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Because Marijampolė’s evangelical Lutheran parish was small, there was a lack of money for its maintenance. In 1824, the church council decided to turn to Tsar Alexander I and ask for state aid for the maintenance of the priest and the parish. The following story is told about the service of that request. The tsar traveled through the uninhabited areas of the present Marijampolė. So to draw the tsar’s attention, the church councillor Trapas whitewashed the horse and rode it. Suddenly, he and the horse fell into the cella, which was abundant there. The Tsar did take notice of this and, having accepted the request that had already been shaken, stated that he would certainly be satisfied. Tsar gave a one-time allowance of PLN 10,000 and PLN 1,300 each year.