When speculating about the fate of his lost son, Father Tomislav says, 'Kryie eleison.'" (p. 122) When relating that his daughter married and went abroad, he says, 'Christe eleison.'" (ibid.) When recounting that his younger son ran away, he repeats, 'Kyrie eleison.'" (ibid.) These two Greek phrases, recited in this order, are part of the Catholic Latin rite although Tomislav is a Catholic of the Glagolitic rite. His youngest daughter drowned in the lake. Despite all this, Tomislav counts his blessings:
God;
the greenwood;
music;
merrymaking;
fellowship;
the trust of his parishioners;
the love of their children.
Whereas the puritanical Bogomils exorcise every halfworld survival, the Glagolitics tolerate:
the vodianoi that plunders nets in the lake;
Leshy tricksters in the wood;
polevik that keep blight from the crops;
domovoi that embody a household and its well-being;
Kikimora that might help overworked housewives.
The number of supernatural beings seems to be endless. A new one is added every time there is a list.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I'm a little surprised by what happened to Fr. Tomislav's children (aside from the one who drowned). In those days of slow travel and communications, most people generally lived their entire lives within, say, a ten mile radius of where they were born (or an even smaller radius). Obviously, of course, there were exceptions.
I'm just sorry at least his married daughter didn't send Fr. Tomislav an occasional letter. But, yes, the lack of postal services would make that difficult!
Even now the "Kyrie eleison" remains in the Mass of the Latin rite, a survival from the time when the Eucharist was celebrated entirely in Greek.
Sean
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