Heraldry. The coat of arms of Daugailiai features a blue background with a silver messenger, riding on a silver horse, wearing a golden bag and spurs, as well as blowing a golden post horn, held in his right hand. It was designed by the artist Vida Navikienė in 2004.
The town didn’t have a coat of arms before. An important step in the history of Daugailiai was the construction of St Petersburg–Warsaw highway and the establishment of a post station in 1836, which greatly contributed to the town’s development. Thus it was decided to use an old-fashioned postman — a rider with a messenger bag — for the coat of arms. The Heraldry Commission approved the coat of arms of Daugailiai on 15 July 2004 and the President of the Republic of Lithuania approved it with a decree on 3 August 2004.
History. The first mention of Daugailiai was in 1254, when there was a castle, which played an important role in defending these lands against the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. After the defeat of the Livonian Order in 1435, the castle lost its strategic role and deteriorated. The first church or chapel was presumably built on the mound in the late 17th or early 18th c., while the second one — in 1766. Since the construction of St Petersburg–Warsaw highway and the establishment of the post station in 1836, Daugailiai started growing, because both the lodging-house and the post station required people to keep them running. In the second half of the 19th c. the poet Antanas Baranauskas wrote about his journey in a post-coach and a visit to Daugailiai. The residents of the town actively participated in the revolt of 1863 and battles with Bolsheviks, as well as distributed Lithuanian press when it was banned.
The beginning of the town dates back to the times, when the family of Daugėlos established Staškūniškis manor near Lake Indrajai. The territory of the current-day town was given to peasants, thus resulting in the formation of a village, which was already referred to as town since 1745. Researchers believe that the first church was built on the mound in the late 17th c. The second church, which also stood on the mound, was built in 1766.
1836 marked the construction of the Saint Petersburg–Warsaw highway, as well as the horse post station with a yard at the 19th km from Utena.
The modern-day wooden church of St Anthony of Padua was built by the initiative of Dusetos parson A. Rumševičius in 1883. During the prohibition of Lithuanian press in the 19th c. Daugailiai and surrounding villages had secret Lithuanian schools.
During the years of the World War I Daugailiai suffered several fires, which destroyed the post station buildings and a part of the town. In 1918, after the retreat of the Kaiser’s army, Daugailiai was taken over by Bolsheviks. Lithuanian armed troops liberated the town on 3 June 1919. Daugailiai cemetery became the resting place for 16 Lithuanian soldiers and the first lieutenant of the Lithuanian Military School — J. Sidaravičius.
During the years of independent Lithuania, Daugailiai had a primary school of 6 departments, a small bank, several shops, 3 wool carding stations, a flax processing station and crafts workshops. There also was a museum, established by Pavasaris Lithuanian Catholic Youth Union, a choir of Young Lithuania and a library. In 1939 the priest K. Mozūras took up the mission of turning Daugailiai into a parish.
During the World War II the town was devastated — many buildings burned to the grown and after the war was over, many of the locals were exiled. Many residents of Daugailiai and the surrounding villages died participating in the armed resistance against the Soviet occupants.
The Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Scapular in Daugailiai
The traditional two-day feast of Daugailiai takes place in July. The first day features entertainment — various competitions, awards and concerts — while the second one is the actual Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Scapular and focuses on prayer.
The cultural programme offers lots of events, including the competition of the young fishermen, basketball tournament and drawing on asphalt. It should be noted that the most popular motif of the drawings offered for Mūsų Daugailiai (Eng. Our Daugailiai) drawing competition, which usually takes place at the stadium of Daugailiai Secondary School, is flowers.
Every year during the official part the Head of Daugailiai Elderate Giedrė Eimutienė, the initiator and main organiser of these events, shows special attention to the seniors of the town, congratulating them with their solid anniversaries. The feast also involves awards for the owners of the most beautiful homesteads and people working in various fields: sports, culture, youth education, as well as projects and their implementation. The Head of the Elderate is also very glad about the sponsors, whose support makes various events possible. The feast of Daugailiai is no exception.
Monsignor Petras Baltuška, a long-time parson of Daugailiai St Anthony of Padua Church, used to welcome the participants of the feast, remembering the words of Henrik Ibsen: “Every day I meet bellies, heads, arms and legs, yet I never meet a human being.” The purpose of the feast is to check, whether we are still human. The Monsignor used to say “I couldn’t count how many times the Holy Scriptures feature Christ saying — let’s celebrate! The purpose of a feast is to see that we’re still human, to share the light of our minds, the warmth of our hearts and the joy of our lives!”
The Monsignor used to welcome everyone to the shelter, marked with the cross — the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Scapular at the Church of Daugailiai.
In the evening the feast features a concert of various music bands. The first day ends with fireworks and dance.
During the mass of the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Scapular at Daugailiai Church of St Anthony of Padua priests address the people, urging them to pray in order to wake the nation from various illnesses, revive the lost values and return to God, because a moral society is impossible without faith. Preachers urge people to pray for everyone’s love for the Homeland and God, and that the people working in various fields would be honest, fair and truly concerned for Lithuania’s well-being. They also rejoice about the children taking their first communion, wishing them to grow as true patriots of their Homeland.
After the mass, all children that have taken the communion receive bliss medals with Virgin Mary, prayer books and pictures of saints. The Monsignor Petras Baltuška (1930–2012) used to say: “We often visit flower gardens planting, weeding and taking care of our plants in order to make them bloom. And if such small sprouts need our care and attention, it means that young hearts that have met the Living God today need it even more, because the evil around will want to corrupt them.”
Following the Monsignor’s example, other priests participating at the feast also urge people to foster the sprouts of faith in order to raise honest children of Lithuania. Meanwhile, the children that have accepted the Holy Communion, are wished to become responsible workers and officers of various fields, also scientists, politicians, as well as public and cultural figures that know and respect the true spiritual values, teaching to love God and their Homeland.
During the feast people also remember the archbishop Mečislovas Reinys and the priest Dr Juozapas Čepėnas, who came from Daugailiai elderate and promoted this region all their lives.
Mečislovas and Juozapas knew each other while studying at seminaries (M. Reinys was a student in Vilnius, while J. Čepėnas — in Kaunas) and later supported each other’s studies at foreign universities, returning to Lithuania as doctors. In 1909–1912 M. Reinys studied at the Faculty of Philosophy of Leuven University (Belgium) and earned a doctor’s degree in philosophy. Later, in 1913–1914 he deepened his knowledge at the University of Strasbourg. J. Čepėnas studied philosophy, theology and natural sciences in 1920–1925 at the universities of Freiburg and Munich (Germany), defended his dissertation and became a doctor of philosophy.
Both of their works were significant to Lithuania and both of them suffered at the hands of the Soviet occupants. M. Reinys was arrested by Bolsheviks in 1919 and kept at Lukiškės, Daugavpils and Smolensk prisons for several months, while on 12 June 1947 he was arrested by the KGB and sentenced for 8 years at a high security prison. He served his sentences in Vladimir (180 km away from Moscow) and died on 8 November 1953. His burial place at the cemetery of Vladimir is unknown.
Dr J. Čepėnas was arrested on 15 April 1941 and imprisoned in Kaunas until 22 June 1941 — the beginning of the war and the June Uprising was his ticket to freedom. In 1951 he was arrested again and sentenced for 10 years of prison He served in Šiauliai, Vilnius (Lukiškės), Verchne Uralsk and Vladimir. In 1954 the case was reviewed, the priest was acknowledged as not guilty and released. He died in Pasvalys and was buried at the cemetery of Daugailiai parish.
In memory of the friendship and wide range of activities of these noble priests, as well as the importance of their names, citizens put flowers at the cemetery.
A group of participants of the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Scapular often visit Miškiniai homestead, located about 8 km from Daugailiai, outside of Juknėnai. Every June this homestead hosts poetry events and the award of Antanas Miškinis (29 February 1905–16 December 1983), established by Utena District Municipality, for promoting Aukštaitian spirit in poetry.
The homestead of Miškiniai still features a residential house, where the poet Antanas Miškinis lived and wrote after his return from exile. Currently the building is a memorial museum with authentic belongings of Miškiniai family, originals of the books, translated by Motiejus Miškinis (1989–1974) and other interesting items. On the other side of the spacious yard, in front of the residential house, there is a reconstructed barn with an educational classroom, where teachers can hold lectures for their pupils. The other side of the building features a museum exposition. There is also an icehouse, a cellar, a well and a cattle-shed with all kinds of tools, accumulated for a tool museum. The collection is already quite impressive and all interested can get to know all kinds of jobs that used to be done on a farm, as well as various techniques and craft secrets. The museum is diligently curated by Rimanta Gaidienė, who has previously worked as a teacher of Lithuanian language.
Miškiniai homestead is decorated with wooden sculptures, created by Pranas Kaziūnas. He also has built the wayward shrine for the tenth anniversary of Antanas Miškinis Award, featuring an inscription “For the tenth anniversary of Antanas Miškinis Literary Award. 2012”. Antanas Miškinis Literary Award was given to Petras Panavas, Jonas Strelkūnas, Henrikas Čigriejus, Vytautas Kaziela, Valdemaras Kukulas, Vytautas Skripka, Vladas Braziūnas, Regina Katinaitė – Lumpickienė, Algimantas Baltakis,Marius Burokas and other poets.
The people of Daugailiai know how to work and celebrate. They also love their fellow-countrymen, cherishing their memory not only during various special occasions.
