The Wolf and the Cross

05 - The Cross and the Empire

The story of Lithuania in the Russian Empire is complicated. This tumultuous era saw numerous uprisings, religious persecution, the conversion of many Greek Catholics to the Orthodox Church, mass emigration, and the suppression of Lithuanian identity. Would Lithuania survive? What about its Orthodox Christians? In the midst of more than a century of upheaval, we meet Fr. Andrew’s ancestors, and bright lights for Christ shine in the darkness.

04 - The Cuckoo and the Serpent

Taking a departure from the historical narrative, Richard and Fr. Andrew take the listener on a tour of Lithuanian mythology and fairy tales while themselves taking a walk on the legendary, liminal Curonian Spit, a long sandbar that is said to have been thrown out into the Baltic Sea by a giantess protecting her home from storms thrown by an angry suitor.

03 - The Eagle and the Knight

From 1569 to 1795, Lithuania was joined to Poland in a single state, a multi-lingual, multi-cultural, multi-religious empire stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea – the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In this episode, we look at Lithuania’s role in this state and especially at the tale of its Orthodox Church, which in this period suffered a massive loss in an event known to history as the Unia.

02 - The Scepter and the Spear

As Lithuania accepted Christianity and expanded in the medieval period, it became more prominent on the international stage, entering into a union with Poland and becoming even more multi-cultural and multi-religious, including a large population of Orthodox Christians, alongside Catholics, pagans, Jews, and Muslims. Grand Dukes Vytautas and Jogaila give a final defeat to the Crusaders and ponder life on the border between East and West.

01 - The Wolf: Lithuania Before the Cross

This first episode introduces the history, language, and people of Lithuania, beginning with its ancient pagan history, recounting some of its earliest legends and leaders, describing the coming of Christianity to the country, and telling the tale of its first martyrs.