Remembrance service to commemorate Lithuanian Bible translator held in London St Giles Cripplegate Church
29th October, 2016. The Remembrance service to commemorate Samuel Boguslaus Chylinskis – a protestant reformer and Bible translator of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was held in St Giles Cripplegate Church, Barbican, London.
The Commemoration began with a message of congratulations by Tomas Šernas, General Superintendent of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania. The congregation was then adressed by Rector Katharine Rumens and Father Petras Tverijonas, priest of St. Casimir Lithuanian Roman Catholic Church in London. The Remembrance service also included hymns and music pieces performed by London-based Lithuanian Choir Gausa. A Biblical play was performed by the students of London Lithuanian Educational Center Lighthouse.
“Never before have Lithuania and the UK enjoyed more prosperous relations than today. Gathered in this iconic Church we not only commemorate the legacy of great Lithuanian scholar S. B. Chylinksis but also cherish our long lasting English and Lithuanian protestant friendship”, the Lithuanian Ambassador Asta Skaisgirytė said.
The Remembrance service in St Giles Cripplegate Church concluded a series of events to commemorate the legacy of S. B. Chylinskis. On 21 September, 2016 academics from the UK and Lithuania discussed broader ties between British Protestants and their co-believers in Lithuania. Samuel Boguslaus Chylinskis’ manuscript translation of the New Testament and printed parts of the Old Testament, as well as other important items related to Lithuania from the British library collection were opened to public.
S. B. Chylinskis, born in Lithuania around 1631, graduated in 1653 from the Reformed high school in Kėdainiai, a centre of Calvinism in Lithuania, in 1654 went to the Netherlands to study theology. In 1657, unable to return to Lithuania because of the war with Russia, he went to Oxford University to continue his studies. He began his translation of the Bible in 1656 and finished it in 1660, the year printing was begun in London. S. B. Chylinskis died in London in 1666.
