Happy fatherland, Lithuania, famous for great rulers, Lithuania, accept God’s words with a pure heart,
That when thou shalt give thy account in the court of the high court, the wrath of the dreadful judge may not oppress thee.

Happy fatherland, Lithuania, famous for great rulers, Lithuania, accept God’s words with a pure heart,
That when thou shalt give thy account in the court of the high court, the wrath of the dreadful judge may not oppress thee.

Hello, bright people. A rare Lithuanian needs to introduce himself, who I am and what I am standing here for. But for those who don’t know, it’s definitely time to get acquainted. I am a representative of the first generation of Lithuanian religious resisters, a pioneer of Lithuanian writing, called by the name of Martynas Mažvydas.

I was born at the beginning of the 16th century, during the Reformation movement in Europe, which was sparked by my great authority, Martin Luther. At that time, Catholicism in Great Lithuania was dominated by the Latin language. I was a teacher at the Abraomas Kulvitis Higher School.

I was persecuted by a Catholic bishop because of my reformist activities; Suddenly, I received a letter from Prince Albrecht of Prussia inviting me to study at the University of Königsberg. Although I haven’t visited the Grand Duke of Lithuania’s palace, listened to an Italian chapel, or perhaps debated with the greatest humanists of the Renaissance, I do have an education – I managed to get through 8 semesters of university in 3.

In 1547, I prepared and published the Lithuanian incunabula, the first Lithuanian book, the Katekizma. I learned the ways to Hans Weines’ printing house and felt very responsible – I went day after day, watching the master, the principal, together with his apprentices, printing my book page after page; I have dedicated it to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania because I am deeply convinced that a book is a bridge between man and the world.

A couple of years later, I became the pastor of Ragainė; I prepared books necessary for the Lithuanian Lutheran Church: catechism, hymnbooks, agenda. I spent all my money on books and literary work, and I lived a poor life – I was called the “father of the poor”; As far as I have heard from people in Klaipėda, my cousin Baltramiejus Vilentas took care of printing my books after my death;

1938 m. Polish linguist Jan Safarewicz discovered the secret I left in the Catechism – I encrypted my identity with an acrostic. What does that mean, you ask? Reading the first letters of the first lines of the Lithuanian preface of the catechism from the third to the nineteenth line, the Latin form – Martinus Masvidius – comes out.

450 years after the publication of the Catechism, with the help of the sculptor Regimantas Midvikas and the architect V. Mazurkevičius, I stood here, in the central square of the city of Klaipėda, in the square of the Lithuanians, formerly known by the names of Liepaja, Kant, Lenin and Victory;

I ask everyone who hears me. Sit on the bench in front of the school, return to the school bench for a minute. Take a moment to reflect and appreciate your love for Lithuania. We are happy to live in an independent, bright and improving country. Let’s cherish and defend our mother tongue, let’s beautify our country with sincerity, love and good deeds…