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Vol. 111 (2009): Our Past

Articles

Two catalogs of the Lithuanian Province of the Discalced Carmelites from the 18th century

  • Czesław Gil
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52204/np.2009.111.117-158  [Google Scholar]
Published: 2009-06-30

Abstract

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Polish province of the Discalced Carmelites, established in 1617, consisted of 17 monasteries. Only four of them - in Vilnius, Hlybokane and Grodno and the residence in Kaunas - were located in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Despite this, the provincial chapter meeting in Przemyśl in 1624 decided that the time had come to establish Lithuanian monasteries, creating a separate administrative unit. This decision was justified not only by the multitude of provinces, but above all by the huge distances between monasteries, which made administration difficult. Despite some resistance from the central monastic authorities, a provincial vicariate was established in 1731, which in 1734 became an autonomous province dedicated to Saint. Kazimierz. The history of this province is relatively little known, because during the dissolution of the monasteries, some of the sources were destroyed and dispersed, and those that survived are still difficult to access. Thanks to a fortunate combination of circumstances, two catalogs of monks of this province have been preserved: one in the general catalog from 1730-1843, and the other in the catalog from 1774. The first is a single register for the years 1730-1777, kept by the monks of this province. It replaced the lost profession book. The second one was created on the initiative of Archbishop Giuseppe Garampi, apostolic nuncio to Poland in 1772-1776. Garampi's catalog contained the most important information about the personnel of the donated monasteries, the tasks of the monks in the monastery and the province, the role of the monasteries in the life of the province, the pastoral service and - in line with the expectations of the state and the Church - future projects. The publication of the above-mentioned catalogs will provide researchers of the history of the Discalced Carmelites in the lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with access to a valuable source of information, especially personal information. The text of the catalogs is preceded by a short history of the Lithuanian province and information about two sources.

References

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