The Book of Miracles of the Bernardines of Minsk (1672)

In: The journal of Belarusian studies, Band 12, Heft 1-2, S. 63-80

Abstract

Abstract
This article focuses on the Book of Miracles (Morze łaski Bozey Maria Panna przy obraźie swym cudownym w kościele mińskim Panien Zakonnych S. Franciszka) printed at the Vilnius Jesuit printing house in 1672 on the initiative of the mother superior of the Bernardine nunnery in Minsk, Franciszka Judycka. The book depicts miracles which occurred after prayers were said in the presence of the painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child of the Bernardines of Minsk. It portrays the illnesses and everyday life of the sixteen nuns. The book was dedicated to the castellan of Minsk and the elder of Josvainiai, Aleksander Judycki and highlighted the merits of Judycki who offered shelter for the Minsk Bernardines in his Josvainiai manor in Samogitia during the war with Russia in 1654–1667. The article shows the beliefs of society in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the Baroque epoque.