Chapter 2
The chapter opens by explaining that every disciplined community, especially a religious one, has a hierarchical staff and appointed officials who perform public functions on a weekly or daily basis. At the top sits the bishop, who appears only occasionally to give sermons or celebrate major feasts, while direct authority in the seminary is exercised by a chain of lower officials. The resident rector, Valeškevičius, is described as a short, gold‑eyed, old‑fashioned man who, although not a true Pole, despises the new “tail‑written” Lithuanian orthography, condemns the “Draugija” as heretical, and never speaks Lithuanian to the clerics. His incessant coughing and loud knocking on doors make the seminarians fear him; he conducts evening inspections of the clerics’ rooms, announcing his arrival with a cough and knuckles on the doors.
Contrasting him is the inspector Mazurkovskis, a stout, bald, broad‑shouldered Polish traditionalist who moves silently like a fox, unknown to the seminarians until he appears. He promotes Polish customs, encourages the clerics to learn Lithuanian so they can be assigned to Lithuanian parishes, and fuels an intense rivalry over language rights within the diocese, stoking patriotic fervour among the students while also causing demoralisation.
The chapter then introduces the dean, who manages day‑to‑day life, assigns roommates twice a year (“transliokatos”), reports nightly to the rector, and is the coveted position contested by Lithuanian and Polish factions. Next, the ceremonial master (ceremonijų mistras) is detailed: he organises every liturgical celebration, supervises a team consisting of a deacon, sub‑deacon, ceremonial officer, turiferary (codyluotojas), and two acolytes (always first‑year seminarians) who handle huge candles. The narrative notes frequent mishaps during ceremonies that can result in the loss of altar cloths or even a horse, and describes the “unlucky” novices who fail to learn these rites.
The music director (dirigentas) is then presented: he trains the choir, conducts antiphons and psalms, and is exempt from assisting in ceremonies. The organist is mentioned as a student who learns to play the organ or piano, while the apothecary (aptiekininkas) dispenses medicines to sick friends and gains the trust of rural parishioners. A campanologist (kampanarijus) is responsible for the clock and ringing signals throughout the day, alerting seminarians when to perform tasks.
For first‑year students, the primary guardian is the “formarijus,” usually a deacon, who lives with the novices in the smallest, most inconvenient “labirintas” room. He mentors them in reading the rubric, attending Mass, and monitors them for any undesirable spiritual or behavioural tendencies, reporting his observations to the rector every Saturday. The chapter lists the rotating chores assigned to novices: sweeping lecture halls, assisting the spiritual father during Mass, cleaning their own cells, carrying meals from the kitchen to the refectory, ensuring silence while sacred texts are read, and opening doors for professors.
Finally, the narrator returns to Liudas Vasaris, noting that during his years at the seminary the spiritual fathers changed frequently for unclear reasons, each being gentle, somewhat naïve, and speaking in a monotone that made liturgical music difficult. Vasaris reflects that, despite the oppressive atmosphere, he grew accustomed to punctuality, strict order, and even the most menial tasks such as grain‑sieving or sweeping, which he never shunned. He also recalls the heavy emphasis on learning Polish and Latin: by the second year all students spoke Polish, while Latin remained difficult and was only partially mastered after two years of daily lessons. History, Lithuanian, and occasional German or French studies filled the curriculum. The chapter concludes that the seminary’s rigid structure, language conflict, and exhaustive daily regimen shaped Vasaris’s formative years.