The Connection with Lithuania

    In 1897, Casimira Kaupas came to the United States to be housekeeper for her brother-priest Anthony, who served as pastor of St. Joseph Lithuanian parish in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was during her four-year stay in the United States that Casimira met Sisters for the first time and was attracted to an apostolic religious life.

    In 1902, back in Lithuania, she resolved to become a teaching religious to help the Lithuanian Americans with the resources to sustain their faith, their spiritual and cultural identity and values, since it was impossible to do so in her native land. In Ingenbohl, Switzerland, Casimira began her studies along with her two companions to become teaching religious. Upon their arrival to the United States, they continued their religious and educational training under the guidance of the Sister Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at Marywood College in Scranton, PA. Upon completion of their training, the Sisters of St. Casimir were founded as a religious community in 1907 in Scranton, PA.

    Seven successful years later with many vocations and several school established in the United States, the bishops of Lithuania had asked Mother Maria to return to her native land Lithuania, to establish a community of Sisters there. The year was 1914 and Lithuania was experiencing some freedom from Russian control (which existed for over 150 years), thus the Lithuanian bishops sought Mother Maria's assistance to establish schools so the children of Lithuania could be educated in their faith and language. With the outbreak of World War I, plans for this venture were cancelled. 

    After World War I, an element of peace was restored in Europe. So in 1920, Mother Maria and four other Sisters from Chicago traveled by boat to Lithuania to create a branch of her congregation and to establish schools. Despite the fact that they found Lithuania still involved in war with Poland, they were successful in establishing the Congregation, which grew rapidly. The bishop of Kaunas, Lithuania gave Mother Maria and the new congregation a huge, vacant 16th century former Camaldolese Monastery to serve as their Motherhouse in Lithuania. The monastery first known as "Mt. Peace" is now called Pazaislis. 

    In 1948, after World War II, the Soviets occupied Lithuania and communism was enforced as the way of life for the people. Those who practiced their faith openly lost jobs and were harassed. The Sisters in Lithuania at Pazaislis were given three days to pack their belongings and leave the monastery. They scattered throughout the cities living with friends or family who dared to take them in. They no longer were able to wear religious garb nor teach in schools. A new way of religious life grew, whereby they survived for 50 years as underground religious. Many took jobs as nurses so they could more easily spread the faith and sustain the hopeless, on a one-on-one situation. Others worked in rectories serving as the trusted connection for the priests with the people.

    In 1992, the Sisters of St. Casimir had their monastery, Pazaislis, returned to them by the Lithuanian government who was now free of Russian occupation. The Sisters have once again, begun the task of restoring the church and their entire complex. Today, it is a popular retreat setting for priests, laity and youth groups, along with an outstanding tourist attraction from people worldwide. Today the congregation numbers 65 members and continues to follow in the spirit and footsteps of Mother Maria. The congregation accepts new vocations every year. During the Stalin period, vocations were rarely accepted for fear they were planted by the government, thus the numbers in most communities in Central Europe are small. About 15 Sisters and the girls in formation, live at Pazaislis. The other Sisters, many of whom are retired, continue to live in their apartments and carry out the work of the Church in various ministries.

Chicago SSC's Lend a Sisterly Hand

    With the fall of the Berlin Wall in East Germany in 1989, the satellite countries under the control of the then, USSR, began to sprout their wings and work toward independence. The first among them to do so, was the small country of Lithuania who worked and prayed for her independence for over 50 years. In 1991, we, Sisters of St. Casimir in Chicago, were quick to respond the spiritual and material needs of our counter parts in Lithuania, the Lithuanian Sisters of St. Casimir as they began to emerge into a whole new way of living as religious women. During the past years of oppression they had lived in apartments and continued the work of the Lord in an underground fashion. Now they were free and seeking ways to begin their ministry openly.

    Sister Margaret Petcavage, member of the Administrative Team for the Sisters of St. Casimir and Sister Juline Revas, Vice President of Nursing at Holy Cross Hospital, Chicago, were sent to Lithuania in 1991, by the SSC General Superior and Council to meet with the Sisters and assess their needs in every way. "It was a tremendous, heart warming experience, says Sister Margaret, "for it began to give a whole new focus to my work, to my prayers and certainly added a whole new group of people to love in my heart."

    Sister Margaret Petcavage (center) after a meeting with the Lithuanian Sisters of St. Casimir in 1996.

    After the first trip Sister Margaret returned to Lithuania four more times. The 1994 trip was focused upon assisting the Sisters in remodeling one of the deteriorating hermitages so that it could be used as a retreat center for clergy and religious who wish to enjoy the peace and prayerfulness of the Sisters’ monastery known as Pazaislis. With this remodeling the Sisters would give a foundation to their new work of being a Retreat Center for the people of Lithuania who were seeking ways to nourish their lives with prayer.

    Along with outfitting the newly remodeled hermitage with furniture, heat and running water, Sister Margaret spent time writing grants to solicit funds for the Sisters’ ministries, and working on public relations materials to make the congregation and the monastery known. Much time was also given to discussions and meetings regarding how religious life is lived today.

    The following two summers in Lithuania, Sister Margaret continued to build on the initial work begun. "I marveled to see the progress each year within the country and within the lived experience of the Sisters," commented Sister Margaret. Pazaislis has now become a successful tourist attraction drawing people from every nation, all coming to see this crown jewel of baroque architecture supervised by these industrious, wonderful, prayerful women religious.

    Sister Margaret meeting with Bishop Matulaitis, MIC and Sister Jone, regarding the beatification cause of Mother Maria.

     "My life as a religious was nurtured and enriched just by being in contact with the Lithuanian Sisters of St. Casimir and the people of Lithuania," commented Sister Margaret. "They had suffered so much for their faith and had given generously of themselves for the needs and the faith of others and did so without complaint and certainly without recognition and honor. These religious women, and so many others, who defended, protected and suffered for their faith remain the unrecognized, living martyrs for the Church."

    Sr. Regina Marie was among the first group of Sisters to work with religious congregations of women in Lithuania who were seeking to renew their identity and revitalize their community life and ministry after over 50 years of living their religious commitment underground. In 1992, Sr. Regina, together with two other Sisters, one of whom was a canon lawyer, conducted seminars for Sisters to update them in post Vatican II theology and canon law of religious life. Sr. Regina’s background as novice director for the Sisters of St. Casimir prepared her well for her part in presenting the section on formation.

    In 1995, Sr. Regina returned with a team of Sisters under the leadership of Sr. Barbara Valuckas, SSND for a five week program. Each of the team members spent a week in three of the major cities of Lithuania--Vilnius, Kaunas, and Panevezys. They designed programs to broaden the Lithuanian Sisters’ understanding about spiritual and religious life. Sr. Regina presented the theology of call and how the religious vocation is a deepening of the baptismal commitment. She spoke about the elements of a vocation program, qualities to look for in a candidate, a process by which to assess to what degree these qualities are present, warning signs that a person may not be called to religious life or may need professional help. These were all very new ideas for the Sisters since they were still functioning by the pre-Vatican II model in which "desire to come to the convent" was enough to be accepted. Sr. Regina invited the Sisters to role-play with each other in doing an interview. Needless to say, they found this very difficult, both to ask the personal questions that one needs to ask of a candidate and to share openly their responses to the questions. The Sisters commented, "You are asking us to do something that goes way beyond what our experience has been during these past 50 years. We didn’t share anything about ourselves, our beliefs, or our views with anyone because of fear that we would be reported or lose our jobs." During the weekends the team met for theological reflection on their experience and to plan the next steps. During the last week of their stay, they met with the newly formed Leadership Conference of Women Religious in Lithuania to evaluate the program, to offer recommendations and observations, and most importantly, to listen to these faith-filled women who so much desired to be faithful to their calling and to lead their communities to a rebirth, but who were struggling with the tensions of generational differences in their communities and different understandings of religious life.

Sister Regina Marie (first row, far right) and the team of Sisters who presented seminars to religious congregations of women in Lithuania, join the Sisters of St. Casimir in Pazaislis for an evening celebration.

    Sr. Regina returned to Lithuania in 1997 with Sr. Margaret Modde, OSF, canonist, who had been asked by the Sisters of St. Casimir in Lithuania to help them rewrite their constitutions. Sisters Regina and Margaret led the Sisters through their first week long Community Assembly in which the Sisters heard input about each section of the Constitution and spent time in small group sessions discussing the differences between the way a particular aspect of religious life was understood in the past and what the Church was calling congregations of women religious to live in this present time. The Sisters had never spent so much time talking with one another about their lives and many of them entered into this in a very enthusiastic way and were hopeful that this could continue among them. They were also exposed to various ways of praying morning and evening prayer. For one of these prayer times, Sr. Regina asked the Sisters to walk around the beautiful grounds of their Motherhouse and come back with something to use for prayer. Each of them had to present what she brought and reflect on its meaning in light of herself, her relationship to God, or to the community. The creativity, the depth of spirit that was revealed and shared was outstanding. Even the Sisters themselves were surprised at the richness of spirit among them.

Sister Regina Marie enjoys an afternoon of sharing with young women in formation in a religious community in Panevezys. 

       The Lithuanian connection for the Chicago Casimirites continued through the work of Sr. Salvatore and Sr. Janine Golubickis who were sent to work with the Sisters in Lithuania to help them become aware of the changes that had occurred since Vatican II and to assist them in catechizing the youth. Sister Janine presented lectures on parish ministries with a focus on the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA). She also presented methods of teaching lay catechists.

    Sr. Salvatore focused on the work within the Catholic schools. Since there were no Catholic schools in Lithuania this concept was certainly new to the Sisters. She also addressed how the sacramental programs are presented. Sister Salvatore stressed the necessity of involving the parents in the sacramental preparation. These sessions were held mostly in the late afternoons after the Sisters there had come home from a full day of work.

    The Lithuanian Sisters shared how they continued to teach the faith during their years of oppression in an underground fashion and how they lived in constant fear as they remained strong and faithful in trying to spread the Gospel message.

Sister Theresa Papsis, SSC, (back row, center) spent six weeks teaching and working in Lithuania during the summer of 1993 . Sister was among 58 American professional educators who were part of an organizational center called, American Professional Partnership for Lithuanian Education (A.P.P.L.E.) In such cities as Kaunas, Klaipeda and Vilnus, the group offered courses and lectures in the fields of Psychology, Social Studies, Administration, Music, School Librarianship, Self Esteem and Drug Abuse. The restoration of statehood in Lithuania has created new possibilities for social, cultural, economic, political and educational development, which corresponds with national aspirations.

    Sister Theresa Papsis also taught music and religion to high school students in Kaunas, Lithuania from August of 1995 to July, 1996. Sister taught Lithuanian students at a co-ed Catholic High School about ethnic music and jazz. She said many of the students knew nothing about the music of other ethnic groups because the music had been banned under communist rule. She continued that the students always studied music, but most didn't know anything about folk songs from other cultures, such as Black or Asian cultures.

History of Pazaislis Complex

    Baroque art, viable, swift and variable, matched the change from materialism to spiritualism during the epoch that existed in Lithuania some two hundred years ago. The Pazaislis Monastery ensemble is a wonderful Lithuanian baroque pearl of the 17th century, exemplifying the high level of culture and creative energy of those times. The main inspirer and the founder of this monastery was Christopher Zigmantas Pacas (1621-1684), Great Chancellor of the principality of Lithuania, one of its wealthiest feudal lords. He was very intelligent. Besides studying in Ljezo and Cracow, he studied eight years at the University of Perugia in Florence, Italy. Having fine talent in judging art, the chancellor returned to his native land. He requested and received permission from Rome to build a monastery and church for the Order of the Camaldolese Hermits at Pazaislis near Kaunas.

    The statement of foundation was signed in 1664. The corner stone for the church was consecrated in 1664. Two years later the church was consecrated. The document of foundation stipulated that 12 Camaldolese fathers must live in Pazaislis on the Hill of Peace. Lithuanian Father Jeronimas was the first prior.

    Pacas' vision was fulfilled by Italian artists; architect Joanes Baptista Frediani, and later the architect's brothers Carlo and Pietro Putini, the painter from Florence, Michael Archangelus Palonis, who did the sanctuary, the paintings on the walls and portraits; sculptor Joannes Merli who did the stucco moldings; Michael Volcet formed the sculptures of the big gate and the facade of the church, painter Giuseppe Roses created the fresco of the cupola. The source of inspiration undoubtedly was the complicated ichnographical theme of the monastery and the church. Those themes surpassed other holy places and not only in Lithuania. The planning and the strict both side symmetry emphasize clear and exact hierarchical function of its separate parts. This is the only example of baroque axial composition in Lithuania. The center of the ensemble is the church, an original work of art. The facade is dominated by the hexagonal cupola, towers in the angles and the middle concave part. Slabs of gray sandstone were used for decoration. The essential facade characteristic is its perpendicular inclination. Angular towers of the hexagonal drum harmoniously connects the silhouette of the cupola with the roof of the chapels. The highest point of the ensemble is the graceful cross, which crowns the hexagonal lantern. Rarely in baroque churches does the hexagonal space open so widely. However, the space in Pazaislis is optically enlarged by four chapels placed around the entrance hall and presbyter. The light pouring from the cupola creates a beautiful view. Black and red marble are used to decorate the interior. The space is coordinated with colorful frescos and white stucco moldings. Wall frescos are painted in warm and soft tones. The arches are done in fresh and rich colors. Some 140 frescos of different sizes survived in the premises of the ensemble. Each one is an independent work of art which is included into separate cycles developed in more than one room. Everything is connected by the main theme of the ichnographical program - the Coronation of Mary.

   From its inception, Pazaislis Monastery was famous for having the painting, "Mary with Child," also called "Mother of Fair Love." This painting is especially venerated by Catholics. In 1661, Pope Alexander VII gave this painting to K.Z. Pacas, who placed it in the church. In 1918, the painting of the Mother of God was placed in the Kaunas cathedral basilica. In July, 2000, the painting returned to its original home, Pazaislis, Church of "The Visitation."

    Pazaislis Monastery is one of the most valuable creations of the 17th century mature baroque in North East Europe. Throughout the many years the harmony of beautiful nature and wonderful architecture gives strength and inspiration to every visitor, most notably through the powerful and meaningful explanation the Sisters present on the paintings - thus renewing and strengthening the faith of so many.