When people see my last name for the first time, they are often confused. My family is used to being mistaken for Hispanics—people inevitably pronounce our name, “The Lucas Family.” When I explain I am Slovenian, I am usually met with a handful of answers: “Wow, that’s really cool. I know someone else from Slovakia,” or more commonly “Oh cool, Slovenia. . . . Where’s that? I’ve never heard of it.” In the sixth grade, my teacher even stated that I was mistaken: “Slovenia is not a real country. You are making that up.”
In short, Slovenia is not well known. We can feel a similar way when we live out our Christian lives. It may seem as if Christianity is failing and that there are no remnants of the once great culture of Christendom today. However, I propose we look to a lesser known Blessed of our Church to find a solution.
Today, the Church celebrates the memorial of Blessed Anton Martin Slomšek, a Slovenian Bishop known for his great solicitude in the care of his flock and for his virtue in the exercise of his office. He is also remembered for promoting a greater love and expression of the Slovene language and culture. Born in 1800, Bl. Anton lived while Slovenia was under the control of the Hapsburg monarchy. Slovene culture and language were suppressed in an attempt to unify the empire. On the day of his ordination in 1824, Bl. Anton took a vow to devote all of his spare time to the promotion of Slovenian culture and language. When he was installed as the Bishop of Lavant in 1846, Bl. Anton not only promoted religious education but also Slovenian culture. He organized Slovene language courses at the seminary, preached in Slovene, wrote catechetical books for the youth in Slovene, and encouraged the clergy to relate to the laity through their common culture, especially through parish events like Sunday school. In the secular sphere he promoted school reforms. He wrote some of the first bilingual and Slovene-only school books for use in his reformed schools. Undoubtedly his greatest contribution, which still endures to this day, was the establishment of “The Society of St. Mohor,” Slovenia’s oldest publishing house. By the year 2001, its 150th anniversary, it had published over 40 million books in Slovene. Blessed Anton knew the goodness of his Slovene patrimony and wanted to pass it down to future generations. His efforts paid off in the end—his diocese now has a high literacy rate, and both the Slovene language and culture have been preserved throughout the country.
We Christians are in a similar position today. When we look out into the world, we see a stifling culture that wishes to stamp out the Gospel. There is an effort to unify everyone in a pluralistic, relativistic society where all may do as they please as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone. Yet we know that this is not what man is ultimately made for. All Christians are called to evangelize and to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. We as Dominican friars are called to do this in a particular way though our liturgical preaching; but even the laity are called to preach to those around them. Parents do this by teaching their children the “language and culture” of the Church by catechesis. Even those who grew up in the faith could use a refresher to help them learn about the rich patrimony we have as Christians.
Christian culture may not be as dominant as it once was. Many people take for granted that we are moving into a more enlightened age, wherein we will move beyond the silliness of religion. Nevertheless, there is still a Christian foundation underlying our country. We should look to Bl. Anton Martin Slomšek as an example of how to reinvigorate and restore our Christian culture. With the help of God and the example of the saints, we too can pass down all true and good things to the next generation.
Blessed Anton Martin Slomšek, pray for us.
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Photo by Artem Sapegin on Unsplash
