Editing Vilnius (section)

===<span class="anchor" id="Pilgrimage"></span>Pilgrimage sites===
{{Blockquote|text=It is safe to say that I have been in Vilnius all my life, at least since I became conscious. I was in Vilnius with thoughts and heart{{snd}}one could say [my] whole being. And so it stayed{{snd}}and in Rome.|author=[[Pope John Paul II]] at the [[Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit]] during his 1993 visit to Lithuania<ref>{{cite web |title=Ką perskaitysime šv. Jono Pauliaus II gyvenimo knygoje? |url=https://www.vaticannews.va/lt/baznycia/news/2018-04/ka-perskaitysime-sv-jono-pauliaus-ii-gyvenimo-knygoje-.html |website=vaticannews.va |access-date=6 October 2019 |language=lt |date=2 May 2018}}</ref>}}
[[File:Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn Interior During Service, Vilnius, Lithuania - Diliff.jpg|thumb|left|alt=An ornate Baroque chapel|Interior of the Chapel of the [[Gate of Dawn]], with its eponymous painting]]
Since the 1387 Christianization of Lithuania, Vilnius has become a centre of Christianity in the country and a [[Christian pilgrimage|pilgrimage]] site. The Vilnius Pilgrimage Centre ({{langx|lt|link=no|Vilniaus piligrimų centras}}) coordinates pilgrimages, assists with their preparation, and performs pilgrimage pastoral care.<ref>{{cite web |title=Apie mus |url=http://piligrimyste.lt/apie-mus-2/ |website=piligrimyste.lt |access-date=24 September 2019 |language=lt-LT}}</ref> A number of places in Vilnius are associated with [[Miracles in Christianity|miracles]] or mark events significant to Christians, and the Chapel of the Gate of Dawn is visited by thousands of Christian pilgrims annually. The gates were initially part of the defensive Wall of Vilnius; they were given to the [[Carmelites]] in the 16th century, who installed a [[chapel]] in the gates with a 17th-century Catholic painting: ''[[Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn]]''. The painting was later decorated with [[Riza|gold-plated silver]] and is associated with miracles and a legend.<ref name="pilgrimage">{{cite web |title=Pilgrimage in Vilnius |url=http://vilnius-tourism.lt/en/what-to-see/routes/experience-an-itinerary-of-your-own-pilgrimage-in-vilnius/ |website=vilnius-tourism.lt |access-date=24 September 2019 |date=2018-08-20}}</ref>

[[File:Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Vilnius4.JPG|thumb|alt=A painting of Jesus|upright=0.8|The first Divine Mercy painting by [[Eugeniusz Kazimirowski]] (1934) at the [[Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy, Vilnius|Divine Mercy Sanctuary]]]]
The [[Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy, Vilnius|Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy]] is a pilgrimage site which has a [[Divine Mercy image]]. Vilnius was the birthplace of the [[Divine Mercy (Catholic devotion)|Divine Mercy devotion]] when Saint [[Faustina Kowalska]] began her mission under the guidance of [[Michał Sopoćko]], her [[spiritual director]]. The first Divine Mercy image was painted in 1934 by [[Eugeniusz Kazimirowski]] under the supervision of Kowalska, and it hangs in the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Vilnius. Adoration of the [[Blessed Sacrament]] takes place in the shrine around the clock.<ref name="pilgrimage" /> The House of St. Faustina, in Antakalnis' V. Grybo Street, is open to pilgrims.<ref>{{cite web |title=The House of St. Faustina |url=http://www.gailestingumas.com/about-the-shrine/the-house-of-st-faustina/ |website=gailestingumas.com |access-date=24 September 2019 |archive-date=24 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924113238/http://www.gailestingumas.com/about-the-shrine/the-house-of-st-faustina/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Church of St. Philip and St. Jacob, Vilnius|Church of St. Philip and St. Jacob]], near Lukiškės Square, has the painting of the Mother of God of Lukiškės which has reportedly attracted miracles.<ref name="pilgrimage" /> The [[icon]], painted in the 15th or 16th century, is one of the country's oldest examples of [[easel]] painting.<ref>{{cite web |title=Senąją Lukiškių Dievo Motinos ikoną atidengiant |url=http://www.bernardinai.lt/straipsnis/2018-01-04-senaja-lukiskiu-dievo-motinos-ikona-atidengiant/167658 |website=bernardinai.lt |date=3 January 2018 |access-date=24 September 2019}}</ref> It was brought by Grand Duchy of Lithuania artillery general Motiejus Korvinas Gosievskis from the Russo-Polish War. Since 1684, miracles have been reported at the Vilnius Dominican monastery related to the image which were published in a 1737 book, ''Mystical Fountain'' ({{langx|lt|link=no|Mistinis fontanas}}). The icon was restored and returned to the [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |title=Restauruota Lukiškių Dievo Motinos ikona grąžinama dominikonams |url=https://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/restauruota-lukiskiu-dievo-motinos-ikona-grazinama-dominikonams.d?id=59963669 |website=[[DELFI]] |access-date=24 September 2019}}</ref>

[[Three Crosses]] is a monument in the city. According to a legend in the ''[[Bychowiec Chronicle]]'', fourteen [[Franciscan]] friars were invited to Vilnius from [[Podolia]] by [[:lt:Petras Goštautas (1305)|Petras Goštautas]].<ref name=gidzi>{{cite journal |first=Viktoras |last=Gidžiūnas |title=Legendariškieji pranciškonų kankiniai Vilniuje |language=lt |url=http://www.aidai.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6342:is&catid=355:4-balandis&Itemid=398 |year=1955 |volume=10 |journal=Aidai.eu |issn=0002-208X}}</ref> The friars preached the [[gospel]] and denigrated pagan Lithuanian gods; angry city residents burned the monastery and killed the fourteen friars. Seven were beheaded on Bleak Hill, and the other seven were [[crucifixion|crucified]] and thrown into the Neris or Vilnia.<ref name=gidzi/>

[[File:Khrutsky Vilnius Calvary.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Painting of a church at the top of many steps|Verkiai Calvary {{circa}} 1840s, built in gratitude for victory in the Second Northern War]]
[[Verkiai Calvary]] (or Vilnius Calvary), Lithuania's second-oldest [[Calvary (sanctuary)|calvary]], is in the neighborhood of [[Verkiai]]. The calvary was built from 1662 to 1669 in gratitude for victory in the [[Second Northern War]] (1655–60).<ref>{{cite web |title=Vilnius Calvary. Origins |url=https://www.vilniauskalvarijos.lt/index.php?id=20&lng=1 |website=vilniauskalvarijos.lt |access-date=3 October 2019}}</ref> The consecration ceremony of the [[Stations of the Cross]] took place for [[Pentecost]] on 9 June 1669.<ref>{{cite web |title=Traditions of Piety |url=https://www.vilniauskalvarijos.lt/index.php?id=25&lng=1 |website=vilniauskalvarijos.lt |access-date=3 October 2019}}</ref> The calvary includes 20 brick chapels, seven wooden gates and a brick one, and a bridge with a wood chapel.<ref>{{cite web |title=The route of Christ's suffering |url=https://www.vilniauskalvarijos.lt/index.php?id=29&lng=1 |website=vilniauskalvarijos.lt |access-date=3 October 2019}}</ref> The path ends at the [[Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross, Vilnius|Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross]]. All the chapels except the four closest to the church were destroyed by Soviet authorities overnight with [[dynamite]] in 1962. The calvary was reconstructed from 1990 to 2002, and the chapels were consecrated on Pentecost in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |title=20th – 21st centuries |url=https://www.vilniauskalvarijos.lt/index.php?id=24&lng=1 |website=vilniauskalvarijos.lt |access-date=3 October 2019}}</ref> Pilgrimages to the calvary are organized regularly with the clergy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bendruomeninis Kryžiaus kelio apvaikščiojimas |url=https://www.vilniauskalvarijos.lt/?id=61 |website=vilniauskalvarijos.lt |access-date=3 October 2019}}</ref>

The Church Heritage Museum ({{langx|lt|link=no|Bažnytinio paveldo muziejus}}) contains city's the oldest and largest collection of liturgical artefacts in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vilnius.<ref name="pilgrimage" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Treasury |url=http://www.bpmuziejus.lt/treasury-2.html |website=bpmuziejus.lt |access-date=20 May 2024 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207033800/https://bpmuziejus.lt/treasury-2.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> Vilnius is the only city in the Baltic states with an [[Apostolic Nunciature to Lithuania|Apostolic Nunciature]], where Pope John Paul II and [[Pope Francis]] stayed during their visits to Lithuania, [[Latvia]] and [[Estonia]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Garškaitė |first=Rosita |title=Kaip popiežiaus atvykimui ruošiasi latviai ir estai? |url=http://www.bernardinai.lt/straipsnis/2018-09-12-kaip-popieziaus-atvykimui-ruosiasi-latviai-ir-estai/171746 |website=bernardinai.lt |date=12 September 2018 |access-date=24 September 2019}}</ref>