Songs by Father Kornel Sroczyński, Hegumen of the Basilian Monastery in Krystynopol, in the recently discovered print 'Chwała Boga Cudownego w Świętym Onufrym' [The glory of God the Miracle Worker in Saint Onuphrius] (Lviv 1773)

Oksana Shkurgan

Abstract

The Provincial Archive of the Bernardine Order in Cracow is in possession of a unique copy of a print published in one thousand copies, titled Chwała Boga Cudownego w Świętym Onufrym [The glory of God the Miracle Worker in Saint Onuphrius] (Lviv 1773). The edition was prepared by the Basilian monk and missionary Father Kornel Sroczyński (1731–90), Hegumen of Krystynopol (now Chervonohrad), and published by the Franciscans of Lviv with a dedication to Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki (1752–1805). The volume was published to add splendour to the introduction of the Brotherhood of Saint Onuphrius into the Basilian Orthodox church in Krystynopol. It contains sources of sacred songs with texts that have never been studied to date. In the subject literature, which begins with the writings of Fr Roman Łukań (1907–43), a historian of the Order of Saint Basil the Great, the print is referred to as ‘a little book on Saint Onuphrius’. Thanks to the discovery of a copy of Chwała Boga Cudownego w Świętym Onufrym by the author of this article, we can state that the volume contains the sources of the poetic texts (without music) of seven sacred songs: five of them were published in Polish (a song to Saint Onuphrius titled ‘O, Ojczyzno niespokojna! Głód, powietrze, ogień, wojna’ [Oh, my troubled Fatherland! Famine, pestilence, fire and war], two hymns to the effigy of the Crucified Jesus in the Basilian Orthodox church in Krystynopol, titled ‘O, Jezu umęczony’ [Oh, tormented Christ] and ‘Zalewaj się łzami’ [Let your tears flow], a hymn to Our Lady of Sorrows, ‘Pękaj się serce na te wieści’ [Break, my heart, at the news], and a song written in veneration of the effigy of Saint Nicholas in the Basilian Orthodox church in Krystynopol, titled ‘W Patarześ zrodzon i tam wychowany’ [In Patara you were born and raised]); two are in Ukrainian (one to Saint Onuphrius, titled ‘Pomoszcznyka kto yszczeszy’ [Who seeks a helper], the other to Saint Basil the Great, ‘Soberyte sia z wsełennyia, wsia piwcew łyki’ [Come from all the universe his praises for to sing]) transliterated into Latin script. The manuscript chronicle titled Dziejopis monasteru krystynopolskiego Zakonu S. Bazylego Wielkiego, od R.P. 1766 [A history of the Krystynopol monastery of Saint Basil the Great, from 1766 onwards], written by Sroczyński, suggests that he composed only six of the songs in the Lviv edition under discussion, whilst he described ‘Pomoszcznyka kto yszczeszy’ as an ‘older’ composition.

The songs devoted to saints (Saint Onuphrius, Saint Basil the Great and Saint Nicholas) were marked as ‘New’ in the edition, which indicates that Sroczyński wrote them especially for this publication. The remaining three songs (two hymns to the Crucified jesus and one to Our Lady of Sorrows) may have been written by Sroczyński earlier, although their dates are not given in either the print under discussion or in his other writings (it is possible that at the time of publication the compositions already functioned among the Basilians of Krystynopol).

Of special significance was the Polish song ‘O, Ojczyzno niespokojna!’ which opens the songs section in Chwała Boga Cudownego. The very beginning of the song alludes to the recent (first) partition of Poland (in 1772) and the blows suffered by the country as a result of fires, plague and invading armies (Russian and Austrian). The ending of the composition has strong patriotic overtones. Two songs are supplemented with the ‘tones’ to be used in performance. For the Polish song ‘O, Jezu umęczony’, Sroczyński recommended the ‘tone’ of the Ukrainian Marian song ‘O Wsepitaia Maty! Hdy na sud każut staty!’ [O Mother Glorified! When the Final judgment comes], sung by the congregations of the Greek Catholic Church during Basilian missions, whereas the Polish song to Saint Nicholas, ‘W Patarześ zrodzon i tam wychowany’, was best sung to the melody of a song to Saint Francis Xavier, titled ‘Wielki podziemnych krajów Apostole’ [Great Apostle of southern lands], from the Polish Roman Catholic repertoire. The published songs with texts in Polish written by Sroczyński are evidence that Basilian monks wrote sacred songs in Polish; in particular, they prove that melodies known from both Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic repertoires were employed in their new compositions.

The sacred songs performed in the Basilian church in Krystynopol certainly played a very important role in the priestly activities of Father Sroczyński, who was both head of the monastery and also a missionary. The Polish and Ukrainian songs preserved in the Franciscan print must have been performed during the celebrations accompanying the above- mentioned introduction. Apart from the nobility, the participants included clergymen and a large congregation of Greek Catholics and Roman Catholics. The joint singing of hymns to sacred effigies worshipped by local believers helped to integrate the communities of both denominations and people of all social strata.

Almost twenty years later, the text of the song to Saint Basil the Great, ‘Soberyte sia z wsełennyia, wsia piwcew łyki’, composed and published by Father Sroczyński, was reprinted anonymously by Basilian monks in Poczajów, in an extensive music collection titled Bohohłasnyk (1790–91). Hence the name of the Basilian composer Father Kornel Sroczyński can be listed among the known composers of religious songs who contributed to Bohohłasnyk.