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Evangelical reformers settled in Biržai during the reign of the Radvils. It is announced that the Biržai Reformed Parish was founded by Mikalojus Radvila Rudasis, whose son Kristupas Radvila Perkūnas founded the construction of the Evangelical Reformed Church. It was first mentioned in historical sources in 1584.
Priest Rimas Mikalauskas has led the Biržai Evangelical Reformed Parish for approximately two decades. In the church on Saturday night, the priest who trusted us invites us to enter. Incidentally, the symbolic church is located on Reformatų street.
15 minutes of LIFE conversation with priest Rim: about the differences between the Reformed and the Catholics, about their own way, about the angels whose wings were invented by the people. And about the fact that the church can become a ship for one person.
– Priest, what was your own path? Information that previously worked on Seimas can be found on the Internet.
– A little when I graduated from Vilnius University. Then I received such an interesting offer. After studying at the Vilnius University Faculty of History, I intended to continue my studies in theology. But there were questions about where and when, in addition to scholarship matters.
At Seimas, I worked with public relations. It was around 1992. I had an incredible experience there. Firstly, I improved my knowledge of English, secondly, I had to communicate with many people. Dzhokhar Dudayev, for example, is approaching, and there is an urgent need to pass on the knowledge.
– What were your responsibilities?
– Editor. I learned another rule. I worked as an editor in the public relations group of the Seimas Information and Analysis Center of the Republic of Lithuania. That rule is as follows: the longer your job, the lower the salary and the shorter the title, for example, the President of Seimas, the higher the salary.
At Seimas I learned that all people are equal. It doesn’t matter if you travel in the same elevator with Vytautas Landsbergis or if the Queen of Denmark arrives. All people walk to the bathroom and all people are people.
I remember when the rallies took place near the Seimas, and you are sitting inside the Seimas like in a can. There are angry people near the Seimas, it works emotionally. It is not unnecessary for the Seimas to reunite a child, because it really affects those inside.
– After working at Seimas, did you continue your studies?
– yeah I entered the Christian Academy of Theology in Warsaw. He knew Polish, he didn’t have to pay for education, because then there was some kind of agreement between Lithuania and Poland. I also participated in my studies, Latin, because I was studying at the University of Vilnius. This shortened the study time.
– How did theology, religion, faith come into your life in general?
– I didn’t grow up in a Christian family. I grew up normal, my father was in Siberia, my grandfather died in Siberia. Mom is a teacher. They were not communists, but they had no connection to the church.
The grandfather on the mother’s side was more freethinking, but the grandmother prayed. Another thing is that the people of that generation transmit the Christian faith in other ways: they translate it into the body. It says: don’t do it, baby, what you don’t want you to do. This is the Gospel of Matthew: and you do to others what you want people to do to you.
I think religion should be taught in schools instead of religion. The two concepts are very different.
I grew up in such a family. I was a Komsomol at school. The parents said: lead the communist youth fast. Since my father was in Siberia, my grandfather died in a camp. I don’t know if he would have entered university. Thus I became a Komsomol.
Being in that system, you start to see it from the inside and that it is rotten. Then followed the army, the Russian army. There you face very specific things that the teeth in your mouth are not yours because tomorrow you may not have them, you can break them. And your life hangs on your hair. Then I realized that there is some kind of force that seems to you reports protect Something is.
After returning from the army, I started studying, the times of the Sąjūdis came, and soon the time came when I wanted to search for meaning in life. Finally, the Scripture fell into my hands.
I started reading, realizing that the truth was written. To Pontius Pilate, Jesus says: I am the truth and the life. And then you start to see. Later, God brought me to the Reformed Church in Vilnius, and I joined the community. And even later, seeing my gift (speaking), I was offered to be a clergyman. Because priests were missing.
Incidentally, I was the first Reformed priest in Lithuania to graduate from higher theology.
After studying, I received an appointment for Kėdainiai, then for Biržai. I have been here for about 18 years.
Evangelical Reformed Church in Biržai
– Probably a frequent, when you visit the Evangelical Reformed Church for the first time, you ask the same or a similar question. How are Reformed people different from Catholics? They are both Christians.
– We are not born Reformed, Catholic or Orthodox. We are born boys and girls. But what do we become?
Reformed are different from Catholics. Like “Morning” from “Žalgiris”. We have the same pitch, we have the ball, the same rules, but it is different. In a sense, we are competitors. If it is for the glory of Christ, such competition is very good. For example, a bad Catholic priest will never be sent to Biržai while we are. Why? Because the shame of others.
Reformed are different from Catholics. Like “Morning” from “Žalgiris”.
When it comes to religious education, it is very lacking. I think religion should be taught in schools instead of religion. The two concepts are very different.
Incidentally, in Biržai schools, students choose not only between religion and ethics, but between Reformed religion, Catholic religion and ethics. We introduce a lot of cognition of religion into our religion.
– And what is your community of believers here in Biržai?
– It is very difficult to say it, to estimate it. And how to do it? Do you appreciate what happens in worship? There is such a statement: a non-practicing Catholic. The same is true of such reforms. He only discovers that a person was a reformed person after death when his loved ones invite him to a funeral.
We have a tradition, which is confirmed by ecclesiastical law. There is a membership sacrifice when a person donates to the church once a year and whatever they want. So last year there were 680 donations of this type.
– The comparison with “Žalgiris” and “Rytas” is picturesque, but in more detail, where is the difference between these two denominations?
– We have a lot in common, we are the same Catholics, only reformed 400-500 years ago. The same universal western church, only we don’t recognize human authority. For example, the Pope of Rome.
We respect the Pope as head of the Roman Catholic Church, but we are not subordinate to him.
In principle, there is the Holy Trinity itself. If a Catholic wants to be a reformer, we should not baptize him. He is already baptized in the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
We also marry mixed marriages: Catholic and Reformed. The bishop departed that such a marriage is legal. Like the Roman Catholic Church, so is ours, a so-called traditional religious community. We are equal before the law. Nine denominations are recognized in Lithuania.
In 2000, the Holy See, representing Catholics, signed an international treaty because the Vatican is also a state and the pope is not only a spiritual leader but also a monarch. Therefore, according to this treaty, this denomination receives certain privileges.
In the army, for example, there are chaplains who are only Catholic priests, although there could also be our clergy. Why? There is no political will. We are not dealing with matters of faith, but with a certain bureaucracy.
Rhyming priest Mikalauskas
– What is the difference between the priests of these two denominations? I see a difference, by the way. You with a wedding ring.
– Much. Seen from the side, it seems that the priests are both. But we evangelicals are called pastors more often.
I will tell you with humor, but there is truth in that humor. An evangelical priest, a cleric is more a guru and a shameful shaman. But more gurus because we teach. And a Catholic priest is more a shaman and just a guru. The highlight is another.
Evangelical reformers are not mediators between God and man. Because the mediator between God and man is one: the true man and the true God Jesus Christ. And that is. And we, the clergy, can only go together, but we cannot represent someone. The priest is the one who supervises if you live according to the word of God. We also have no masses.
– What about the confession?
– There is, but it is for God. Everyone should be able to account to God. We do not give communion to children, with us only from the age of 16 a person confirms their faith. If I baptize a child in the Reformed Church, that does not mean that he will be a Reformed. He himself must confirm his faith.
Our church system is different. The Catholic Church is an absolute monarchy, where the bishop, the pope, and the priest have economic, financial, and spiritual authority. In our country, power is transferred to the community, and everything is decided by the board or the council of elders. I only have one vote among all.
– There is no mass, but there is a church where they meet. So are there worship services here?
– Yes, adoration, not mass. Evangelicals understand that the mass is the redemption of man. But the redemption of sins was accomplished once and perfectly. On Calvary, on the cross, and the Mass was offered by Jesus Christ. He himself was a sacrifice, a lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, and he did it.
Evangelicals understand that the mass is the redemption of man. But the redemption of sins was accomplished once and perfectly. On Calvary, on the cross, and the Mass was offered by Jesus Christ.
As a result, for us, the Catholic Mass is like a mockery of Jesus’ sacrifice, or that sacrifice was not perfect if it had to be performed again. In a way, for us, it’s an insult. Therefore, evangelicals do not attend mass. They can look, be, but not participate. We also don’t have an altar. There is only one table of the Lord where we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
Evangelical Reformed Church in Biržai
– And so, when you went to church, didn’t you get over it?
– Here’s the little thing. Some Lutherans are screaming, others are not. But as I said, here is the detail. It is a popular tradition because the word of God does not teach it.
Everyone must stand before God Himself. I can only accompany one person, but he needs to perceive, to understand himself. God gave it to him.
Our prayers at first glance are similar to Mass, there is a cup, bread, and the liturgy is very similar. But this is just a reminder that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father of God, in heaven. So how can it be in the bread? Is it on the altar? Yes, he is here, in his Holy Spirit, not in bread or wine.
We have two sacraments, baptism and communion. Catholics have more of them. Everything else, like marriage, we call a blessing.
Yes, if we look from the side, everything is very similar. But the meaning itself is different. What else? We have no celibacy.
– In fact, when we met, I immediately noticed the wedding ring.
– Evangelicals see this: if there is no family, maybe there are other things, are there problems? I say with laughter, but that laughter also has something real: after all, the bishop does not sleep with the priest and the wife sleeps all the time. And I won’t bribe her. Go, here’s the point.
If you sin against your wife, you can also lose your spiritual ministry. How? It is written in the Bible: He who aspires to be a cleric must be a man of a woman, have well-educated children. Because if he doesn’t know how to take care of the house, how will he take care of God’s church?
I say with laughter, but that laugh has something real: after all, the bishop does not sleep with the priest.
The apostle says: it is better to marry than to burn. And in fact, the wife, the family is much stricter in terms of discipline, responsibility. You have to work first, get organized in your family. Incidentally, we evangelicals have also lost clergy who have had family problems.
– Once I had to speak to a person whose life was not easy. Crime, alcohol, drugs … So I asked him if he was waiting. He replied yes, adding that even murderers are believers. I have been using this episode of conversation for a long time without even being able to understand it.
– We were taught in schools that man is homo sapiensThis is an intelligent man. Nonsense. Man is not intelligent. Man is an idiot. It is very well written in the Catechism. Man by nature tends to hate his neighbor and God. We all have murderers, just create the conditions.
We lost paradise and God cast us out. But there is a new land. No one can enter it, the new heaven, except the Son of God, who comes perfectly to this earth. Heaven is open to him.
This – our – land is a zone. Like in jail. I once read in the press that you did a prison survey and everyone said that sitting behind nothing. No one has sinned. On earth too, many of us say: I did nothing, I am a good person. No. We can hardly survive for at least two minutes without breaking God’s commandments.
But yes, the man is waiting. There is no religion in the world that does not have faith.
We create religion, we want to face the place of God. There are around 2.5 million people in Lithuania. In other words, there are so many goddesses in Lithuania. The more money you have, the greater the god, the more power you have, the greater the god. We all believe Even atheists believe.
Evangelical Reformed Church in Biržai
– What do atheists believe?
– Believe that there is no God. So I say we all believe. If you say that I am a hopeful person, I have no doubt about it. But the question is, what do you think? And what you believe is what you are.
A very beautiful Lithuanian word is faith. Just walking. Really walking. Faith is not a philosophical state, because as I believe, so I live. And if you want to test a person, give them power and money.
God Himself calls man. We cannot influence that, we cannot make people believe. While dictators, it is true, try. But it is impossible to control consciousness. The Ten Commandments of God are a mirror of our souls. When you get up in the morning and look in the mirror, you also look at the Ten Commandments of God, you see inside.
Man speaks of the abundance of his heart, he speaks of his treasure. From the good treasure a man raises the good, from the bad, the bad.
Part of the Christian life is constant repentance. We wash in the morning, we wash at night, but like the body, we need cleansing of the soul.
If you say that I am a hopeful person, I have no doubt about it. But the question is, what do you think? And what you believe is what you are.
– How would you explain what prayer is?
– This is our relationship with God. Since man needs to breathe, prayer is also needed for confession of sin. There are many of them: worship, repentance, mediation.
You can pray everywhere. The next day we sailed, we stayed longer on the lake. And we made prayers. After all, the phone has an Internet connection, you can open the Bible, read, sing. On the lake was our church.
As for prayer, the criminal says: God, I want to rob a bank, there is a million, help me and I will bring you half a million to church. Here is the prayer of the atheist, the dark man.
By the way, before examinations in churches, the number of young people is increasing. Then you realize that those people still don’t realize who God is. It is pagan, it is religious ignorance. Man thinks he can make a deal with God. No. Christians know that prayer is glorification, communion with who he is. What you love is what you communicate with, you want to be with him, you want to know him better.
It is not for nothing that it is written in the church: the glory of a God. So we don’t take credit for ourselves. If I did something good, He did it, and I was just a tool.
In the Bible, an angel is a messenger, nowhere in the Bible will you find an angel with wings. People simply decided that angels have wings, people invented wings for them, and in fact, an angel is a messenger.
God and the last bandit can be sent to the right place at the right time. As a messenger to help.
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