Sesers Leonijos OSB (Birutės Širvinskaitės) rankraštinis palikimas

Abstract

Straipsnyje pristatoma Kauno benediktinių vienuolyno sesers Leonijos (Birutės Širvinskaitės) (1924–2005) biografija, įvertinami nuopelnai seserims benediktinėms ir apskritai Katalikų Bažnyčiai bei Lietuvos visuomenei. Atliekant tyrimą, pasinaudota gausiu s. Leonijos rankraštiniu palikimu, saugomu benediktinių archyve. S. Leonija buvo uoli, jai patikėtoms tarnystėms atsidavusi asmenybė, kurią būtų galima įvardyti palaimintojo popiežiaus Jono Pauliaus II žodžiais: „žmogus visiems“. Publikacija parengta pagal Lietuvos mokslo tarybos finansuojamą projektą (sutarties Nr. MIP-104/2012)

Kaunas Benedictine Sisters Convent near St. Mikalojaus church, like all Lithuanian Catholic churches of the twentieth century, experienced considerable challenges – was closed during the Soviet period, destroyed valuable things had to be gathered for years, and sisters fled to an underground convent. The aim of this article is to reveal the way of life and activities of one of the most active at the time Benedictine sister Leonija (Birutė Širvinskaitė) (1924–2005). She was a charismatic personality, an energetic woman, able to understand the nuances of the Soviet system and to be a nun in unfavourable conditions. Being creative by nature and awarded with talent she influenced others by her charisma. Rich sister Leonija’s manuscript legacy, which is kept in Kaunas Benedictine Sisters Convent, shows her wide field of interests: history and literature, music, theatre. Sister Leonija was entrusted to write the chronicles of the convent, so she can be regarded as an insightful convent life tracer. Sister Leonija wrote other sisters’ biographies and obituaries for other nuns who passed away, as well. This entire manuscript legacy enables to understand better the situation in Kaunas Benedictine Convent during those difficult times. Sister Leonija witnessed the restoration of Lithuanian independence, she actively took care of the church recovery affairs, transfer of spiritual tradition, and it is all recorded in her notes. The main source of this article was Kaunas Benedictine Sisters’ archive and s. Leonija’s manuscript legacy. Documents from Lithuanian Central State Archives Religious Affairs Council of the USSR Ministers Council Fund’s R-181, containing not only the correspondence with other ministries, but also monitoring the cases, including the Benedictine women’s convent in Kaunas monitoring case, were also used for this article. [...]