In Vilnius

Mironas joined the Lithuanian cultural life in Vilnius. In 1905, he published a Lithuanian translation of two Catholic textbooks by Dionizy Bączkowski (printed by the Józef Zawadzki printing shop).^[9] The same year, together with other priests, he submitted a petition to Bishop of Vilnius Eduard von der Ropp to allow masses and sermons in the Lithuanian language (at the time, only the Church of Saint Nicholas, Vilnius, conducted services in Lithuanian).^[10]

In December 1905, Mironas attended the Great Seimas of Vilnius which discussed Lithuania's political future.^[10] He represented the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party and helped organizing its meetings after the Seimas, but did not officially join the party.^[11] Mironas participated in the founding meeting of the Constitutional Catholic Party of Lithuania and Belarus organized by Bishop von der Ropp. He was elected to its presidium and managed to add the issue of Lithuania's autonomy to its political program, but quickly withdrew from the party as it was dominated by Poles who did not support Lithuanian political ambitions.^[12]

Mironas financially supported and otherwise assisted with the publishing of Lithuanian periodicals Vilniaus žinios as well as Viltis and Vairas (edited by Smetona).^[13] He also assisted with the establishment of various Lithuanian societies, including the Society of Saint Casimir that published Lithuanian books,^[14] organizational committee of the First Lithuanian Art Exhibition,^[15] the Lithuanian Mutual Aid Society of Vilnius,^[16] Society Vilniaus Aušra (predecessor of the Lithuanian Education Society Rytas).^[17] Further, he was a member of the Lithuanian Scientific Society and Rūta Society which organized amateur theater performances.^[18]

Vilnius region

In 1907, bishop von der Ropp was exiled to Tbilisi. Lithuanian activists decided to send a delegation to Pope Pius X to request that a Lithuanian would be appointed as the next Bishop of Vilnius.^[19] Mironas was selected as a member of the delegation. Perhaps in retaliation for this, he was reassigned from Vilnius to Choroszcz by the diocese administrator Kazimierz Mikołaj Michalkiewicz [pl]. This assigned far from Lithuanian cultural centers interrupted Mironas' public work.^[19] In 1910, he was reassigned as parish priest to Valkininkai (at the same time, he was the dean of Merkinė) which allowed him to resume public work.^[20]

In October 1911, together with Alfonsas Petrulis and Jonas Navickas [lt], Mironas established a publishing company that published magazine Aušra every two weeks (142 issues published before it was discontinued in 1915). The magazine was intended for Lithuanians living in Vilnius area.^[20] In 1912, he established a local chapter of the Lithuanian Catholic Temperance Society [lt].^[21] In January 1913, Mironas was elected to the board of then newly established Lithuanian Education Society Rytas which established Lithuanian primary schools.^[22] Mironas personally assisted with the establishments of 28 such schools.^[23] In February 1913, he was elected honorary member of the Society of Saint Zita of Lithuanian female servants.^[24]

At the end of 1914, Mironas was reassigned to the Daugai parish.^[23] There, he established a chapter of the Lithuanian Society for the Relief of War Sufferers. Using his status with the Roman Catholic Church, he was able to travel more freely and procure supplies for the war refugees.^[25] He also continued to work on establishing Lithuanian primary schools (about 90 schools were established by a committee he chaired).^[25] As war progressed, he was drawn into political discussions. In July 1917, he was one of 19 signatories of a memorandum to the German chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg in which Lithuanians defended against the Polish territorial ambitions.^[26]

Outside the government

As Lithuanian worked to establish the independence, Mironas continued to serve as a priest in Daugai. During the Polish–Lithuanian War, he was briefly arrested in August and December 1919.^[36] In March–June 1920, Mironas and Jonas Vileišis toured various communities of Lithuanian Americans collecting donations.^[37] During the May 1923 elections to the Second Seimas, Mironas served as a chairman of the local electoral committee in Daugai. During the September 1923 census, he chaired census committees in Daugai, Varėna, Alovė [lt].^[38]

In late 1918, Mironas joined the Party of National Progress which merged into the Lithuanian Nationalist Union and was continuously elected to its leadership. He devoted efforts to its managing its finances, administration, and publications.^[39] Mironas ran as a candidate to the First Seimas in October 1922, but the party fared poorly and no members of the Nationalist Union were elected.^[38] Together with Antanas Smetona and Augustinas Voldemaras, Mironas was elected to the Third Seimas in May 1926. However, he did not speak during any of the Seimas sessions.^[40] His ecclesiastical superiors disapproved his political activities because he did join the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party. Bishop Juozapas Kukta removed him as dean of Merkinė.^[40] Nevertheless, Mironas moved to Kaunas and become more involved in politics.^[41]

Adjacent to the government

The December 1926 coup brought the Lithuanian Nationalist Union to power. Antanas Smetona become the President while Augustinas Voldemaras became the Prime Minister. In September 1927, Mironas was elected to the central committee of the Nationalist Union and was tasked with editing its magazine Tautininkų balsas [lt].^[42] He was also one of the leaders of the Pažanga publishing company that published Lietuvos aidas, the official newspaper of the Lithuanian government, and other publications of the Nationalist Union.^[42][43] Despite being involved with publishing periodicals, he wrote very little – only 11 articles by him are known between 1911 and 1934.^[9]

In January 1928, Mironas became the head of the Department of Religious Affairs of the Ministry of Education (it was mainly in charge of the religious education in schools). However, Bishop Kukta forced him to resign at end of 1928.^[42] Despite the clear conflict between his religion and political party, Mironas did not attempt to quit either and continued to balance his loyalties.^[44] In spring 1929, President Smetona pushed for Mironas to become the chief chaplain of the Lithuanian Army. While Bishop Kukta protested this appointment, it was confirmed by Archbishop Juozapas Skvireckas. On 20 May 1929, Mironas became the chaplain and, at the same, rector of the Church of St. Michael the Archangel, Kaunas.^[44] In this position, Mironas helped to ensure military's loyalty to President Smetona.^[45]

Mironas headed a council that coordinated activities of the Nationalist Union and its organizations (including Young Lithuania [lt] and Farmers' Unity [lt]).^[45] In this capacity, Mironas attempted to mediate the growing conflict between Smetona and Voldemaras which ended with the removal of Voldemaras by mid-1930.^[46] Mironas became an informal advisor to Smetona and frequently attended meetings at the Presidential Palace.^[47][48] Due to his influence, diplomat Petras Klimas referred to Mironas as the éminence grise (grey eminence) of Smetona.^[49]

In 1929–1937, Mironas was entrusted with a secret mission to periodically transfer large sums of cash to the Provisional Committee of Vilnius Lithuanians [lt] which organized Lithuanian activities in Vilnius Region (then part of the Second Polish Republic). Mironas personally traveled to the Free City of Danzig to hand the cash to Konstantinas Stašys [lt].^[50]

Mironas was a member of the Kaunas city council (1934–1938) and the Committee for the Order of Vytautas the Great (since 1934).^[47] Mironas was a member or chairman of various other committees and societies, including a committee to provide aid to northern Lithuania due to poor harvest in 1929, scholarship fund of the Nationalist Union in 1930, society to study and support religious art, committee for perpetuating the memory of Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas, committee for commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Act of Independence of Lithuania in 1938, the Union for the Liberation of Vilnius (he was elected to its board in 1939), etc.^[51]

In the government