Visocnik: SMS 13

STUDIA MYTHOLOGICA SLAVICA
| Znanstvenoraziskovalni center SAZU

STUDIA MYTHOLOGICA SLAVICA 13, 2010

Julijana Viso#269;nik:

Hren's Sermon upon Setting of the Foundation Stone for the Capuchin Monestary in Ljubljana

Abstract

The author presents a draft for a sermon or a speech by the bishop Tomaž Hren, which was given on 25. April 1607 at the consecration of the foundation stone for the new Capuchin monastery in Ljubljana (today park Zvezda in the centre of Ljubljana). This draft was used and quoted as a proof of the existence of pagan (old Slavic) beliefs still in the 17th century. Since this sermon has never been presented as a whole, the context of the mentioning of the three pagan gods (Lada, Plejn, Poberin) has not been known, therefore scholars had no choice but to use their imagination for interpretation. In order to bridge this gap, the author transcribes the draft and translates it. Since we have in our hands only a draft of the sermon and not the sermon itself, we have to add that we do not know the text which was actually preached by Tomaž Hren. It can be expected that we will never know how much attention Tomaž Hren paid to Slavic gods, which are in fact only mentioned in the text. It can be concluded that pagan gods were introduced to him by folk tradition and not from the scholarly literature. Consequently, this fact cannot be taken as a proof for the worship of pagan cults in the 17th century, while at the same time it cannot be denied. But we can be sure of the existence of the mentioned figures among people in the 17th century and even today. We also have to consider the option that T. Hren used this statement solely as a preacher's instrument to stress the difference between the situation in the past (antea) and the state in the present, when the Christian God is worshipped.

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