The development of confessional prayers in Old Lithuanian in THE 16th and 17th c.

Abstract

In the Old Lithuanian sources, several Lutheran and Catholic confessional prayers are attested. Their tradition begins in the 16^th c., as they were an obligatory part of the preparation for Holy Communion in Catholicism as well as in Lutheranism, which was of great importance early on. They are based directly or indirectly on the Latin Confiteor ‘I confess ...’, but were soon supplemented by popular additions. The Lutheran confessional prayer is distinguished from the Catholic by the absence of the invocation of the Virgin Mary and the saints. The earliest Lithuanian confessional prayer is printed in Baltramiejus Vilentas’ translation of Luther’s Small Catechism, although it is not a direct translation of Luther’s text. Daniel Klein reworked this prayer and included it in his hymnal and prayer book from 1666. This version was canonized in Lithuania Minor and reprinted in the later editions of Klein’s Hymnal and the Königsberg Catechism (first printing 1670) until the end of the 19^th c.

The Catholic confessional prayers can be subclassified into short and long versions. The short ones, like in Daukša’s catechism from 1595, are directly integrated into the rite of confession. The Old Lithuanian long versions are based on the Polish long version in the Agenda of Marcin Cromer from 1574, which expands the canonized Latin text with additions from popular piety like the seven mortal sins and the five senses. Various Old Lithuanian versions translate this Polish long version or are abridged from it, e. g. in the Ledesma catechism of an anonymous author from 1605. The Catholic text that became established is attested in three independent versions: in a handwritten collection of prayers in a ritual book in Helsinki from 1647, in the third printing of Jaknavičius’ gospel book from 1674 and in the Catholic prayer book of Kossakowski from 1681. It can be shown that this canonized version was not used exclusively during confession, but also found its way into the common prayer property of the dioceses of Samogitia and Vilnius, being constantly passed on in many reprints of Jaknavičius’ gospel book and Kossakowski’s prayer book in the 18^th and 19^th c.

Thus, the Old Lithuanian translations of the 16^th and 17^th c. laid the foundation for the Lutheran and Catholic Lithuanian confessional prayers until the beginning of the 20^th c.