Вяра, ритуал и религиозна хармония
Harmony of Faith, Ritual and Religiosity in Lithuania

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of faith, ritual and religiosity based on the analysis of the ritual baptism and related folk beliefs and customs. The author seeks to answer why Lithuanians today still baptize their children in the church and why the birth of a child is not accompanied by a civil ceremony. The research, conducted in historical perspective, allows us to claim that the rapid secularization has failed to displace folk beliefs, especially needed in the critical moments of human life, transmitted in Lithuania from the older generation and adopted by the younger generation. It should also be noted that the ritual not only facilitates the sacred protection of the newborn, but also helps for the social protection of the child. The celebration giving meaning to the birth of a human being can exist only if there is a relevant content. The civic ritual, forcibly instilled in Soviet times in Lithuania, failed to acquire content. The civic ritual naming (name-giving) fails to establish itself because it can not balance the meanings of the terms “faith” and “ritual”.

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