The ninth week after Easter; traditionally Thursday, often moved to Sunday in Lithuania
Summer
Corpus Christi, Devintinis, wreaths, procession, herbs, nine wreaths, birch trees, medicinal plants, garden protection, Deivakunis
Devintines, the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, stands out in Lithuanian custom through greenery: churches decorated with birches, nine wreaths of rue and medicinal plants, blessed herbs kept at home, and their use for healing, protection from thunder, garden care, and the symbolism of nine dishes.
When Are Devintines Celebrated?
VLE states that Devintines begin in the ninth week after Easter, traditionally on Thursday. In some countries and in Lithuania the feast is transferred to Sunday, so the rule for calculating the date matters more than a fixed calendar day.
The church name is the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. Klimka describes it as the end of the spring liturgical cycle lasting nine weeks from Easter. Folk practice gave this ending the form of greenery, wreaths, and household protection. According to VLE, Devintines began to be celebrated in 1246 in the Diocese of Liège, and in 1264 Pope Urban IV, in the bull Transiturus, ordered it observed throughout the Church; Thomas Aquinas composed the texts of the Mass and liturgy.
Why Were Devintines Called Wreaths?
Klimka writes that a folk name for the feast was Vainikai, “Wreaths,” because the church and procession space were decorated with living greenery. This was not only decoration: herbs were brought to be blessed as a gift of God's creation to people.
VLE also notes that in Lithuania churches were decorated with field grasses, leaf wreaths, birches, and more rarely young oaks. Blessed greenery from the final day of Devintines was later used not only for beauty but for protection.
Nine Wreaths and Keeping Herbs
In village churches, birches were set by side altars and families' girls hung nine small wreaths made of rue and medicinal plants on the walls. Klimka notes that these wreaths remained in church through nine Vespers.
At home the dried wreaths were kept on a small shelf or in the krikstasuole corner near holy pictures. During storms their herbs were burned by the bread oven, given as tea to the sick, and in Samogitia and Dzukija placed in the pillow of a deceased person's coffin.
Birches, Loft, and Garden
After birches were blessed in church, people broke off a branch and brought it home to tuck under the roof batten. Such a branch was expected to guard the house against lightning strikes.
Blessed greenery also went to the garden. Klimka mentions women placing herbs into seedling beds to drive away moles and setting birch branches between cabbage rows so worms would not attack the cabbages.
The Number Nine in Food and Work
VLE stresses that the number nine dominates folk customs of Devintines: nine wreaths were woven and nine small pies baked. Klimka adds that a housewife was reminded to prepare not only cheese for the shepherd but nine dishes for the family, such as curd pancakes, crescent pastries, or grated-potato cakes.
Devintines also marked a boundary after which people no longer sowed or planted gardens, because the short Lithuanian summer might not let the crop mature. This practical rule explains why the feast is so sensitive to greenery, gardens, and the season.
Samogitian Deivakunis
In Samogitia, Devintines were dialectally called Deivakunis. Klimka emphasizes that here the customs resemble Aukstaitian Sekmines: houses were decorated with birch branches, cows and sheep were crowned, and shepherds' feasts were held.
This is an important regional note. It would be inaccurate to say that all these Sekmines-like actions belonged equally to all Lithuania on Devintines. In Samogitia they appear as a layer shaped by a later summer and coastal climate rhythm.
