'ST MARTIN'S BRIEF PRAYER' FOR LIFE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CROATIAN GLAGOLITIC AMULET (FROM THE AMULET TO ST MARTIN'S PRAYER FROM ROVIN ('Martinska molitvica' za zivot u kontekstu hrvarskoglagoljskoga amuleta (od amuleta do .. molitvice sv. Martinu))

The popular brief prayer is a specific literary expression by which, on the one hand, popular piety is emphasised, but also, on the other, an ineradicable form of human superstition is demonstrated. On the example of the brief St Martin Prayer, a unique popular literary relic from Rovinjsko Selo, the authoress attempts to distinguish literary inheritance of ancient civilisations which, by way of the written amulet, a specific Mediaeval literary legacy, has been preserved up until the present day in the form of a brief prayer. Popular piety is expressed by invoking the saint - a heritage of Christian spirituality, but also evidence of the enduring vitality of belief in the prophylactic effect of numbers - a Cabbalistic legacy from pre-Christian times. This brief prayer is a rare example of the preservation of the once highly developed Cult of St Martin, which has managed to survive in this unique form, since it is based on the humankind's most pressing needs in life: good weather and good health.