusalern of c,-hrist,s Passion. Making flrr, sign of the cross is. iitrrrgicar act whichgoes back t. the beginning of the 3*l Kt I tt D ^ KI{USTI'UNKTI IN TO 2. I a i cl i c n s ALF'ONSAS MOTUZAS. P]L]CRIMAGH TFIE FIILI, OF CROSSES 5. Singing century The oi mournful psilms at Jesuit in Rorne r,,L tr,rrritV was introdltcecl in I-atvia at thc end of the 12th the frrner.-ri In 1212 the ' ,,1 llrt'iirst apostle was Meinhardus, a monk from Brcmen' 6. Paying tributc to the griives (the present Latvian-Estonian ter- an..l in Jcrus.riem ,rr ( r rtulCil namecl Livonia Ttrra Mnrinnn tlre dead of the town of Riga [cf' 16' I i' r| .rntl.lll(l 1 Our\,/ul LadyLadVLcluy wasvv.r- chosenLrLUJ!rr ""as the'^'' Patronessr-"'--"'-" 7. Silent prayer I Franciscan monks rcsided in Kurzeme It in llome I 1,, |' It)-1583 Catholic bishops and and Zemgale I ' | ,rr,l). Their missions reached the neighbouring Samogitia tirem' The rese'arch of trrc rituars rlli,t), whc're they took part in the' battles wiih pag'rr-rs in b'rptizing of Latvian pirgrir-rrs on the Hilr .,f crosst,s r,rr,,* ', ' that tl'rere seven.f therm. They originate firstly fr.m the rr',lriringtheBattleoftheSaule,whichtookplacehappe'r'rednotfarfrom Hory Land irrr,r rr: of them Franciscan cultural t a of Clerman clergy and monks were killcd; most impact, trren from Rome ancr iis ctrrtrrre , I I o| Crosses, lot Jesuit togetrrt,r rr rrh are sttp- the liturgical trarJition. ,, lrilnr Risa. As Franciscan monks resitled in ltiga at that time, they this pagatr Attenti.r'r shoulcr arso be i t,, be the first mrssionaries, who died as religious martyrs in paid to thc. uniclr-rc crerr.ti.ns t. the cross of L,rrr.r,r' (as at the beginnittg L-atholics in Latgalc, ,t r | createcl about them it was mentionecl wrrich, acc.rdi'g b i,atvi.r. rese.rrchcrs, are r .t'gcncls are not r.rr'rl Latvia and the ncigh- .rm(mg the.ther nati.ns.f thc r,r'orlcl. , rt,, ,rr.ricle). Tlrat.is a witness clf Catholic ties between This's'aily happcns dr-rri.g tht trr,r.rr tio.s facts show that Latvia became rf the mo'trr of May, when the crosses arr: visitecr ,,,,rr', Lithuania. These briefs historical in trirrr,r (1387)' e't places, by "rr".y.,.r",-,iig , r ,l1i' comparison with Lithuania tht. roadsit-les .r at the ccrnctcry, ancr trre rryrnns, | 1, v'g11r early, in ritanit,r ,,,r,l diocest" tlre slrllg for the I iilrrng (1541) alorrg the borders of the samogitian Lrsalms priests, rc'latives and all the decerasecl. This the lleformation folk tl.r, islands cliasporas ti.n.l practic. a'd tracriti.n i. is ,,Lobir ,L Lrr)r(\places of Kurzeme (Ilukstc region) small Catholic - callecl nnkts,,, wirich goes r,,r, ! tcr of the Liublin Union of August the bcginning of thc iZth ccntury [cf.12,32-'g3l r r / /. -l l3l. According to the special documcnt (Lettigallia) sub- cultnral history of tht'Catholic | ,(t). l

I' 1992/2004 metu vasaros r-'kspcdicijos mc.dzi.ga. Kre.ti'gos sv. A.r,rrr,, I'r,,rrrl€ ir vietas, kur katolicisms ir iesak}ojies daudz dzifak neka Lietuva, kolegija. Kretinga, 2005. kada ir Krustu .. ,r l, rr las tautas clievbijibas prakses, tadas gariguma izpausmes, 2. Alckna, A. 2nnii ir t,t/skt r pns t i cj t kalns rr 1 Mo ts Vn I n n i i us.Klaipeda, 1922. ,1,,,r (.ctalu no Sauliem, Lietuva), nekur citur nesastapsim. Krustu 3. Boiko, M. The Officium Dcfnnctorum (,,Office of the Dcacl,,) ancj tlrr, ,,,,1, rls, vientgais pasar-rle. mourning ritc's in Eastern Latvia. In: Musicol Iolklorc nnLl llitunl : lnternarr.rr,rl \,rrr.uk neka clesmit gadus petot Krustu kah-ra ritua|-rs, ieraZt'rs, h-rgsanas, Co'fere'ce cievoted io gruPas Jadvyga eiurlio.yte. Litrruania' Acade'my of Mt*,r, ,,,r1,rs rlziesmas trn muziku, autoram vairakkart ir nJcic's verot celotaju Department of Eth'.musicokrgy ancl savt-ri kulturai atbil- sectio'of Ethnomusicor.gy at rnstitutt, ,,1 ,, \ 1,i,rs pasaules, kas kalna hdz Dievu un izpilda katra Musicology, Dcccmber j2, 71 1997. Vilnius. ,,rs ritualieraZas un muziku. Dicvludz€iu starPa gadijies satikt ari 4. BriSka, B. Lntgola nutrn tnitzt,trtt.7994. izpildot , r, r'lotaju gruPas no Latvijas, kas kalna ce] krustus un ltdz Dievu' 5 Eteria : I'ielgrzyrnka d. micjsc swiqtycrr. Trum. w. szorclrski. In: I,isrr,r ,ilr(,( rsrls ritualus. Ekspetliciiu r-naterials liecina, ka latvieSr-r clie'vludzeji Krusttt sterroclrrze5cijariskich pisarzy, 6. j970. un t. Warszaw it, ,lrr,r apstt-rigaSanu sak, metoties celos pie Centralir krr.tsta, Palmct()t krustu 6' Kajackas, A' Bni'nyt\in titurgijojc. tevreizc Liturgijos rnitrn istorijojc. Kau.:rs, 1997 , ,,Jiem apstaigajot krustam apkart. Saja laika klusiba tiek sk.itita 7. Kcmps, F. Lntgulcs liktctti.Illga: miruiaiit'rn' Avois, 1991 . rlrrstr tevs", "sveicinata, Jaunava Mariia", "MnZlgo atdusu dod 8' Kviklys, B- I'ictuzt.s hninyiios seru : Knutt. nrkiavskupijn,3. t. Crric.go, 19g3. trrrrgs,,. Pec lnfiSanam pie. Ccntralii krusta latvieiu sv€tcelotaji dzied 9. Lenzenwcger, Katnrik4 (Kristus J. f]ninqiios istorijr. Verte r(. Gruce, G. sodcikrent,. , ,rlnrus un kapj kalrra. Tur vi$ apstaias pie vienas no skulpturam vai 1. d. Vilnir-rs, 1996. ,,,l,rs Iaunavas Mariias) un, klusi laldzot, goclina savus aizgtrjejus un kalnA 10. L.ictttuitl t:ttcikktptdija, j3. t. Boskrn, 1956. ,1 ,rilabatos. TT Petrozzt, M.T- Dar Carotrio nr s. scporcro. Jerusarenr : F'ranciscan .rintrnli vciktais petijums paraclija: pirmkart, ritualu ieraZas, kuras latvieSi izpilda Press, 1972. baznlcas liturf ijai; otrkart, I r r rstu kalnd, ir nakudas no Svetas zemes un atbilst 17E KULTUIiAS KttUSTIrUNKt.l 2. taidiens nov'rotas icraias ir frar-rciskarl, lxrku un jezuitu biedrib:rs ga'gais/l\rrr*4r mantc'rjums t,ati'ija; trcskart, rirtvicsu un rietrrvieiu katoriskas kultarras s,rirr,., !r+ veidojuiais kristiarrizacijas sakumposma, ari iocrien, ka recjzam Krusttr r.,rrrr,r katoliskas rr fc.opolitikas un kultr-rras vienotibas simbols.