Born on March 7, 1868, in the village of Liepas Mukani, the parish of Liksna in Latvia, of Donat and Apolonia (neé Aizbaltis) Skrinda. He attended the local elementary school, and later, after completing an internship, passed an examination to become a pharmacist’s apprentice. Following the death of his parents, Benedikts interrupted his studies even though he longed to become a priest, and took care of his younger brothers: Kazimierz and Antoni. To provide for upkeep and education of his siblings, he worked on the farm, but mostly hired himself out as a [stone and brick] mason. He sent his younger brothers to the gymnasium at St. Catherine’s Church in St. Petersburg. Antoni later studied medicine and became a doctor; while Kazimierz entered the seminary in 1893 at St. Petersburg, and continued his education at the Theological Academy in 1897, being ordained to the priesthood in 1901. Later both younger brothers taught in the gymnasium at St. Catherine’s Church: Kazimierz taught religion, and Antoni taught the Latvian language while also acting as the students’ physician. Having realized his younger brothers’ educational goals, Benedikts also entered the seminary in St. Petersburg in 1899, at age 31. On March 9, 1903, he was ordained a priest and was sent as an assistant priest to Omsk. He returned to St. Petersburg in 1905, and took the position of assistant pastor at St. Stanislaus Church, and then – at St. Catherine’s. In 1907 he became pastor in Jozefovas, transferring two years later to Bukmuiz. In 1911 he became pastor at the parish in Andrupien, and finally, in 1914, he went to Balva, where he served as a pastor until 1923. While ministering at parishes, he wrote articles and books, signing them by his penname “Farmer’s son.” Together with his brothers, he greatly contributed towards reuniting Latgale with other Latvian territories. From his youth Benedikts wanted to be a religious order priest, but it was impossible since all orders were forbidden. He thought about the Capuchins, and finally became third-order Franciscan. When he became a priest, he told Bishop Springowicz about his desire. This same wish was expressed to the Bishop by Fr. Bronisław Valpitrs, whose thoughts were directed towards the Redemptorists or Salisians. When the countries of Eastern Europe regained their freedom in 1918, Bishop Springowicz decided to bring back to life the religious orders in the Riga Archdiocese. Thus, he summoned both priests and, making sure that they persevered in their vocation for consecrated life, advised them to join the Congregation of Marians, of which he had learned recently and which had been renovated by the Bishop of Vilnius, George Matulewicz. The Marians agreed that Archbishop Springowicz would send his candidates to Mariampole. In February of 1923, Fr. Skrinda left his parish in Balva, and Fr. Valpitrs – the religious education classes that he ran in Kraslav, and both went to Mariampole. There, on February 19th, they began the novitiate, which they completed on February 24th of 1924, when they professed their religious vows. They were supposed to become renovators of consecrated life in Latvia, starting with a former Bernardine monastery in Vilani. Nothing remained of this monastery except its walls. The floor boards were ripped out, furnaces removed, and windows were either filled with bricks or covered up with boards or rags. Cells were used as storerooms for potatoes, firewood, hay, or as pigsties and chicken coops. The pastor’s living quarters were in a wooden shack near the monastery ruins. MARIANS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Fr. Benedikt Skrinda, MIC 1868-1947
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