What Prussian Lithuanian Lutheran pastor and poet wrote "The Seasons" a masterpiece of early Lithuanian literature thatdepicts everyday life of Lithuanian peasants, their struggle with serfdom, and the annual cycle of life?
Kristijonas Donelaitis Kristijonas Donelaitis (1 January 1714 – 18 February 1780; Latin: "Christian Donalitius" ) was a Prussian Lithuanian Lutheran pastor and poet. He lived and worked in Lithuania Minor, a territory in the Kingdom of Prussia, that had a sizable minority of ethnic Lithuanians. He wrote the first classic Lithuanian language poem, "The Seasons" (Lithuanian: "Metai" ), which became one of the principal works of Lithuanian poetry. The poem, a classic work of Lithuanian literature, depicts everyday life of Lithuanian peasants, their struggle with serfdom, and the annual cycle of life.
Alma Redemptoris Mater Alma Redemptoris Mater (] ; English: Loving Mother of our Saviour ) is a Marian hymn, written in Latin hexameter, and one of four seasonal liturgical Marian antiphons sung at the end of the office of Compline (the other three being "Ave Regina cælorum", the "Regina cœli" and the "Salve Regina"). Hermannus Contractus (also called Herman the Cripple; 1013–1054) is said to have authored the hymn based on the writings of Saints Fulgentius, Epiphanius, and Irenaeus of Lyon. It is mentioned in "The Prioress's Tale", one of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales". Formerly it was recited at compline only from the first Sunday in Advent until the Feast of the Purification (2 February).