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List Of Catholic Pilgrimage Sites In Lithuania
There are many Catholic pilgrimage sites in Lithuania. There is no official list or designation of the sites. The government established the Pilgrim Route of John Paul II (16 sites) in 2007 though there are many more sites that attract local pilgrims. There are many sites visited by residents of the same parish or deanery, or sites that saw their devotion diminish through the years. Priest Robertas Gedvydas Skrinskas in his 1999 guide to pilgrimage sites counted more than 100 Marian images that are considered miraculous and 25 sites of Marian apparitions. As of 2013, there were 33 Lourdes grottoes in Lithuania, mainly in Samogitia. The list below includes only the key sites that continue to be visited by pilgrims. History Christian pilgrimage, Catholic pilgrimage sites in Lithuania started developing in the 17th century. Such delayed development was caused by the late Christianization of Lithuania in 1387 and the slow adoption of Christianity among the population that still worsh ...
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Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania shares land borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Russia to the southwest. It has a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Sweden to the west on the Baltic Sea. Lithuania covers an area of , with a population of 2.8 million. Its capital and largest city is Vilnius; other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipėda. Lithuanians belong to the ethno-linguistic group of the Balts and speak Lithuanian language, Lithuanian, one of only a few living Baltic languages. For millennia the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Balts, Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, Monarchy of Lithuania, becoming king and founding the Kingdom of Lithuania ...
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Indulgence
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The '' Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and all of the saints". The recipient of an indulgence must perform an action to receive it. This is most often the saying (once, or many times) of a specified prayer, but may also include a pilgrimage, the visiting of a particular place (such as a shrine, church or cemetery) or the performance of specific good works. Indulgences were introduced to allow for the remission of the severe penances of the early church and gra ...
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Regions Of Lithuania
Lithuania can be divided into historical and cultural regions (called ethnographic regions). The exact borders are not fully clear, as the regions are not official political or administrative units. They are delimited by culture, such as country traditions, traditional lifestyle, songs, tales, etc. To some extent, regions correspond to the zones of Lithuanian language dialects. This correspondence, however, is by no means strict. For example, although the Dzūkian dialect is called South Aukštaitian, it does not mean that Dzūkija is part of Aukštaitija. In certain parts of some regions, dialects of other regions are spoken, while for example in Samogitia, there are three indigenous dialects (southern, northern and western Samogitian), some of which are subdivided into subdialects. Regions in politics No region, except for Samogitia, has ever been a political or an administrative entity. However, some work was done recently to delimit their boundaries more clearly, as there ...
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Camino De Santiago
The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition holds that the remains of the apostle are buried. As Pope Benedict XVI said, "It is a way sown with so many demonstrations of fervour, repentance, hospitality, art and culture which speak to us eloquently of the spiritual roots of the Old Continent." Many follow its routes as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth. It is also popular with hiking and cycling enthusiasts and organized tour groups. Created and established after the discovery of the relics of Saint James the Great at the beginning of the 9th century, the Way of St James became a major pilgrimage route of medieval Christianity from the 10th cent ...
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Municipalities Of Lithuania
__NOTOC__ Lithuania is divided into three layers of administrative divisions. The first-level division consists of 10 counties ( Lithuanian: singular – ''apskritis'', plural – ''apskritys''). These are sub-divided into 60 municipalities (Lithuanian: plural – ''savivaldybės'', singular – ''savivaldybė''), which in turn are further sub-divided into over 500 smaller groups, known as elderships (Lithuanian: plural – ''seniūnijos'', singular – ''seniūnija''). At the end of its tenure as a Soviet Socialist Republic, Lithuania's administrative divisions consisted of 44 regions, 12 cities, 80 towns, 19 settlements, and 426 rural districts. The reform of this system was an immediate concern for the new government. The Constitution of Lithuania, ratified in 1992, delegated the power of establishing future administrative units to the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas). Accordingly, the Seimas passed two fundamental laws: a 1993 law on government representation and a 1994 law ...
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Christ's Resurrection Church, Kaunas
Kaunas our Lord Jesus Christ's Resurrection Basilica ( lt, Kauno mūsų Viešpaties Jėzaus Kristaus Prisikėlimo bazilika) is a monumental Roman Catholic church in Kaunas, Lithuania. The church was consecrated in 2004, and in 2005 it was finally completed. It is the largest basilical church in the Baltic States. History After Lithuania regained independence in 1918, the concept of a new church that would express gratitude to God for its regained freedom arose. A committee led by president Antanas Smetona was established in 1926 to oversee its construction. The City of Kaunas was chosen as its site, since the historic capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, was part of Poland between 1920 and 1939. A design competition was held in 1928 and the proposal drawn up by Karolis Reisonas was chosen for the church as the best. Due to the technical difficulties arising from the grand scope of the design, and dramatic escalation of its cost estimates, the final design was not approved until ...
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Šiauliai Cathedral
Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Names Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different languages: Samogitian ''Šiaulē'', Latvian ''Saule'' (historic) and ''Šauļi'' (modern), German (outdated) ''Schaulen'', Polish ''Szawle'', Russian Шавли (Shavli – historic) and Шяуля́й (Shyaulyai – modern), Yiddish שאַװל (Shavel). History The city was first mentioned in written sources as ''Soule'' in Livonian Order chronicles describing the Battle of Saule. Thus the city's founding date is now considered to be 22 September 1236, the same date when the battle took place, not far from Šiauliai. At first, it developed as a defence post against the raids by the Teutonic and Livonian Orders. After the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, the raids stopped and Šiauliai started to develop as an agricultural settlement. In ...
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Gate Of Dawn
The Gate of Dawn ( lt, Aušros vartai), or Sharp Gate ( pl, Ostra Brama, la, Porta Acialis, be, Вострая Брама, lt, Ašmens vartai, russian: Острая брама) is a city gate in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and one of its most important religious, historical and cultural monuments. It is a major site of Catholic pilgrimage in Lithuania. History It was built between 1503 and 1522 as a part of defensive fortifications for the city of Vilnius, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It has also been known as the ''Medininkai Gate'', as it led to the village Medininkai south of Vilnius, as well as ''Aštra broma''. Of ten city gates, only the Gate of Dawn remains, while the others were destroyed by the order of the government at the end of the 18th century. Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn In the 16th century city gates often contained religious artifacts intended to guard the city from attacks and to bless travelers. The Chapel in the Gate of Dawn ...
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Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his death in April 2005, and was later canonised as Pope Saint John Paul II. He was elected pope by the second papal conclave of 1978, which was called after John Paul I, who had been elected in August to succeed Pope Paul VI, died after 33 days. Cardinal Wojtyła was elected on the third day of the conclave and adopted the name of his predecessor in tribute to him. Born in Poland, John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI in the 16th century and the second-longest-serving pope after Pius IX in modern history. John Paul II attempted to improve the Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, Islam, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. He maintained the church's previous positions on such matters as abortion, artificia ...
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Act Of March 11
The Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Act of March 11 ( lt, Aktas dėl Lietuvos nepriklausomos valstybės atstatymo) was an independence declaration by Lithuania adopted on March 11, 1990, signed by all members of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania led by Sąjūdis. The act emphasized restoration and legal continuity of the interwar-period Lithuania, which was occupied by the Soviet Union and lost independence in June 1940. It was the first Soviet republic of the 15 Soviet republics to declare independence from the Soviet Union. The other 14 Soviet republics would later declare their independence. These events (being part of the broader process dubbed the "parade of sovereignties") would lead to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Background Loss of independence After the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century, Lithuania was part of the Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolut ...
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Hill Of Crosses
Hill of Crosses ( Lithuanian: ) is a site of pilgrimage about 12 km north of the city of Šiauliai, in northern Lithuania. The precise origin of the practice of leaving crosses on the hill is uncertain, but it is believed that the first crosses were placed on the former Jurgaičiai or Domantai hill fort after the 1831 Uprising. Over the generations, not only crosses and crucifixes, but statues of the Virgin Mary, carvings of Lithuanian patriots and thousands of tiny effigies and rosaries have been brought here by Catholic pilgrims. The exact number of crosses is unknown, but estimates put it at about 55,000 in 1990 and 100,000 in 2006. It is a major site of Catholic pilgrimage in Lithuania. History Over the generations, the place has come to signify the peaceful endurance of Lithuanian people despite the threats they faced throughout history. After the 3rd partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire. Poles and Lith ...
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Verkiai Calvary
Verkiai Calvary or Vilnius Calvary is the second oldest calvary in Lithuania after Žemaičių Kalvarija. It is located in Verkiai, a neighborhood of Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. The calvary was built in 1662–69 as a sign of gratitude for the victory in the Second Northern War (1655–60). The calvary includes 20 brick chapels, seven wooden and one brick gate, and one bridge with a wooden chapel. The path ends at the Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross. In 1962 all chapels, except four closest to the church, were destroyed by the Soviet authorities. The calvary was reconstructed in 1990–2002. Stations The calvary has 35 stations: # The Last Supper # On the Way to the Mount of Olives # In the garden of Gethsemane # Arrest of Jesus # Crossing the Kidron Valley # Disciples flee Jesus before the Gate of the Town # At the First Gate of Zion # Jesus taken to Annas # At the High Priest Caiaphas # Jesus imprisoned in the basement of Caiaphas' Palace # The second time at ...
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