Bishop Sipovich new file

18 After three years in exile Father Hermanovich threw himself headlong into the work among his own people. The Marian college in Vilna became a lively place. Apart from Fathers Stankievich (who often came for a rest in their garden) and Kulak, other frequent visitors were Fathers Boryk, Laposhka and Jan Siemashkievich, better known as the poet Janka Bylina. Among the laymen there were the famous Belarusian tenor Mikhas Zabeida-Sumicki; Dr Stanislaus Hrynkievich, the translator of Thomas à Kempis’s Imitation of Christ ; Dr Leusha; the editor of Bielaruskaja krynica Joseph Pazniak; the law student Victor Iermalkovich (former pupil of Druia); the ethnographer Marian Pietsiukievich; the close associate of Fr Stankievich and conductor of the church choir Adolf Klimovich; the medical student Peter Gaidel (former pupil at Druia) and many others. Sometimes special events took place in the college, such as a dulcimer (tsymbaly) concert by the folk musician Alexander Matusevich from Halshany (the birthplace of Fr Hermanovich) on 7 Nov.1936. Among the visitors there were not only Belarusians. On 13 Oct. 1936 Father Hermanovich was visited by Jan Urban, a Polish Jesuit who was editor of the journal Oriens dedicated to the problems of Christian Unity. He invited Fr. Hermanovich to contribute to the Belarusian Greek Catholic journal Da zluchennia (For Union), edited by the Belarusian Jesuit Father Anthony Niemantsevich. Unfortunately this journal soon ceasedpublication under the pressure from the Polish authorities. Another interesting visitor was the dean of the theological faculty of Vilna University, Father Ignacy Swirski, an authority on Orthodox Moral Theology. Father Hermanovich also busied himself with pastoral work, helping parish priests in celebrating mass, hearing confessions and conducting retreats. Father Stankievich coopted him to the editorial board of Chryscijanskaja dumka . Articles and poems by Father Hermanovich appeared regularly in that paper. Unlike other major ethnical groups, – Lithuanians, Germans and even Russians, – the Belarusians in Vilna had no church of their own. Even Matulewicz, who was generally sympathetic to the Belarusian cause, did not dare to give them their own church because of the strength of Polish opposition. The Lithuanians, with whom Stankievich had friendly relations, lent him the use of their church of Saint Nicholas to celebrate Mass for Belarusians on Sundays and great feasts. It was there that Father Hermanovich led a retreat for Belarusians in Lent 1937. He also allowed his clerics to attend the Belarusian Mass. The Marian clerics together with their Superior also took part in the life of the Belarusian community, attending public lectures and major events such as the "Day of Belarusian Culture" on 16 December 1936, where the chief speaker was Father Stankievich. When Tsikota in Rome heard about it, he was not pleased. On 2 March 1937 he wrote to Hermanovich: "I beg you not to allow the clerics to take part in events such as the Day of Culture or something similar. For them it (i.e. the life in Vilna) should be extension of their novitiate, and they must know it. Please do not forget also the circumstances in which you live. You must also take care that they have the Holy Mass on Sundays in their own place and do not go out to other churches". Father Hermanovich’s writing activity likewise did not meet with Tsikota’s approval. On 14 May he wrote: "It is painful for me to remind you not for the first time of the Constitutions (of the Marian Congregation – A.N. ), but it is my duty to do so... Do you think that your talent will perish if you use it after having obtained the necessary permission and submitted (your works) to the appropriate censorship...?" The reaction of Father Hermanovich is not known, but on 16 May, i.e. two months after Tsikota’s first letter, he and all Marian clerics were present at ta concert organised by the Union of Belarusian Students.