Biblioteka bazylianów w Białej Podlaskiej

Abstract

The Basilian monastery in Biala Podlaska was founded in 1690 by Katarzyna Radziwillowa, nee Sobieska. The monks from the above-mentioned monastery were obliged to raise the level of the religious life of the people who lived in the Radziwill family’s lands in Biala Podlaska. The monks, who conducted pastoral and missionary work, preached sermons and looked after pilgrims, and used the monastic library, including the collections of sermons, theological, historical, medical and art history books, dictionaries and prints popularizing Marian cult, as well as occasional panegyrics commemorating events related to the Radziwill family. The books kept in the library were bought by monks and donated by the founders, the priests of the Latin rite and Basilian monks working in Biala Podlaska and other places. The surviving collection of the library in Biala Podlaska shows the extensive contacts and interests of the monks. The monastic library had the books published in a number of publishing houses in Poland and Western Europe. The books were bought by the monks who studied in Rome, on their way back to Poland. The surviving collection of the Basilian library in Biala is evidence of the users’ high intellectual culture and their openness to inspirations from different intellectual backgrounds. The analysis of the collection confirms the great role of the congregation as a liaison between Latin and Byzantine cultures. Using knowledge in pastoral work contributed to the adaptation of the ideas included in the books to the level of the reader, who is often excluded from the circles of the writing culture. The Basilian book collections were an essential tool for establishing new boundaries between cultures.