Sr. Margarita Bareikaitë
R e f l e c t i o n s
The Role of Lithuanian Parishes in the United States
Sr. Margarita Bareikaitë belongs to the Lithuanian order of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Putnam, Connecticut. She is also the Chairperson of the Religious Affairs Council for the Lithuanian American Community, Inc.
Lithuanians began to immigrate to the United States in the 17th century. The reasons are not hard to understand: they left to escape the oppression of Russian rule and especially to avoid conscription into the Russian army, which meant service for 25 years. They came to the U.S. hoping to secure religious and political freedom.
During World War II many Lithuanians abandoned their homes and their native land when the Communists occupied Lithuania. They did not want to live under Soviet domination. Many spent four or five years as refugees in various countries of Western Europe, then immigrated to Canada, South America and the U.S.
The history of each Lithuanian parish in America is the reflection of a great undertaking – something achieved with great sacrifice and love. Far from their native land, they wanted to keep their faith and their heritage alive. They remembered the churches in their native villages and towns; they remembered the prayers and songs they sang. After long hours of back breaking labor, they wanted their Sunday to be like the Sundays in their parishes at home.
From notes and minutes of meetings we can determine the circumstances that dictated the establishment of each new parish: how the first steps were coordinated, and how they decided on the name for the parish church.
The Lithuanian parishes brought the people together so that they could worship and communicate in their own language preserving the traditions so dear to them. They saw themselves as a family of believers, who took their faith seriously. Their belief in Jesus Christ was at the center of their lives, and they wanted to express what was in their hearts in the way most natural to them.
These people, strangers in a new land and barely surviving at the bottom of the economic ladder, nevertheless moved mountains to establish their own parishes where they could feel at home. Here they were able to preserve and nourish the roots of their Lithuanian heritage and culture. The words of the great American statesman, Adlai Stevenson would have been music to their ears: "On this shrunken globe men can no longer live as strangers... Our prayer is that people everywhere will learn finally to live as brothers, to respect each other’s wounds, to promote each other’s progress, and to benefit from each other’s knowledge."
The very first Lithuanian parish, according to historical records, was founded in Hazelton, Pennsylvania in 1887. A close second is St. Mary of the Angels parish in Brooklyn, which dates its founding as 1888. There were 124 Lithuanian parishes throughout the U.S. in 1941. When the new wave of postwar immigrants arrived between 1949 and 1954, the number of parishes shrank to 98, but many increased in size as the newcomers began to attend.
The Lithuanian parish was the focal point of many kinds of activities. It not only kept the people alive spiritually, but also provided for their social and cultural needs. Most of the parishes had parochial schools, and for a time these taught the children the Lithuanian language. Later this function was taken over by the new immigrants’ Saturday schools. The parishes had their church choirs, many different organizations and societies, and many had libraries and kiosks with Lithuanian books, magazines, and newspapers.
One of the oldest Lithuanian parishes in New England, St. Joseph's of Waterbury, Connecticut, boasted 42 different organizations between 1885 and 1955. These were very diverse: from the St. Casimir Grocery Cooperative, Third Order Franciscans, and Holy Name Society to sports and theater groups, and even political organizations. The cultural, political, and social activity of the parishioners expressed itself in organizing concerts, art exhibits, rallies, and demonstrations. And this was quite typical of most Lithuanian parishes. The parishes were shrines to which people flocked – for here "the heart beats in Lithuanian." (Ðirdis lietuviðkai plaka.)