Categories: Arvid Ratnieks

People have problems with attending church at present, too. People themselves create problems. As far as I have observed, one man told me about a great sinner, that now the most active churchgoers are those who have been the greatest party hustlers. I know many of them. In the so-called Soviet times or, as we used to say – Russian times, I never heard that here in Līksma parish, in the area of Līksna, in Līksna kolkhoz somebody had been forbidden to go to church. The only thing that really existed was, there was a crazy communist Ukina, the school headmistress, yes, there were at times some problems with children who joined their parents in going to church. At Christmas, Easter, she used to stand there leering at the school and the church. And it even happened, that parents were called up to school and sked to explain why they took their children to church. My mum said, when she took me with her, I’m taking him with me, and thus that all ended.

Adults, if some, being crazy or foolish, had joined the party, they mainly, I mean those convinced communists, they did not have any problems with church attendance either, since they did not do that. Most of those who were simple tractor drivers, who had been dragged into the party because they were fools, did not attend church either.

But I remember that people told that, let’s say, a teacher also, if he was there in the school, and the church is nearby, shouldn’t go to church. Believing women, they went to church to the town. They got on a bus on Sundays, went to Daugavpils, attended church, and everybody knew that, but there were no repressions or anything like that.

Researcher: Dr. philol. Valentīns Lukaševičs, Daugavpils Universitāte