Maģiskās glābšanas stāsti par svētās Agatas brīnumiem Stirnienes draudzē

Abstract

In a small north-western Latgale community, Stirniene parish of St. Lawrence, personal experience narratives that highlight folk Christianity have been documented during the late 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. In these narratives, supernatural aid and miraculous salvation in crucial situations are frequently occurring motifs. The cult of saints has a significant role in Latgalian folk Christianity, and these narratives reveal the deep roots of one of the most popular cults of saints – the worship of Saint Agatha in Stirniene parish. Saint Agatha is the patron saint for fire and other disasters. On Saint Agatha’s Day – the 5th of February – bread, water, and salt are consecrated in Catholic churches in Latvia; these items are believed to prevent fire, cure humans and livestock animals, and protect against supernatural evil powers. The coexistence and interlapping of Christian and folk worldviews are presented in the paper, showing the appreciation of the sacramentalia consecrated on this day (bread, water, salt) and exposing the testimonies of miraculous aid through the use of such sacramentalia. Despite the profound political, economic, and cultural changes of the 20th century, and especially of the prohibition of religious practices during the Soviet occupation, it can be concluded that Saint Agatha’s Day traditions persevere both in older and younger generations. The corpus of personal experience narratives collected in Stirniene presents the miraculous salvation stories connected to Saint Agatha’s sacramentalia, thus displaying the continuity of the traditional worldview and values of the informants. The variety of different individual approaches to using Saint Agatha’s bread and water is characterised. The biographical method has been used in the research.