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Free and chatty
If it weren’t for the so-called coloratura, which wraps around Peter’s dark-haired neck, I wouldn’t even have thought that young men with big smiles were servants of God and of the Church. The angry face of a priest, which I saw as a child through the audience’s confession as a child, long forced clergy to identify with angry math teachers who were bound by millions of rules.
Rastislav Dluhý, priest of the Redemptorists in the province of Prague, and Peter Hertel, missionary of Mercy, seemed completely free, and after a cup of coffee and dessert, I realized that they were still very entertaining.
“I have at least some favorite places in Kaunas. In some of them I go with a book and a computer, in others I go to watch basketball. Yes, while I am in Lithuania, I changed hockey. Slovaks are as tough as you are in basketball court”. , which represents Lithuanian cuisine, I bring my guests. Probably all Slovaks who have visited Kaunas have already tried their traditional dishes “- R.Dluhý once again asked me if I really wanted coffee.
While the sun was shining outside, I answered the call of the clergy by prospering on a bench near the Archcatédrica Basilica.
“Hot,” I sighed as I swept sweat away.
At that time, Rastislav and Peter were just smiling. In Slovakia, where they were both born and raised, such a climate is common. People are no longer bothered by the 40 degree heat. Still, Rastislav undid several front buttons of his shirt and then began to speak. About his vocation, about knowing Kaunas and the Lithuanian language, which he fell in love with.
I didn’t think about the priesthood
Born and raised in the city of Kežmarok, Slovakia, Rastislav moved to Krakow after high school. There he studied philosophy. Dublin, Ireland – Theology. The man’s resume also includes studies in journalism. He is the editor of a magazine. When asked how and why he chose the path of a clergyman, Rastislav assured that he had never thought about the priesthood. Having fallen in love with a different girl each month, he dreamed of a wife, children, and a normal job. The breakup, according to the Redemptorist priest, occurred when he was sixteen years old. At least once a month, her mother was driven to church by confession, and after a forced visit to the sanctuary, she felt indescribable tranquility.
“I felt like a fish falling into the water,” the cleric tried to describe the feelings he visited this time as accurately as possible.
For a long time, the young man suppressed the idea of the priesthood, but it did not disappear anywhere. On the contrary, every night it bothered me, it got into my head and it didn’t let me sleep.
“I told myself I needed to try. After the first and second year, I still wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I enjoyed being in the seminary. I soon realized it was a vocation and God made a plan for me,” he said. the priest. .Dluhý, did not deprive him of his freedom, on the contrary, he spilled the gifts he shared with the laity. – Freedom is twofold. Today, she associates us with the ability to do what she wants. I think freedom is a good thing to do. Therefore, when I had to choose between being a priest or having a different life before ordination, I chose not between good and evil, I chose between good and very good. “
The path of a clergyman, according to Rastislav, is not an easy one. The priesthood, like family life, is accompanied by challenges, but not with children or wives.
“Yes, I cannot have a woman and it is a sacrifice. But I did not give up something bad, I gave up something very good and beautiful that gives me inner peace,” said the Redemptorist priest.
In the five years, I have never asked myself the question: What am I doing here? I felt the so-called crisis just before ordination when I fell in love.
He was in love
Spiritual values have always been grafted onto the family of the merciful missionary priest Peter, which is why he visited the church quite frequently. At approximately fourteen, the teenager was invited to a fifteen-day retreat, a temporary retreat from normal activities, and a focus only on spiritual life.
“I thought that in case I didn’t like it, I would go home on foot, because the retreats were a few kilometers from home”, Hertell’s preliminary scenario did not come true, as he felt the love and inner lightness of God some days after.
This was also noticed by the local priest, so when he had to decide what to do in life after twelve classes, he invited the young man to the seminary. In it, Peter felt great when one after another began to torment his classmates with doubts. As the priest says, a crisis.
“In the five years, I have never asked myself the question: What am I doing here? I felt the so-called crisis just before ordination when I fell in love,” said the Mercy missionary that the choice was not easy.
However, after long reflections and prayers, he remained with God and the Church, not with a woman. Peter assured his decision that he never regretted.
Wide range of activities.
After choosing to serve the Church, Rastislav and Peter suspected that their way of life would not be completely sedentary. For example, almost two years have passed since Slovaks lived in Kaunas. Peter saw this for the first time, and Rastislav visited Kaunas earlier, and even participated in a series of “Priests in cafes” conversations. According to the clergy, the connection to Lithuania is very close, and the history of the association between the Slovak Redemptorists and the secular community of their collaborators “River of Life” with the Lithuanian communities began in the 1990s.
Probably due to the invitation to come to Latvia more than two years ago, the clergy hesitated. When they discovered that they were welcome in Lithuania, they did not rush to carry their suitcases either, but felt that someone was tickling their hearts. Finally, after prayers and deliberations in the Bratislava-Prague province, R. Duhuh and P. Hertel arrived in Kaunas with the permission of High Priest Michael Brehl. In addition to the long-term vision of the new redemptive community to start missions in the Lithuanian parishes, the clergy formed a missionary team of cooperating laity. The clergy lead the days of renewal, I interact with the youth, with the groups of the Sacrament of Confirmation. Contributes to the organization of various events. In addition, Rastislav and Peter regularly travel to the third sector of the Pravieniškės Correctional Facilities Colony, where they interact with the prisoners and offer sacrifices to Holy Mass.
“We also worked during quarantine. We had several meetings through the Zoom platform. We sent several recordings to Pravieniškės,” friends told us about our employment.
Beautiful and difficult language
When they arrived in Kaunas, the clergy did not speak Lithuanian, so during the first month Holy Mass was offered in Slovak in the chapel near the Curia of the Archdiocese of Kaunas. During the second month, they both read in Lithuanian, but did not understand what was written in the white pages.
“The word is our tool, like that of journalists”, they realized that without the Lithuanian language they would not settle in Kaunas, they decided to stick to science.
Lithuanians and Slovaks are very similar. As I say, they both have a small country mentality and are very humble.
Rastislav and Peteris studied Lithuanian at Vytautas Magnus University for two semesters. The teachers, according to the interlocutors, were excellent, but both realized that a couple of hours of activities a week was not enough for them.
“The Lithuanian language is wonderfully beautiful, but very difficult: participants, participants, half-participants, and other parts of the language,” the missionaries hired another teacher to master the language, which is heard on the lips of the locals.
The clergy have been working with her for a year and a half and meet twice a week. The result? Rastislav speaks almost without problems. It’s more difficult just for Peter. However, he is happy that two years ago he could not even say “thank you” in Lithuanian, now he can go from point A to point B without help and, for example, speak his mind about the Lithuanian people. True, this time the chatty Rastislav did it for him.
“Lithuanians and Slovaks are very similar. As I say, both have a small country mentality and are very humble. On the one hand, it is good, on the other, not because there is inferiority,” said the cleric. I know many Americans, they tell me: if we told you to build a bridge in a month, Slovaks would think of a hundred reasons not to do it, and we have the same reasons for doing it. That is what Lithuanians are. “
Prepare mom for a surprise
In two years, Rastislav and Peter managed to tame Kaunas, which in his opinion is much more welcoming than the capital. Here are two rivers in Santaka that attack each other, here is the wonderful, albeit small, old town, with lots of great cafes and narrow cross streets. Here are patriotic people who can do a lot for their city.
“We learned from its people to enjoy the little things. Let’s say amber in Šventoji, which was thrown into the sea after the storm. Or rich mushrooms in your country. It is a pity that last summer it was very dry, we could not mushrooms”, Hertel said. not only loves to collect the goodies from the forest, but also eat them.
Rastislav was second to his friend: the mushroom soup that Peter cooks is said to be unrivaled, even in the kitchen of the highest level restaurants. When asked if they would not promise to travel to the Lithuanian forests with baskets this year, the clergy shrugged. It all depends on whether your contract runs at the end of August. It is true, now more than that, the clergy are thinking about a little vacation in their homeland, where they will be able to see their loved ones, hug them, kiss them and taste the traditional Slovak dishes prepared by their mothers. Thinking of July, Rastislav shook himself more. Four brothers and one sister know of his return home, and his parents only suspect the old man’s intentions.
“It will be a big surprise for my mother,” Bluhý said impatiently.
Then she said goodbye and, along with Peter, walked slowly to the closest café in the old town, refreshing herself with a cold coffee.
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