Sister Ona Mikaila

Lithuanian Pilgrims in Rome

Sr. Ona Mikaila is a writer and editor of Bendradarbis and belongs to the order of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a Lithuanian order in Putnam, Connecticut.

Some 20 million pilgrims will be visiting Rome during this Jubilee Year. A small but significant part of these are the 2,000 Lithuanian pilgrims who traveled to the Eternal City at the beginning of March for four days of prayer and celebration. The days of March first to the fourth had been especially designated for Lithuania.

The first Mass of the pilgrimage was celebrated on the afternoon of March 1st in Rome’s venerable Basilica of St. John Lateran. All seven Lithuanian bishops concelebrated with the main celebrant, Bishop Jonas Boruta, SJ, auxiliary bishop of Vilnius. Many Lithuanian priests also gathered around the altar.

Bishop Boruta spoke to the congregation of about 700 people, saying that we have come to this city of saints and martyrs representing all Lithuanians. We have come with our own problems, with those of our nation and of our Church. Having survived 50 years of religious persecution, today we are here to rekindle our faith and our desire to live according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the evening all gathered for evening prayer in St. Peter’s Square. The Lithuanian pilgrims mingled with the Italians from the archdiocese of Palermo and vespers were conducted both in Italian and Lithuanian. As raindrops started to fall on the praying crowd, many got wet but nobody complained.

Each day the Lithuanian bishops celebrated Mass in various Roman basilicas. The Lithuanian pilgrims toured the city and visited the holy sites. The churches of Rome echoed with the sounds of sacred music sung by the young people’s choir of Vilnius Cathedral and All Saints Church Choir.

The most important day of celebration was March 4th : the feast of Lithuania’s patron saint, St. Casimir. That morning, the colorful crowd of Lithuanian pilgrims, with President and Mrs. Adamkus at the head, processed through the holy door, opened by Pope John Paul II to begin the Jubilee Year, into St. Peter’s Basilica. Archbishop Audrys Bačkis, President of the Lithuanian Jubilee Committee, met them with a group of women dressed in Lithuanian costume.

Before Mass, the pilgrims went down into the basilica’s crypt to pay their respects at the tombs of former popes and to visit the various chapels of different nations. They prayed in the Lithuanian chapel of Our Lady of Mercy, designed by the Lithuanian artist Vytautas Jonynas.

When all had gathered in the main basilica at the central altars, all seven Lithuanian bishops and seventy priests concelebrated a solemn Mass for Lithuania – that God would bless her journey through this millennium. The late Father Kazimieras Pugevičius was also remembered on this day of his funeral in Baltimore.

In his homily, the main celebrant, Archbishop Sigitas Tamkevičius of Kaunas, reminded all present of Pope John Paul’s visit to Lithuania seven years ago. At that time he had urged Lithuanians to open their doors to Christ.

After Mass, the Lithuanian pilgrims gathered in Paul VI audience hall along with a group of Italian pilgrims. Pope John Paul II came into the hall with President Adamkus. Archbishop Tamkevičius greeted him in Lithuanian, and the Pope himself spoke to the Lithuanians in Lithuanian and later to the Italians in their own language.

That same day, Vatican Radio broadcast an interview with Archbishop Audrys Bačkis. Before being sent to Lithuania he had worked in Rome at the Vatican’s Secretariat of State for many years and was a close personal friend of the Pope. He said: "These special days of celebration here in Rome given to Lithuania are not only an opportunity for us to celebrate the Great Jubilee and the feast of our patron St. Casimir, but also a time to express our gratitude to the Holy Father for his concern for Lithuania by continually remembering her in his words and prayers."