The Prayer Book

Two years ago, I posted a crumpled photograph my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, had carried with her when she fled the Russian Revolution. She had slipped the snapshot into a Russian-language prayer book. I have the prayer book, and I had planned to post images of it. I forgot about that idea until yesterday, when Althouse linked to the original, "Fresh off the Troika," post. 

That "Troika" post reminded me that I don't usually connect Tatjana with her Russian-religious roots. After Tatjana emigrated to Lithuania, she thoroughly assimilated. Tatjana became a devout Roman Catholic. She grew fluent in the Lithuanian language, worked at a Lithuanian library, and—while a Displaced Person—organized a Lithuanian-culture exhibit.

The only item that occasionally called us back to Tatjana's religious roots was the icon she used to bless family members.

When I looked at the prayer book today, I realized it is a Roman Catholic, not a Russian Orthodox, missal. The text includes the dialogue for a Mass written in Latin and Russian. I read only a few words in Russian, but I was able to make out that the title page states that it is a book for "Russian Catholics" (my Mom, who does read Russian, confirmed my hunch). Why did Tatjana already have a Roman Catholic prayer book when she fled Russia? There's an explanation. Tatjana met and married her Lithuanian husband, Vytautas, in Russia, while he still was serving in the Russian Imperial Army. It's likely she converted to Roman Catholicism before the wedding. The custom in an interfaith marriage—at least at that time, in that part of the world—was that the woman was the party required to convert to the man's religion.* 

The prayer book may have been an item Tatjana received from the Roman Catholic Church when she was studying for the conversion.

*Our family held this belief through the twentieth century. When a male family member married a Protestant, my Parents were miffed that the wedding ceremony took place at the bride's Protestant church. They insisted that a marriage must be consecrated in the man's house of worship. To Americans, this tradition is as peculiar as the custom that parents cannot attend a christening.

The book is in bad condition. The spine is gone. Dad must have created a book cover for it (I assume the cover is modern because it is secured with "invisible" tape).

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Here's the title page. "для русских католиков" means "For Russian Catholics."

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It looks like Polish clerics coordinated publication of the missal.

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These pages show the Latin text alongside the Russian text.

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This is the topper that decorated Tatjana's wedding cake. It's a crown: how interesting, because Orthodox wedding ceremonies use crowns.

Thanks to my Toronto Cousin for making a photo of the cake topper available to us.