Monastery of Hill of Crosses (read)
Hill of Crosses
There are no accurate accounts as to when and how the first cross appeared on the wrapped in stories and legends Jurgaičių (Domantų) Mound, currently known as the Hill of Crosses. However, various literary sources of the second half of the nineteenth century witness that even then the mound was considered a sacred site. In about 1850, Treasurer of Šiauliai District Mauricijus Griškevičius wrote that a seriously ill resident of Jurgaičių village pledged to God in 1847 to erect a cross on the hill were his illness to disappear: “It so happened that he was cured when setting up a cross there.” After the uprisings of 1831 and 1863 swathed through, the crosses were erected one after another. According to witness accounts, there were approximately 200 crosses standing on the Hill of Crosses prior to the First World War. In 1923, their number increased to approximately 400 and in 1960 – to over 2,000 crosses.
During the years of Soviet occupation, the Hill of Crosses became locus non gratus – an undesirable place. The first demolition of the Hill of Crosses took place on 5 April 1961, leaving not a single cross on the hill. However, not long after the demolition, the crosses began sprouting up each night at such a rate that even repeated demolitions of the crosses in 1973, 1974, and 1975 could not overcome their reoccurrence.
The Hill of Crosses changed completely in 1988 with the beginning of the Revival in Lithuania. Currently, the number of crosses erected on the hill totals approximately 100,000.
Pope John Paul II visited the Hill of Crosses on 7 September 1993. Thanks to his visit, the Hill of Crosses became familiar to the entire Christian world.
Emergence of St. Francis Monastery next to the Hill of Crosses Upon his return to the Vatican, the Pope visited a Franciscan shrine on La Verna Hill where St. Francis of Assisi received visible signs of Christ’s wounds – stigmata – on his body 750 years ago. During his visit, the Pope shared with the friars his vision of connecting La Verna Hill in Italy to the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania. One year later, the Franciscan friars arrived at the Hill of Crosses to participate in the ceremony of erection of the Papal Cross. The representative of the Holy Father, Apostolic Nuncio and Archbishop Justo Mullor Garcia, also participated in the ceremony and urged the Franciscan friars from Italy to help the Lithuanian Order of Friars Minor to establish a cosy spiritual house – a monastery next to the Hill of Crosses. The Franciscan friars from Tuscany Province gladly responded to this urging. On 13 June 1997 in the Vatican, in the presence of the representatives of Lithuanian and Tuscany Franciscan friars, Pope John Paul II consecrated the project of the future monastery, its design and the foundation stone, which was laid into the ground at the site of the future monastery building on 9 May 1998. Construction of the monastery was completed in the anniversary year of 2000.
Works of Art and Their Authors in the Monastery
The author of the monastery design project was architect and Franciscan friar Angelo Polesello. The project was implemented by architect-restorer Leandro Rimmaudo Nunzio from the monastery of La Verna Hill. The altar of the Chapel of St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, the tabernacle, and the pulpit of the monastery of the Hill of Crosses were created by sculptor Rimantas Sakalauskas. The author of the stained glass works in the chapel is professor Algis Dovydėnas, head of the Stained Glass Faculty at the Academy of Fine Arts. The stained glass images on the left side of the chapel depict moments from the lives of St. Francis and his first brothers; the images on the right side – the beginnings of the Order of Friars Minor in Lithuania and the key moments of their history. The author of the altar’s painting “The Sermon by St. Francis to the Birds” is Lithuanian Jew Leo Ray, who is currently residing in Tel Aviv. The altar’s cross is a replica of the Cross of Saint Damian. The creator of the icons “St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata" and "Mary's Throne", which are situated at the entrance to the chapel, is Franciscan friar Carlo Bertagnin. The author of the bronze sculpture “St. Francis in Ecstasy” situated in the courtyard of the monastery is sculptor Fabrizio Giannini. Gintautas Kurmanskis’ enterprise “Šiaulių kalviai” forged the chapel’s gates and other iron works in the monastery and around it.