George Matulaitis Journal

151 take over the administration of the diocese solely on the basis of the telegram: the Chapter might not agree to it. However, it turned out that the trains were going only as far as Bi a= ystok, and it was not clear whether one could travel any further. I returned to Marijampole. There we decided that Father Dvaranauskas would go to Warsaw to bring back the necessary papers. He had a diffi- cult journey, but he did bring back the documents. With the Bishop of Kaunas we made arrangements that I would be consecrated on the first of December and take up the administration of the Diocese 1 on the eighth of December, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. It became clear that none of the other bishops would be able to attend the consecration. I had invited the Bishops of Mi<sk and Sejny. The Bishop of Sejny 2 had gone to + om ? a, while the Bishop of Mi<sk could not come because, I think, he received my message only some five days after the consecration took place. 3 I had been thinking about postponing the consecration, but I was overruled because it had already been announced in the churches throughout the Diocese of Vilnius. For these reasons, and also because we were likely to face yet more troubled times, I was advised against changing the dates of the consecration and installation. I agreed. November 29 We left for Kaunas together with Fathers Dvaranauskas and Reklaitis. 4 The train to Vilkavi kis was already two hours late, and it stopped twice along the way. Consequently, we arrived in Kaunas so late that there was some doubt about whether my consecration would take place at all. 1 The episcopal consecration was to take place in the Cathedral of Kaunas, and eight days later Bishop Matulaitis was to make his formal entrance into the Cathedral and Diocese of Vilnius. 2 Bishop Karosas could not come because he had to attend the consecration of Romuald Ja=b rzykowski on Nov. 30th in +om?a . 3. Bishop Zygmunt +ozi<ski had his own troubles, as the Red Army was converging on Mi<sk . 4 Kazimieras Reklaitis (1887-1967), Matulaitis’s close associate and fellow student at the Theological Academy of St. Petersburg, was professor at the Seminary there. Entered the Marian novitiate at Marijampole in 1918 and later held various responsible positions in the Congregation in Lithuania, the USA, and Rome.