Abstract
Konstantinas Širvydas (Sirvydas, Szyrwid; c.1580–1631), a Jesuit of great merit to Lithuanian and Polish culture, little known outside his homeland, undertook and accomplished various important tasks that the Jesuits of the Lithuanian province set themselves from the very beginning of the establishment of the Vilnius Academy. Among them was the publication of the first Polish–Latin–Lithuanian dictionary (1620) and the first compilation of original sermons in Lithuanian and Polish: Punkty kazań/ Punktai sakymų (Points for sermons) (1629, 1644). The former served the purpose of teaching Lithuanian grammar and language, the latter laid down guidelines for Lithuanian priests on how to deliver sermons. He was also one of the first Jesuit lecturers in Scripture, a dedicated course initiated by theology professors at the Vilnius Academy. Some of his lectures were made available by his student, Adam Pęski (1592–1629) in a little-known notebook. This article analyzes Pęski’s notebook as an important insight into the origins of teaching Scripture at Jesuit universities.
Introduction
Konstantinas Širvydas, an outstanding representative of his time, was active in various fields and made a multifaceted contribution to Lithuanian culture. He was engaged in pastoral, social, and scholarly work and held various important secular and ecclesiastical positions. He combined priestly ministry with care for the people, he strove to preach the word of God in Lithuanian and was among those who formulated the norms of the Lithuanian language. The present study aims to present his accomplishments in those fields in which he achieved considerable success: ministry, theology, and linguistics. Širvydas’s activities will be presented in the context of a broader historical and cultural background, and as part of the scholarly and theological achievements of the Jesuit order in Lithuania during the first half of the seventeenth century.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was from its very beginning far from being ethnically, confessionally, and linguistically homogeneous. In addition to the Baltic and Slavic languages, also German and two church languages—Old Church Slavonic and Latin—could be heard in fourteenth-century Vilnius. After the union with Poland (1395), Poles, speaking different varieties of Polish, as well as Tartars and Jews began to settle in Vilnius. The languages spoken by the city’s inhabitants in the fourteenth century were therefore Lithuanian, Ruthenian, and to some extent German, and from the end of that century also Polish. Over the course of the fifteenth century, the number of speakers of Lithuanian declined, although it was high enough up to the beginning of the seventeenth century for sermons to be given in Lithuanian. The extant texts were composed mainly in Old Church Slavonic, Latin, Hebrew, Yiddish, Ruthenian, Polish, German, and occasionally Greek.1
As they prepared to establish the first Catholic college in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (gdl), the Jesuits were aware of their special role in the region. They were entrusted with fighting the Protestant Reformation and strengthening the position of Catholicism in Lithuania and adjacent lands through education, missions, and catechism taught in ethnic languages. The vigorous actions undertaken by the Vilnius bishop Valerian Protasevich (in office 1556–79) and the royal support facilitated the founding of the Vilnius Academy (1579). The convenient geographical location of Vilnius as a place from where the Catholic faith could be spread to other countries was mentioned as an important argument. The ethnic composition of the population was also considered, with the aim of developing the national cultures existing there and attracting believers from among followers of other religions. Consequently, the Jesuit academy became the most significant center of intellectual life in the gdl,2 and Vilnius grew to become one of the most important cultural and academic centers in eastern Europe. This was mainly due to its excellent teaching staff that included Jakub Wujek (1541–97), Piotr Skarga (1536–1612), Kazimierz Sarbiewski (1595–1640), Grzegorz Knapski (1564–1638), our Širvydas, and others.3
The activities of Jesuits translated into the establishment of a network of colleges throughout Lithuania. Their mission in Samogitia began in 1576, as Bishop Melchior Giedroyć (in office 1576–1609) arrived in Samogitia and founded the Samogitian mission (Missio Samogitica) with the support of the Italian Jesuit Antonio Possevino (1533–1611). Thanks to the efforts of the Lithuanian Grand Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz (1571–1621), the Samogitian mission was transformed in 1616 into the Jesuit college in Kražiai (called Collegium Chodkievicianum in the literature of the time), which played a crucial role in the religious and cultural life of Lithuania. In the following years, Jesuit residencies were opened in Kaunas (Collegium Caunense, 1649), Pašiaušė (Collegium Possaviense, 1655), Merkinė (Missio Merecensis, 1680), and Šeduva (Missio Szadovensis, 1683). This undoubtedly had a great impact on the cultural development of Lithuania’s various regions.4
The influence of the Jesuits on the life and culture of Vilnius was particularly strong not only due to their educational and publishing activities, which will be discussed below, but also due to the pastoral and social activities of the Society. Soon after the foundation of the Academy, they opened a house for the professed, and a novitiate in 1604, which was conducive to performing ministry among the various strata of the city’s multi-ethnic and multi-confessional society. They provided the ministry in the central churches of Vilnius: St. John’s, St. Casimir’s; religious functions were also provided in the churches of St. Raphael and St. Ignatius. Jesuits preached in Vilnius in Polish, Lithuanian, and German.5 Various religious groups and associations that emerged from the sixteenth century also became a special place for the exchange of ideas and pastoral work. Above all, confraternities and sodalities were established at Jesuit churches, in which the faithful formed associations according to their state and language affiliation.6
Seeking to answer the question of whether the pastoral initiatives of the Vilnius Jesuits were part of a broader model of Catholic piety of the era, or whether they were the result of local social and political conditions, historian Andrea Mariani points out that the inculturation to which the Jesuits were subjected and the ensuing shifts of emphasis in the propagation of the faith are manifest here. He discusses, for example, the cult of St. Casimir, which was associated with the idea of the statehood of the Grand Duchy, or the confraternity of St. Joseph and St. Nicodemus, whose purpose was to organize a decent Christian burial for those who died during the plague. The division of Vilnius into Ruthenian and Polish (or Latin) sectors remained valid for a very long time; the Jesuit ministry also had little influence on the life of the Jewish and Tatar communities. The victory of the Counter-Reformation was neither quick nor complete in Vilnius.7
Konstantinas Širvydas, a Jesuit
The life and work of Širvydas fall at the end of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth century. His accomplishments and legacy have already been the subject of many studies. This is evident both from the search of bibliographical sources provided by the respected expert in Lithuanian history, literature, and culture Vaclovas Biržiška,8 and from the information contained in Karol Estreicher’s Bibliography as well as the supplements in Nowy Korbut.9 However, these latter sources only list Širvydas’s published works. More about his contributions, as well as facts from his life, can be found in Polish and Lithuanian literature that was written in the nineteenth century. It originated on the wave of the awakening of Lithuanian national consciousness and the struggle for the mother tongue, so it is his contributions to the development of the Lithuanian language that are accentuated therein. More detailed publications describing Širvydas’s dictionaries and postils appeared in the 1980s. His lectures on Scripture remain virtually unknown.
In search for biographical data, I have reviewed all sources from the above-mentioned bibliographical studies in both Lithuanian and Polish. Unfortunately, Širvydas did not leave any diaries or memoirs, nor have his letters survived. Of greatest value, therefore, are the studies based on detailed research in the archives of the Polish and Lithuanian provinces, conducted and described by two Jesuits: the Lithuanian Jesuit Paulius Rabikauskas and the Polish Jesuit Ludwik Piechnik;10 they carried out research in the Roman archives at the same time, exchanging data they had found. They also identified Širvydas’s contribution to both the development of the art of preaching and philosophical thought, as well as to the development of the Lithuanian language. The data collected from earlier studies, as well as the recent research on the language and content of his postils, show Širvydas in a new light and reveal his hitherto neglected role in the development of both Lithuanian and Polish culture.
Širvydas was probably born in 1580, almost at the same time the Vilnius Academy was founded; he came from a noble family that can be traced in the vicinity of Anykščiai in northern Lithuania. He studied grammar and poetry at the Vilnius college, rhetoric in Dorpat (Tartu) and Nesvizh, and philosophy in Pułtusk. He probably studied theology at the Vilnius Academy in 1606–7, was ordained a priest in 1609, and took his last vows in 1617. From 1611 to 1612, he completed his tertianship in Nesvizh. From 1613 until his death, he lived and worked in Vilnius. He preached in Lithuanian and Polish and, in addition to his work at the Faculty of Theology, served as prefect of the lower classes and prefect of the Greek Academy, preached exhortations to members of the Brotherhood of Mercy (1615–17), led the Congregation of Corpus Christi, and was a consultor to the rector (1616–19). In May 1631, at a private ceremony presided by the provincial of the Lithuanian Jesuits Mikołaj Łęczycki (1574–1653), he was awarded the degree of Master of Liberal Arts and Philosophy. He died of tuberculosis in 1631.
At the same time, the well-known writer, lover of Lithuania, professor of the academy, a Jesuit, Konstantinas Širvydas, preached in Lithuanian in the cathedral and at St. John’s. He was a people’s preacher by vocation; he stood at the pulpit several times a day, speaking to his listeners with great ease, clearly, eloquently, and with great benefit. He never wrote down his entire sermons but arranged them in the form of points.15
Kurczewski also portrayed Širvydas as an indefatigable bilingual preacher, who could be understood by all strata of society: “He delivered sermons in Lithuanian at St. Ignatius’s Church at the evening service, and at the morning service at St. John’s Church he preached to the workers, and at the cathedral, during the high Mass, to noblemen, in Polish.”16
Širvydas was also mentioned in historiographical sources describing distinguished Jesuits of the Vilnius Academy. For example, Józef Ignacy Kraszewski (1812–87) referred to Širvydas as “fluent in Greek and Latin, as well as capable in solving intricate theological problems.”17 On the other hand, Józef Bieliński (1848–1926), a historian and an author of two multi-volume monographs on Polish universities, listing Širvydas’s various merits, described him as “a man of thorough learning and virtue, and great zeal.”18 The Jesuit historian Stanisław Załęski (1843–1908), giving a list of professors and masters of the academy until the middle of the seventeenth century characterized him as “a long-standing professor of the Holy Scriptures and an ardent preacher in Vilnius.”19
Širvydas’s role in carrying out the Jesuit mission of using national languages in priestly ministry is characterized in more detail in the work of Piechnik, who wrote: “Caring for national languages, the Jesuits contributed to their development and thus took part in building the foundations of individual national cultures. Some of them, like Širvydas, encouraged young people to learn Lithuanian not only for the possibility of pastoral work but also for its richness and beauty.”20
Rabikauskas also characterizes Širvydas’s merits for the development of the Lithuanian language and links them to the need for Christianization in the national language, an approach that was of great concern to many Jesuits active at the Academy. However, according to the documents of the Congregation of the Lithuanian Province, which was held in Vilnius in 1628 and which was famous for its efforts of preserving Lithuanian identity, young Lithuanian priests did not value the national language, did not want to learn it, and did not care about its development. As a result, strict measures were imposed on those who would not want to learn Lithuanian: they were either forbidden from performing priestly ministry or not ordained at all. After lengthy discussions, however, more lenient measures were finally applied: the Lithuanian language was to be a mandatory subject already in the novitiate, the art of preaching in Lithuanian was to be taught, exercises were to be conducted in this language, and all kinds of exemptions were to be given to those who would learn the language well.21 The work of educating young priests in the national language was to be carried out by the Vilnius circles known as academies. Širvydas was involved in teaching the Lithuanian language at these academies.
The Greek, Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, and philosophical and theological academies were then active at the university.22 We learn about the academies from a letter from Superior General Mutio Vitelleschi (in office 1615–45) dated January 2, 1621, which is of significance here. He wrote to the superior of the Lithuanian province: “I hope that these academies of the Latvian, Estonian, and Lithuanian languages, established by Your Reverence, will be very useful for the propagation of God’s glory and the salvation of souls.”23 Researchers cite data from which we may conclude that such academies also operated in other colleges in Lithuania.24
Arguably, Širvydas can be considered the best Lithuanian language expert of the seventeenth century.25 And perhaps Estreicher’s claim that the Jesuit Agenda parva, containing sermons in Lithuanian, was composed with Širvydas’s help, has some solid grounds.26 Zigmas Zinkevičius also noted that Širvydas’s work was heavily influenced by his contacts with Jesuits of Lithuanian origin studying or working at the university. He became acquainted with the Jesuits by Jakub Lawiński (1557–98), who preached in Lithuanian; among his outstanding students were Jerzy Rawa (1559–1620), and two Samogitians in the novitiate: Melchior Dowgiełło (1552–1623) and Jan Jamiołkowski (1578–1649). Among the listeners of his lectures were: Jan Jachimowicz (1589–1668), Andrzej Rudomina (1596–1631), Michał Ginkiewicz (1594–1663), Zygmunt Lauxmin (1596–1670), and Adam Sobolewski (1597–1650).27
Širvydas as the First Lithuanian Lexicographer
Širvydas’s publication of the trilingual dictionary (Polish–Latin–Lithuanian) in 1620 is considered by many researchers a remarkable accomplishment of that period.28 As it was the only source for the study of the Lithuanian language in Lithuania, it was augmented and reprinted several times (1631, 1642, 1677, and 1713). Its value is indirectly evidenced by the fact that—without the Lithuanian part—the dictionary was published in 1641 in Warsaw and served the Polish Jesuits.29 Tadeusz Piotrowski,30 discussing the importance of the dictionary in the context of Polish and European lexicography, established that it was produced among the earliest trilingual dictionaries in Europe. Scholars also emphasize the great importance of Širvydas’s dictionary beyond the borders of Lithuania. It was the basis for the Latvian Jesuit lexicographer Goerg Elger (1586–1672) to compile his own Polish–Latin–Latvian dictionary in 1683 and was used later by Polish dictionary editors Jan Oszustowski (1720–74) and Bogumił Samuel Linde (1771–1847). Copies of it are kept in libraries around Europe: in Oxford, Florence, Helsinki, Warsaw, and Uppsala.31 It should also be added that Širvydas’s works are a source for the contemporary Słownik języka polskiego xvii i 1 poł. xviii w. (Dictionary of the Polish language of the seventeenth and first half of the eighteenth centuries; Kraków: pan, 1996–).
An in-depth study of the first Širvydas’s dictionary of 1620 did not appear until its reprint in 1979, the publication of which was curated by Kazys Pakalka.32 Among the oldest studies of the vocabulary collected in this lexicon is Nina Borowska’s extensive article, “Wpływy słowiańskie na litewską terminologię kościelną na podstawie Dictionarium Szyrwida” (Slavic influences on Lithuanian ecclesiastical terminology on the basis of Širvydas’s Dictionarium),33 in which she describes the Lithuanian church terminology (about 170 lexical entries) contained therein. She established that the Lithuanian religious vocabulary was shaped by Ruthenian influences in the period up to the fourteenth century, and it is only from the fourteenth century that Polish influences can be observed. Besides, by comparing the vocabulary of this thematic group with the lexis elaborated by Daukša,34 she concludes that “Daukša was not a purist and accepted the existence of Slavisms in ecclesiastical terminology. However, the purist tendency can be seen quite clearly in Širvydas’s writings. Hence it is also his ecclesiastical terminology that is undoubtedly more Lithuanian than Daukša’s.”35
Širvydas’s trilingual dictionary was written on the basis of Nicolas Volckmar’s and Grzegorz Knapius’s dictionaries.36 The way in which words were selected and the extent of the changes that Širvydas made to his dictionary speaks highly of the author’s linguistic competence. In the course of compiling it, he developed his own lexicographical technique, undertook normative tasks, and strove for the greatest possible clarity in providing definitions and grammatical information.37 His dictionary contains many important concepts of political, social, and spiritual life. In this way, the Lithuanian language is presented as material in which the intellectual and political life of the country can be perceived. From an analysis of the lexis collected in the Polish–Latin dictionary,38 despite its small size, it is possible to reconstruct a linguistic picture of the region of the time.
Clavis linguae lithuanicae, Vilnius 1630, in 8o. This grammar of the Lithuanian language, which was never seen by any bibliographer, is supposed to be found in the post-Franciscan library in Leżajsk; first, it is mentioned by Alegambe. It seems to us, however, that this lost grammar was reprinted in Vilnius in 1737 under a slightly changed title: Universitas linguarum Lithuaniae in principali ducatus eiusdem dialecto grammaticis legibus circumscripta, and that Jan Rozwadowski reprinted it in 1896 in Kraków.39
Unfortunately, in-depth research on this grammar has not been carried out, but the argument of Zinkevičius against Širvydas’s authorship is convincing—he states that this grammar was written with a different (central) variant of Lithuanian than the Širvydas dictionaries (eastern one).40
Preacher and Teacher
Širvydas wrote his sermons at a time when Postylla Mniejsza (dp)41 by Wujek (1541–97), translated into Lithuanian by Daukša, and the Protestant Postylla Litewska (1600, mp)42 by Mikołaj Rej (1505–69), translated by Jakub Markowicz (Jokūbas Morkūnas; 1556–1611), were published. Earlier, Protestant postils were composed in the territory of Lithuania Minor: the printed Postilla (bp, 1591)43 by Jan Bretkun (Jonas Bretkūnas, Johann Bretke; 1536–1602) and the manuscript Postilla of Wolfenbüttel (wp).44 It can be assumed that at least some of these were known to Širvydas, but nowhere did the Jesuit refer to them, nor did he engage in any polemic with his predecessors, especially with the Protestant authors, as Wujek had done, for example.45
The publication of the first original Širvydas’s postil Points for Sermons was an important stage in the formation of the art of preaching in Lithuania.46 The first part of the work was published in 1629 and the second one much later in 1644. Širvydas did not describe in detail his writing technique or methodology, nor did he provide a list of quoted sources or renowned authorities he followed.47 He only gave some basic notions in the preface, where he clarifies the purpose of sermons. He wanted his book to fulfill an important objective of both spreading the Catholic faith and teaching the Lithuanian language.
Širvydas’s sermons have a unique form he probably worked out independently. It is known that summaries in the postils of that era were an obligatory part, and were usually placed at the end of each sermon. These brief notes had the form of numbered points. Širvydas, writing his sermons in the form of points, gave them a slightly different form—he writes more detailed summaries, and the basic idea is accompanied by explanations and biblical quotations, references to church authorities, philosophers, and works of classical literature.48 He also points out that these summaries can be further developed by priests, and can serve a variety of purposes.
He probably chose this form of condensed writing because of his poor health. He made no secret of the fact that he wrote in a hurry, and that his serious illness did not allow him to write extensively. At the same time, he believed that a concise form had an advantage as it facilitates proper interpretation, and draws attention to the most important things without forcing the reader to delve into the intricacies of the text. In this way, he wanted to reach out to the different strata of society, something he repeatedly emphasized in his sermons.
Širvydas addressed his sermons both to those who already knew Lithuanian and those who did not, and he continued to preach in Polish. But Polish was less important to Širvydas—it only served as an auxiliary tool. He also justified the errors in the Lithuanian text caused by the lack of accent marks, which are very important in Lithuanian. Širvydas did not have such a generous patron as did Daukša, so he could not afford to make a special typeface for printing his postils.49 He was aware, however, that his work, even with typing errors, would still serve well to teach the Lithuanian language. Širvydas also justified the inclusion in the margins of short commentaries in Latin on the content of the sermons, as well as of indices to serve those unfamiliar with both languages (Lithuanian and Polish). These, he believed, allowed the reader to grasp an idea of the content of the sermons. Because he wanted to make his Points for Sermons as widely available as possible, he used Latin.50
Širvydas’s postils—as he wrote in the preface—were intended primarily to serve priests in their pastoral work, to assist the clergy in their understanding of Scripture, and to encourage them in doing their own reflection and interpretation. He, therefore, appears here not only as an author whose sermons are to be repeated and imitated but also as a teacher and a preacher who understands perfectly well that good sermons should be adapted to the needs and cognitive capacities of listeners, address current social problems, provide answers to the intricate problems of life, for the solution of which faith is very necessary. His work was meant to serve many generations to come.51
From the preface to the sermons written in Polish, one may also infer a clearer linguistic situation of the gdl in the mid-seventeenth century and the extent of language use in the religious sphere. Writing in Lithuanian and teaching this language to priests who wanted to establish closer contact with the faithful was an important task that Širvydas undertook. As mentioned above, he preached sermons in various churches in two languages: Lithuanian and Polish. Unfortunately, no manuscripts of Širvydas’s sermons have survived; Rabikauskas speculates about the diversity of his sermons.52 Whether Širvydas used notes made for orally delivered sermons is difficult to establish with certainty. It is likely that he wrote whole fragments anew, directly in Lithuanian, as he himself suggests in the preface. This is also evident from the earlier comparison of the two texts—the Polish text shows many similarities with the Lithuanian text,53 and although Polish is characterized by a more mature religious vocabulary, for the most part, Širvydas sticks to the literal translation.
It should be kept in mind that Širvydas wrote his trilingual dictionary almost at the same time as his postils, which were intended to be used to teach young people studying at the time how to read and interpret Scripture. He based his dictionary on Polish lexicographical sources and very meticulously selected Latin equivalents to Polish words (they outnumber Polish and Lithuanian words). Lithuanian was not the main language in the dictionary, but the third in terms of importance; its norms were only just being formed. Difficulties in the selection of Lithuanian lexis in the dictionary are clearly visible—there are both very accurate attempts to select words from the living mother tongue and its colloquial variety and traces of copying foreign structures (Latin or Polish), as well as numerous descriptive translations. One can see in these efforts that the author analyzes the semantics of the vocabulary he tried to introduce into the emerging literary variety of the Lithuanian language. Širvydas used all his knowledge and talent as a translator when writing his postils, in which the first input language was Lithuanian, from which he translated longer parts into Polish. It was a creative compilation of two languages at different levels of development; his translation respected the audience with different levels of knowledge and education. This is yet another remarkable achievement.
Professor of Sacred Scripture at Vilnius Academy
Another area of Širvydas’s activity, so far the least studied, is his lecturing on Scripture. From the very beginning of the Vilnius Academy, the Jesuits in Lithuania gave special importance to lecturing on Scripture. As early as 1578, they introduced it as a separate subject, which was a novelty in Jesuit education, and was followed by the University of Cracow and other religious orders in Poland not earlier than in the eighteenth century.54 In a discussion on their system of teaching (Ratio studiorum, 1586–99) for the whole Society, the Polish committee (whose vast majority was made of professors of the Vilnius Academy) demanded more lectures on Scripture than proposed in the Roman project. The opinion of the Vilnius professors contributed to the introduction of Scripture lectures at all Jesuit colleges, not just the universities. Two years were to be devoted to biblical studies at the Vilnius Academy: one year for the Old Testament and one year for the New Testament. The annual curricula show that these lectures were given throughout the first half of the seventeenth century and were very popular.55
We know little about the way the Scripture was taught at the Vilnius Academy, and can only have some idea about it from indirect sources. According to the results of Natoński’s research, the Ratio studiorum project recommended a special type of lecture in positive theology at the Roman College for students from northern, central, and eastern Europe, which gradually lost its controversial character and turned into a practical theology for priests who were to devote themselves to ministry. Perhaps this type of teaching was also introduced in Vilnius. Another type of study—lectures on controversies—were most highly valued at the Poznań college.56
Širvydas taught Scripture at the Vilnius Academy in 1613/14, 1619–22, and 1625/26, longer than any other lecturer working there (who changed quite often). Such data comes from the triennial catalogs Piechnik and Rabikauskas researched thoroughly.57 The only source of knowledge about these lectures are Pęski’s notes from Širvydas’s lectures with a long title reflecting the contents of this manuscript: Explanationes in cantica canticorum Salomonis et in Epistolam D. Pauli ad Ephesios: His accesserunt quaestiones controversae: de statu et votis religiosorum hominum, de praesentia Christi in eucharistia ac de ieiunio ab Adamo Pęski in Alma Academia Vilnensi excerptae, manuque propria conscriptae; Interpositas his explanationibus et controversiis, conciones aliquot invenies, ne spatium chartarum quod remanserat, vacuum daretur.58 Only the first of these parts is attributed to Širvydas (outlines of his lectures), the other two parts were written and rewritten sometime later. The whole manuscript comprises about 328 pages, and the lecture notes consist of Explanationes in Cantica canticorum Salomonis (3–45) and Explanationes in Epistolam S. Pauli ad Ephesios (48–96). Commentaries on the books of the Bible are written in Latin, and sermons and controversies—are in Polish and Latin.
Dictation of lectures was common at Jesuit schools due to the lack of textbooks, so it can be assumed that Pęski’s notes that captured the content of the lectures are quite accurate. It seems that these lectures have never been studied so far, they have only been sporadically mentioned in various publications. Piechnik, for example, notes the use of allegory in interpreting the text of the Song of Songs, he finds the commentary on Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians more valuable and cites a list of sources used by Širvydas.59
A preliminary analysis of the Pęski manuscript, especially the interpretation of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, indicates its practical purpose. Both the issues it addresses (the time and place of the letter’s composition, the recipients, Paul’s relationship to the apostles, the man’s destiny, etc.) as well as the focus on the explanation of biblical symbolism, the exemplary use of patristic works and classical authors, as recommended by the authorities of the church at the time, show that the author took into consideration the needs of priests for a similar type of knowledge. We tentatively can formulate a claim that the usefulness of his scholarly reflections for practical purposes was of particular importance to Širvydas. Here, we see a link between his lectures and his life’s primary work, The Points for Sermons I discussed above.60
On the basis of our analysis of this text, we can establish some close links between Širvydas’s lectures and his sermons. It is unreasonable to assume that his sermons were composed based on his lectures on Scripture, a practical application of theoretical teaching. It should be noted that the Song of Songs and the Epistle to the Ephesians are among those more frequently quoted in the sermons, while in his lectures he analyzes the same verses as in the Points for Sermons, adding extensive interpretations to each verse; he refers to the same authors in both works. Also of particular note is the mechanism of allegoresis Širvydas employs, the study of which would be of great importance for a comparison with other writings produced in Lithuania at that time.61
Only a few seventeenth-century manuscripts of lectures on Scripture from Jesuit schools survived and they are all from Poznań: by Balthasar Wolbiusz (1618–22), Thomas Boleslavius (1622–24), and Mikołaj Cichowski (1639–40).62 The only surviving source compiled in Vilnius is, therefore, of great value. Further research on Širvydas’s legacy should shed more light on his theological views and the type of teaching he conducted, as well as his ways of interpreting Scripture.
Conclusion
Konstantinas Širvydas, a seventeenth-century author, who wrote in Lithuanian, Polish, and Latin, undoubtedly carried out the mission of the Jesuits in Lithuania creatively and with great self-denial, being tasked with spreading the Catholic faith, converting the faithful, teaching Scripture, composing and delivering sermons, and promoting knowledge of the Lithuanian language. The cultural heritage of which Širvydas’s works are a part should not be associated with just one cultural tradition, Lithuanian or Polish. Highlighting just one part of his multilingual works downplays their broader importance. After all, all his works reflect the impact of the many cultures and languages that existed in the territory of the gdl where he grew, studied, and ministered.
Full recognition of Širvydas’s work is only possible through interdisciplinary research, which analyzes his contributions from both theological and philological perspectives, taking into account the historical background and cultural specificity of the environment in which his activity took place. The writings of eminent Jesuits such as Širvydas primarily served the needs of the Society and its apostolic work and resulted from the model of teaching and ministry adopted by its center in Rome but also adapted to the local needs.
Jakub Niedźwiedź, Kultura literacka Wilna (1323–1655): Retoryczna organizacja miasta. Biblioteka Literatury Pogranicza, 20 (Kraków: Towarzystwo Autorów i Wydawców Prac Naukowych Universitas, 2012), 37–38.
Eugenija Ulčinaitė, “Z działalności jezuitów na polu krzewienia języka i kultury litewskiej w xvi–xviii wieku,” in Wkład jezuitów do nauki i kultury w Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów i pod zaborami, ed. Irena Stasiewicz-Jasiukowa (Kraków: wam, 2004), 450–51.
Niedźwiedź, Kultura literacka Wilna, 185–86.
Ulčinaitė, “Z działalności jezuitów,” 458.
Andrea Mariani, „Działalność duszpasterska jezuitów w Wilnie: Między reformą trydencką a lokalnymi uwarunkowaniami,” in xviii amžiaus studijos, ed. Ramunė Šmigelskytė-Stukienė (Vilnius: Lietuvos istorijos institutas, 2019), 18–22.
Justyna Łukaszewska-Haberkowa, “Model nauczania i podstawowe teksty religijne przygotowane przez jezuitów działających na terenach Litwy i Korony od 2. poł. xvi do 1. poł. xvii w.,” in Wartości w językowym obrazie świata Polaków i Litwinów, ed. Kristina Rutkovska and Stanisława Niebrzegowska-Bartmińska, 2nd ed. (Vilnius: vu leidykla, 2021), 476.
Mariani, “Działalność duszpasterska jezuitów w Wilnie,” 39–40.
Vaclovas Biržiška, Aleksandrynas I. Senųjų lietuvių rašytojų, rašiusių prieš 1865 m., biografijos, bibliografijos ir biobibliografijos. xvi–xvii amžiai (Čikaga: jav lB Kultūros Fondas, 1960), 244–54.
Karol Estreicher, Bibliografia polska. xxx (Kraków: Nakładem Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności, 1934), 357–61; Nowy Korbut: Bibliografia literatury polskiej; Piśmiennictwo staropolskie, ed. Kazimierz Budzyk, 3 vols. (Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1965), 3:323.
Paulius Rabikauskas, “Konstantino Sirvydo asmuo ir reikšmė,” Aidai, no. 2 (1982): 98–111; Rabikauskas, Vilniaus akademija ir Lietuvos jėzuitai, ed. Liudas Jovaiša (Vilnius: Aidai, 2002); Ludwik Piechnik, “Działalność jezuitów polskich na polu szkolnictwa (1565–1773),” in Jezuici a kultura polska, ed. Ludwik Grzebień and Stanisław Obirek (Kraków: Wydawnictwo wam, 1993), 243–59; Piechnik, Rozkwit Akademii Wileńskiej w latach 1600–1655 (Rome: Apud Institutum Historicum Societatis Jesu, 1983).
Nathaniel Southwell, Biblioteca scriptorum Societatis Iesu (Rome: Typographia Iacobi Antonij de Lazzaris Varesij, 1676).
Stanislaus Rostowski, Litvanicarum Societatis Jesu Historiarum Provincialium: Pars prima: Auctore Stanislao Rostowski ex eadem Societate et Provincia sacerdote (Vilnius: Typis S. R. m. & Reipublicae Academicis Societatis Jesu, 1768).
Jan Poszakowski, De viribus illustribus Provinciae Lithuaniae S.I. (Archiwum Prowincji Polski Południowej Towarzystwa Jezusowego w Krakowie, rkps 1536).
Kalendarz Jezuicki Większy Na Rok Przestępny mdccxl. Societatis Jesu Jubileuszowy Wtory, kończący dwieśćie Lat od potwierdzenia tegoż Zakonu przez Pawła iii. Zebrany, z approbowánych authorow przez X. Jana Poszakowskiego Rektora Collegij Nesvisiensis (Vilnius: Typis Sacrae Reg. M. Academicis S.J., 1739).
Jan Kurczewski, “Kaznodzieje słynniejsi w katedrze i w Wilnie od xvii do połowy xix stulecia,” in Kościół zamkowy czyli katedra wileńska w jej dziejowym, liturgicznym, architektonicznym i ekonomicznym rozwoju, 3 vols. (Vilnius: Nakład i druk Józefa Zawadzkiego,1916), 3:299–300.
Jan Kurczewski, Opowiadania o dziejach chrześcijaństwa na Litwie i Rusi. I: Od chrztu Litwy do końca xvi wieku (Vilnius: Druk Józefa Zawadzkiego, 1914), 157.
Józef Kraszewski, Wilno od początków jego do roku 1750, 4 vols. (Vilnius: Nakładem i drukiem J. Zawadzkiego,1842), 4:38.
Józef Bieliński, Uniwersytet Wileński, 3 vols. (Kraków: Druk W. L. Anczyca i Spółki, 1899–1900), 3:350.
Stanisław Załęski, Jezuici w Polsce, 2: Praca nad spotęgowaniem ducha wiary i pobożności, 1608–1648 (Lviv: Drukiem i Nakładem Drukarni Ludowej, 1901), 642, 675.
Piechnik, Rozkwit Akademii Wileńskiej, 209.
Rabikauskas, “Konstantino Sirvydo asmuo ir reikšmė,” 108.
Piechnik, Rozkwit Akademii Wileńskiej, 75.
asi Grac., manuscript 469, fol. 408; Ex Litteris Ad R.P.N. Mutii Vitelleschi, 2 I 1621. Cited in Piechnik, Rozkwit Akademii Wileńskiej, 212.
See Rabikauskas, “Konstantino Sirvydo asmuo ir reikšmė,” 103; Ulčinaitė, “Jėzuitai ir provincijos kultura,” 43–57; Ulčinaitė, “Z działalności jezuitów,” 449–62.
Jurgis Lebedys, Senoji lietuvių literatūra (Vilnius: Mokslas, 1977), 80–85.
Estreicher, Bibliografia polska, 360. Estreicher devotes four pages to Širvydas (Estreicher, Bibliografia polska, 357–61).
Zigmas Zinkevičius, Lietuvių kalbos istorija iii. Senųjų raštų kalba (Vilnius: Mokslas, 1988), 252–53.
The dictionary in question is Promptuarium Dictionum Polonicarun, Latinarum et Lithuanicarum, the name of which has been verified on the basis of the extant bibliographical description in the manuscript catalogues of S. Rysiński’s library. Researchers speculate that it may have been published even earlier (Zinkevičius, Lietuvių kalbos istorija, 249). See Maria Barbara Topolska, Społeczeństwo i kultura w Wielkim Księstwie Litewskim od xvi do xviii wieku (Poznań: Boguckie Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 2002), 245–46, 340.
This was a dictionary entitled Dictionarium Polonolatinum; detailed research on this dictionary is so far lacking.
Tadeusz Piotrowski, “Słownik Konstanta Szyrwida na tle leksykografii polskiej i europejskiej,” in Leksikografija ir leksikologija: Konstantino Sirvydo darbai ir jo epocha, ed. Zita Šimėnaitė, 3 vols. (Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2013), 3:315–28.
Zinkevičius, Lietuvių kalbos istorija, 252–53.
See Kazys Pakalka, Senasis Konstantino Sirvydo žodynas (Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas, 1997), contains a comprehensive introduction to the dictionary (13–92), a reproduction of the dictionary (95–658), and an alphabetical register of Lithuanian words including in the first, third, and fourth editions.
Nina Borowska, “Wpływy słowiańskie na litewską terminologię kościelną na podstawie Dictionarium Szyrwida,” Studia z filologii polskiej i słowiańskiej 2 (1957): 320–65.
Daukša translated Wujek’s Postillla minor into Lithuanian and thus contributed to the development of the Lithuanian language. The index to the postils was compiled by Czesław Kudzinowski: Indeks–słownik do “Daukšos Postil˙e,” vol. 1 (A–N), vol. 2 (O–Ž), ed. Czesław Kudzinowski (Poznań: Wydawnictwo Naukowe uam, 1977).
Borowska, “Wpływy słowiańskie,” 364.
Nicolas Volckmar’s Latin-German-Polish dictionary Dictionarium trilingue, 3 vols. (Gdańsk, 1594–96); it was not well accepted because of the author’s origin, so in his next edition Širvydas used Knapius’s dictionary. Knapius was a teacher of Širvydas at the Academy of Vilnius; the dictionary in question is Gregorius Knapius [Knapski, Cnapius], Thesaurus polono-latino-graecus seu promptuarium lingua Latinae et Graece... (Kraków: F. Caesario, 1621).
Halina Karaś, “Dobór haseł w części polskiej słownika Konstantego Szyrwida,” in Leksikografija ir leksikologija: Konstantino Sirvydo darbai ir jo epocha, ed. Zita Šimėnaitė, 3 vols. (Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2013), 3:75–97.
Dictionarivm Polonolatinvm: In usum studiosæ iuuentutis Polonæ, Avctore Constantino Szyrwide Societatis Iesv; Editio nova (Warsaw: Apud Joannem Trelpinski S. R. m. Typogr., 1641). The research was only based on the lexis of this dictionary. See also Zofia Sawaniewska-Mochowa, “O mało znanym słowniku polsko–łacińskim Konstantego Szyrwida z 1641 roku,” in Leksikografija ir leksikologija: Konstantino Sirvydo darbai ir jo epocha, ed. Zita Šimėnaitė, 3 vols. (Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2013), 3:103–27.
Stefan Biskupski, ed., Encyklopedia Kościelna, 33 vols. (Warsaw: Drukarnia Czerwińskiego i S-ki na Ulicy Świętokrzyskiej, 1873–1933), 26:135.
Zinkevičius, Lietuvių kalbos istorija, 253–54.
Mykalojus Daukša, Postilla Catholicka, tái est: Iǯguldimas Ewangeliu kiekwienos Nedelos ir ßwetes per wissús metús (Vilnius: Drukârnioi Akadêmios Societatis Iesu, 1599).
Jokūbas Morkūnas, Postilla lietvwiszka, tátáy est Ižguldimás prástás ewángeliu ant kožnos nedelios ir szwentes per wisus metus… (Vilnius: per Jokubą Morkuną, 1600).
Jonas Bretkūnas, Postilla tatai esti Trumpas ir Prastas Ischguldimas Euangeliu… (Karalaučius: Per Jana Bretkuna, 1591).
“Sermons from Wolfenbüttel” (1573–74) is the first known postil in the Lithuanian language. Only one copy has survived to this day, made by Jonas Bylaukis, a pastor from Jurbarkas (Lithuania Minor). The sermons were only found in the nineteenth century in the Library of Prince August in Wolfenbüttel. They are not an original work, but are a kind of anthology of sermons from various postils, translated from Latin. See Die litauische Wolfenbütteler Postille von 1573, Faksimile, kritische Edition und textkritischer Apparat, Bd. 1: Faksimile, kritische Edition und textkritischer Apparat; Bd. 2: Einleitung, Kommentar und Register, ed. Jolanta Gelumbeckaitė (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag in Kommission, 2008)
For more on the development of Lithuanian postillography, see Kristina Rutkovska, “The Beginnings of Postillography in Lithuania: Konstantinas Sirvydas’ Postil as One of the Main Achievements of the Times,” in Beyond Devotion: Religious and Literary Communities in the 16th- and 17th-Century Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ed. Łukasz Cybulski and Kristina Rutkovska (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2022), 245–63.
pvnkty kazan od Adwentu áǯ do Postu / Litewskim ięzykiem, z wytłumáczeniem ná Polskie przez Kśiędzá konstantego szyrwida / Theologá Societatis iesv / z dozwoleniem starszych wydáne (Vilnius: W Drukárni Akádemiey Societatis iesv / roku m. dc. xxix, 1620) (=pk I); punkty kazań na post wielki Ięʒykiem Litewſkiem Przez w. x. constantego szyrwida Theologá Societatis iesv nápiſáne. á Teraʒ ná Polſki Ięʒyk prʒetłumacʒone / y oboiem do Druku podáne. Zá pozwoleniem Stárßych. (Vilnius: W Drukàrni Akȧdemii Societatis Ɉesv, 1644) (= pk ii).
All these sources were established during the preparation of the critical edition of the postils, which consists of five volumes: three volumes contain the postils: Konstantinas Sirvydas, Punktai sakymų nuo Advento iki Gavėnios: Kritinis leidimas, ed. Virginija Vasiliauskienė and Kristina Rutkovska (Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2015); Sirvydas, Punktai sakymų Gavėniai: Kritinis leidimas, ed. Vasiliauskienė and Rutkovska (Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2015); Vasiliauskienė and Kistina Rutkovska, Konstantino Sirvydo “Punktai sakymų”: Teksto rengimo principai, rodyklės, šaltiniai (Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2016), and their analysis is presented in monographs dedicated to the Lithuanian part: Vasiliauskienė, Konstantino Sirvydo Punktų sakymų strūktura, turinys ir šaltiniai (Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2016) and the Polish one (Rutkovska, Konstantino Sirvydo “Punktai sakymų”—xvii amžiaus pirmosios pusės lietuvių ir lenkų kultūros paminklas (Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2016).
In his sermons, Širvydas refers to the works of twenty-five authors, most often quoting Augustine and Thomas. He is also familiar with the works of well-known theologians and saints, prominent Protestants and Roman authors, among them: Barlaam and Josaphat, Basil the Great, Berengar of Tours, Bernard of Clairvaux, Cicero, Lucius Annaeus Florus, Gregory I the Great, Hugo of St. Victor, Jerome, John Chrysostom, John Calvin, John the Merciful, Cyril of Alexandria, Clement vi, St. Lawrence, Martin Luther, Martin of Tours, Nicholas of Myra, Ovid, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, Sulpicius Severus, Theophylact of Ohrid, Tertullian and others. See Vasiliauskienė and Rutkovska, Konstantino Sirvydo “Punktai sakymų,”195–206.
Daukša’s translated sermons were very popular in Lithuania, and the preface to the sermons was a kind of manifesto for the Lithuanian language. The author called for the Lithuanian language to be cared for, nurtured, and spoken.
It is basically only on the basis of the indexes that Karol Estreicher writes about the content of the postils in his Bibliografia.
This was Širvydas’s special intention about which he informed the reader of his sermons already in the preface. An analysis of the text reveals that pk I contains 83 such abbreviations, and pk ii only 28, as longer biblical quotations are quoted there.
Rabikauskas, “Konstantino Sirvydo asmuo,” 99–102.
Such an analysis is presented in a separate chapter in the monograph, see Kristina Rutkovska, “Konstantino Sirvydo Punktai sakymų (1629, 1644): Išsamių tyrinėjimų pradžia,” Lituanistica: Istorija, archeologija, kalba, literatūra, tautosaka, etnografija 58, no. 4 (2012): 309–19.
Władysław Smereka, “Biblistyka polska (wiek xvi–xviii),” in Dzieje teologii katolickiej w Polsce, ed. Marian Rechowicz, 2 vols. (Lublin: Wydawnictwo Naukowe kul, 1975), 1:253.
Piechnik, Rozkwit Akademii Wileńskiej, 1:137–38.
Bronisław Natoński, Humanizm jezuicki i teologia pozytywno-kontrowersyjna od xi do xviii wieku (Kraków: wam 2003), 105–7.
Piechnik, Rozkwit Akademii Wileńskiej, 138, 217; Rabikauskas, Vilniaus akademija, 343.
In Polish: Komentarze do Pieśni nad Pieśniami Salomona i Listu św. Pawła do Efezjan: Towarzyszą im kontrowersje o statusie duchowieństwa i ślubach, o obecności Chrystusa w Eucharystii oraz o poście—we fragmentach i odręcznych notatkach przygotowane przez Adama Pęskiego na Akademii Wileńskiej; Pomiędzy tymi komentarzami i kontrowersjami znajdziecie kilka wstawionych kazań, aby miejsce pozostawione na papierze nie było puste. In English: Commentaries on the Song of Songs of Solomon and St Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians: They are accompanied by controversies: on the status of the clergy and vows, on the presence of Christ in the Eucharist and on fasting—in fragments and handwritten notes prepared by Adam Pęski at the Vilnius Academy; Between these comments and controversies you will find some inserted sermons so that the space left on paper is not empty.
Piechnik, Rozkwit Akademii Wileńskiej, 139–40.
Kristina Rutkovska, “Postać Maryi w postylli Konstantego Szyrwida Punkty kazań,” Prace filologiczne 75, no. 2 (2020): 211–36.
The need for such research is justified by the few publications that have so far been produced in this field. See Ona Daukšienė, “Biblinių šaltinių transformacijos Sarbievijaus religinėje poezijoje,” Senoji Lietuvos literatūra 38 (2014): 95–134; Kristina Rutkovska, “Konstrukcijos tai yra / to jest semantika religiniame tekste (remiantis Konstantino Sirvydo Punktais sakymų (1629, 1644),” Acta linguistica Lihuanica 87 (2022): 63–83.
See “Bible” and “Biblical Studies” in Ludwik Grzebień, ed., Encyklopedia wiedzy o jezuitach na ziemiach Polski i Litwy 1564–1995 (Kraków: wam, 2004).
