Wereda D., Linguistic competences of the Basilians of the Lithuanian province in the 17th–18th centuries, "Res Historica", 2023, pp. 201–216.52 1 377 45 v.

The article was based on the catalog of Basilians studying at the papal seminary in Vilnius in the years 1611–1795 and the census of monks from 1800, and analyzes the linguistic competences of the Basilians of the Lithuanian province. The monks most often knew three languages: Latin, Polish and "Sclavonica" or "Ruthenica". In the second half of the 18th century, the Basilians expanded their linguistic competences to include knowledge of modern languages: French, German, and Italian. In response to pastoral needs, they used Lithuanian, Samogitian and Latvian. They used their language competences in pastoral and educational work. Monks in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, together with the Uniate parish clergy, created an environment maintaining knowledge of the written tradition of the Ruthenian language. The linguistic competences of the Basilians shaped the forms and content of the message in pastoral work, spread the faith and enabled correlations between the cultural heritage of language groups. The monks' skills allowed them to act as content intermediaries between communities of different linguistic circles and between elite and egalitarian cultures.